First Full Day in Amsterdam

Today was our first full day in Amsterdam! We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at our hostel. Our day started with a visit to the public works for cycling in Amsterdam. John, an employee at the division, told us about the ways Amsterdam has shifted from a car centric city to a bicycle and public transport centric city. For example, a road out front of the building is currently shut down and js being tested out as a permanent car-free zone so that pedestrians have more space. (See image) We also learned that, unlike the US, there are actually too many bicycles being parked in the city. As a result, the government constructed an underground parking garage for bikes, which we would visit.

After his presentation, John showed us to this garage, and we got some more experience using public transportation in Amsterdam. Their train and tram network are very effective for maneuvering in the city. Quite quickly we made it to our destinations and got to see two underwater bike parking garages. There were sooo many bikes! (See image)

Afterwards, we had a chance to eat lunch and explore some of the city in smaller groups. We ate then met up again and stopped by the award-winning library (see image) in Amsterdam in the way to our next destination, Mediamatic. It's a vegan restaurant/bar/gallery (and more!) that explores plants and their various uses. We learned about how they grow some of their own plants for their dishes and got to taste some of them. They're also working on building a pigeon house out of mycelium, mushroom roots. They allow the roots to grow for a few weeks and then add the new sheets of mycelium to the tower. The roots dry and harden creating a very strong structure. Below is an image of an in-progress pigeon house. (See image)

The rest of our day was free time for us to explore until dinner time. We hung out again at the hostel and will, hopefully, get a nice rest after our first full day in the bustling city of Amsterdam!

— Seth Flikke '24