Today consisted of a bike ride through the capital of the Netherlands: Amsterdam. We visited many courtyards, rode our bikes beside the many canals, and even rode through the Red Light District.

Amsterdam is a beautiful place filled with many amazing things. It had gorgeous buildings that were all tightly packed. It even had something that I had never seen before: “houseboats”. Apparently, people are able to live in a boat, which is attached to a dock. There were tons of these found in the canals. There were also an incredible number of cyclists. There was just so many that I actually believe that there is a higher chance of getting into a bicycle accident, rather than a car accident.

Nonetheless, the entire city has an amazing vibe. People were friendly and the scenery was alluring. Also, what makes this city so different to areas such as New York City and Chicago is that there are no tall skyscrapers. Another difference that I noticed was that there were no homeless people in the corners of the streets begging for money or even police officers strolling the streets. So far through my time here in Holland, I have only seen one police officer, and that was in Amsterdam. Other than that, there were none.

Overall, today was such a great adventure. I really felt like I was Dutch myself. Cannot wait for what tomorrow has in store!