Saturday, April 13
The 2024 BC High Choir Trip to the Netherlands started off with some of us boarding the plane via the stairs after a two hour delay and a malfunctioning gate bridge. After our overnight flight, we arrived in Amsterdam around 11:30 a.m. local time and what felt like 5:30 a.m. to us.
Once we got off the plane, we went through the relatively short customs and baggage claim line and met our tour guide, Bill, for this week-long journey. We then took the bus to Amsterdam and met up with the other part of the group that had to take an earlier flight to Amsterdam via Detroit (due to a deeply unfortunate mishap with the airline). While in the city, we split up into groups to have lunch. My group walked around the Albert Cuyp Market and bought some local chicken on skewers for us to eat. I found the food lovely, but as we were walking around, we were surprised by the sheer number of bikes that we came across along our journey. When crossing the street, we found it much easier to avoid the cars than the bike riders who were reluctant to stop since many of the bikes in the Netherlands do not have handbrakes.
After lunch, we went on a tour of Amsterdam’s inner city. On the tour, we learned about how the city is built on mostly reclaimed land, and we learned the history of Amsterdam’s canals and dikes that demonstrate the city’s connection between architecture and nature and why many of the buildings are leaning since their foundations are wooden tree trunks. I also found it very interesting to explore the boat houses by the canals, to see the Dutch Royal Palace, and to watch Amsterdam’s trams roll on by.
Once the tour was finished, we took the bus to our hotel in the small town of Delft, which is about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam. We then walked to dinner at a Boterhuis where we enjoyed an exquisite meal that included fresh bread, chicken breasts, well-seasoned fries, chocolate mousse, and even ice cream. Dr. Rozenberg let us break the “NO ICE CREAM” rule, just this once. It was a great way to end an exhausting day. We eagerly headed back to the hotel to rest our weary heads.
Michael Kester ’24
BC High Concert Choir 