It Was a Merry Time (museum).

Aside from the fact that both myself, the respected chaperone/professors Liz and Adam, and the other 15 students had a serious case of jet lag, we visited the Dutch National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam on Wednesday. After waking up to a solid European breakfast, we took a walk to what seemed like an old, rectangular, and somewhat out-of-place looking building with the mindset of "well, let's see what this is all about". Our first step inside the building not only eliminated our any possible doubts about the interesting-ness that this place to offer but changed our mindset to "wow, I wan't to see more". The building literally had a solid glass roof!

     So after we all became accumulated to the unique environment of an outdoor plaza inside a big building, we began our tour. We discovered and interpreted historic maritime paintings of important Dutch sea battles during the 80 Years War, got to see a limited selection of maritime tools and instruments used by seafarers and navigators hundreds of years in the past, and even got to look at some of the first maps made as the parts of the entire world were being discovered. Similarly, we were walked through a replica of a East India Trading Company Fleet ship and we're taught the ways of life sea merchants and tradesmen had to live with for years on end. To say it was rough was an understatement...

Overall, I not only got to see some historic relics and go through a very interactive museum (which was not exactly what seemed that this building had to offer from an outside perspective) but I learned many things about maritime history centuries ago. I definitely recommend this museum for adults as well as kids, as it is interactive to be interesting as well as a learning environment for people of all ages. It was a great tour to start off the trip.