Hetal Chirag
As a part of our MBA exchange program from Ryerson University, we went on a summer exchange program to Copenhagen Business School (CBS). We planned our trip in such a way that we could travel to different cities during the weekends and complete our academic credits during the weekdays. On one of our weekend trips, we visited Amsterdam.
After reaching Amsterdam from Copenhagen and checking in our hostel, St. Christopher’s Inn, we went on a casual stroll to check out the city. Whenever you hear about Amsterdam in movies or TV shows, they always highlight weed and the red light district when they showcase this city. But when you personally go and visit Amsterdam, you can see that it is a beautiful city with a unique history and a diverse culture.
To feel the energy of the city, we did the famous canal cruise tour. Our captain and tour guide made our tour quite fun and informative. Did you know that the name Amsterdam comes from the Dam they built on the river Amstel? When you think about a city with canals and bridges, Venice immediately comes to mind. However, you would be surprised to know that with over 150 canals and around 1200 bridges, Amsterdam has way more canals and bridges compared to Venice.
Although Amsterdam is built with intricate networks of canals and bridges throughout the entire city, it is still at high risk of being submerged underwater if the global warming continues to escalate at the current rate. Since the majority of the city is below sea level, a few degrees increase in temperature can be catastrophic for the city.
After doing a canal cruise, we also did a bike tour of the city. If you go to Amsterdam, you have to rent a bike and explore the city like the locals. Biking in Amsterdam is like nowhere else. I mean the small city has over 800,000 bikes. That is four times the numbers of cars in the city. Another fun fact we learned was that around 13,000 to 15,000 bicycles are pulled out of canals every year.
