Virtual School Trip to Amsterdam
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While the world is on lockdown, many of our own worlds have gotten much smaller. As the world works from home, schools and borders are closed and travel is suspended around the globe here at Adaptable Travel we see it as the perfect opportunity to see the world from your own home.
After over 25 years of delivering school trips to students of all ages we know how rewarding external learning experiences can be. As home schooling is swiftly becoming a reality for students around the globe, we believe that now more than ever, students should still benefit from these experiences.
Which is why, we are giving your students the chance to embark on a virtual school trip with us!
Each week we’ll be putting together a digital tour of our best destinations which you and your students can explore from anywhere! These resources are easy to share with your students and aim to help bring learning to life and support their learning as they cover topics at home.
We’re now boarding for all passengers to AMSTERDAM!
Dam Square
Our first stop is the iconic Dam Square, the bustling heart of the city which serves as a hot bed for cultural and social events as well as being home to some of the city's most iconic buildings and landmarks. Dam Sqaure is the perfect first visit to get a taste for the city’s unique history and culture before exploring some of the must-do visits on offer in and around the city itself.
Amsterdam canals
After taking in the vibrant atmosphere around Dam Sqaure, our tour moves onto another iconic staple of any visit to the city a wander down Amsterdam’s beautiful winding canals. The banks of this meandering canal system are home to some of the best visits, excursions and experiences in the city, nestled against this picturesque backdrop.
Museum of Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a unique city in that it seamlessly combines both the quaint charm of a small community with the dynamic bustle of a world city. Our virtual visit to the Musuem of Amsterdam is the perfect place to start our journey delving into Amsterdam’s rich and complex history from its national identity to its poignant significance with WW2. This museum houses a complete history of the changing faces of the city. Keep an eye out for some artefacts which tell the story of Amsterdam through some of its most famous residents, such as Rembrandt and Johannes Cruijff.
Anne Frank Haus
Our next visit sees us at the Anne Frank Museum; one of Amsterdam’s most special landmarks, offering an extremely human and personal insight into the reality of Nazi occupation in Amsterdam during World War 2. As the most famous significant accounts of life during WW2, Anne Frank’s personal diary is renowned worldwide as a beacon of positivity in a time of extreme adversity and troubles. On these virtual tours we can get an insight into each room in the infamous space where Anne Frank and her family lived during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Navigating through the various rooms we can look at artefacts and personal belongings which preserve the space in its original condition.
Here we can see the one and only entrance into the secret annex which was hidden behind a bookcase in Otto Frank’s factory at the time of the invasion and occupation. Navigating in this space, allows us to further explore the rooms within the annex and understand what life was like living under these extraordinary circumstances.
Otto, Edith and Margot Frank’s Room
This room was shared by Anne Frank’s family, her parents Otto and Edith and her older sister Margot, also serving as a living area for the family during the daytime. Like most spaces in the annex, the size of the room is something that stands out to visitors like us, highlighting the difficulty of living under these circumstances for the amount of time that the Franks and later the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer would have been in the annex for.
This room is one of the most interesting in the annex because it was shared by not only Anne Frank a young teenage girl, but also Frtiz Pfeffer a man of her father Otto’s age. On the walls you can see cut outs, postcards and photographs of Anne’s favourite things typical of a teenage child wanting to decorate her own space and on the table you can see the red, checkered diary in which she would go onto share her extraordinary journey with the world.
This bathroom was the only one in the entire space, shared communally between the 9 people living inside the annex. To ensure that living arrangements were pleasant for all of the people living here, each person had an allocated slot for private use of the bathroom each day. Anne’s slot was at 9:00pm each evening.
The Kitchen and Hermann and Aguste van Pels’ Room
This room was the largest in the annex and was the communal area for most of the people living there throughout the day. Meals were cooked and eaten in this room and there was limited space for people to sit and spend time together during the days. In the evening Hermann and Aguste van Pels would sleep in this room, which we can see from the beds in the corner.
Peter van Pels had a small room at the base of the attic to the annex where he slept alone, the only member of the household not sharing a space in the annex. This room is special to Anne’s life and her experience in the annex as this is where her and Peter would grow close, spending their free time together in the privacy of Peter’s room as well as the attic above. It was also in this room that Anne would experience her first kiss with Peter, who she writes about frequently in her diary.
With 9 people living together 24/7 under one roof the attic gave Anne a bit of free space which she needed. It was up here that Anne would come to think, be alone with her thoughts or spend afternoons or evenings talking to Peter. The space was also used as a storage area for food, laundry and household items that the families needed while in hiding.
Kamp Vught National Memorial
This museum and memorial center documents the devastation of the SS camp Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch. Also known as Camp Vught the camp was operational during the Second World War, between January 1943 – September 1944. Explore the museum area to understand more about the gravity of camps like these which appeared across Nazi occupied Europe. The museum and monuments are spread throughout a number of buildings including a reconstructed barracks, which has been built to highlight the living conditions for prisoners who would have experienced life at the camp during its operation. Other areas we can explore are the reconstructed watch towers, and the monuments which document the names and ages of prisoners who were deported here, many of which were children.
Space Expo
Our final visit for our virtual school trip is the fantastic Euro Space Centre! Let’s take one small step into the wonder of our universe and explore what space travel has taught us about our own planet. In the main hall we can explore the fascinating builds, equipment and machines that make space exploration possible including the ISS, space shuttles and The Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule.
That brings today’s virtual school trip to an end, we hope you’ve enjoyed exploring the fantastic city of Amsterdam with us! Check back on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for our next virtual tour around London’s best attractions and exhibitions! See you on the next virtual trip!
