The canals were a constant companion on our walks between museums. Most were quite active with utility and pleasure boats, while others held disused watercraft and nesting waterfowl.
Where the water was shallow enough, you could also see discarded (no doubt stolen) bicycles.
Some museums were more like shops with attached wunderkammers. The Coffee and Tea Museum was one such: an active shop downstairs, and a somewhat jumbled collection of antiquated equipment upstairs.
Still good fodder for discussion:
What story could you tell with these materials?
Why so many similar items?
How might we tease out differences in the technology?
The day after our big excursion, we met in the hostel to discuss what we'd seen so far, and what we hoped to yet see.
While we met, workers outside were finishing landscaping the grounds surrounding the building.
After dinner, the hostel's cafeteria (breakfast, lunch, dinner should you choose) became an impromptu coffee bar, where you could linger and makes plans for the next day.
One of the excursions that were organized (we did a few while we were learning how to Field Trip), was to the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum.
The Dutch Open Air Museum joins together snapshots of Dutch life, both ancient and modern, connecting it together with an impressive line of vintage trams.
Some of the group opted to visit the nearby Kröller-Müller Museum. Two for One!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_Open_Air_Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kröller-Mülller_Museum
May 5, in contrast, is Liberation Day, to mark the end of the 1940-45 German occupation.
We spent the day on Museumplein checking out the site for an evening concert, and paid a visit to the Sexmuseum, a unique experience for students and staff alike.
More than mere titillation, the museum offers glimpses into the less-than-pleasant past through to the more liberated present.
May 4 is Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day) in the Netherlands. Many of our students opted to visit the large ceremony in Dam Square, but a few joined us at the smaller service at Westerkerk church, at the Homomonument.
This service commemorates those members of the LGBTQ+ community killed during the Second World War, as well as all who have been persecuted because of their sexual orientation.
An early excursion was to catch the sights of Keukenhof. This yearly burst of colour and fragrance was a balm for those who'd left late winter at home.
Although not strictly a museum, per se, if you look at it with your "museum eyes on," you can find all sorts of display, focus, and didactic elements.
In the search for techniques, customs, and conventions, this was a rich visual and olfactory experience.
The first Field Trip almost didn't happen. In March 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted, closing Western Europe airspace just weeks before our departure.
We had prepped the students, made the arrangements, spent the money, and now had to explore the world of possible refunds.
Happily, we were able to take advantage of a volcanic-dust-free window of travel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallajökull
The StayOkay Zeeburg hostel was a distance from Museumplein, but was one of the few that would take a group of our size for 14 days.
Of course, being Amsterdam, it was all quite walkable, and the hostel had a bicycle rental shop for those who wanted to practise shouting "Let Op!" at tourists who wandered into the red cycle lanes.
Our first day focus was "stay awake until eight" to try to shift our body clocks into the local timezone.
The tulips are blooming, and exams are well over. It's time for a Field Trip!
The first, longest, largest Field Trip I ever took part in with the Knowledge Integration program was in 2010, to Amsterdam.
Our first cohort, under the leadership of the late Linda Carson, flew from YYZ to AMS via KLM.
Thirty-plus students, 14 days. What were we thinking?!
Paul McKone