Silence and Solitude in Amsterdam
autumn leaves in the museum garden
Seeking Silence and Solitude in Amsterdam. This seems like an impossible undertaking. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and Amsterdam it’s largest city. It hosts the country’s major airport within its city boundaries and appears to be a tourist magnet for 17 million visitors yearly.
It will have to be a gradual search, no doubt about that, but nonetheless one that I am pursuing. There are so many blogs dedicated to this city, showcasing mostly the places to go if you want a great meal, a fun shopping experience, be cool or otherwise enhance your friends’ primordial fears of missing out. There is nothing wrong with that of course. I thoroughly enjoy a good meal, I am not impartial to shopping. I am not cool though. Never have been, by what seemed to be the relevant standards of the day. And as for making my friends jealous, I would rather invite them along. Sometimes.
I do admit to being happy in my own company and to actually needing silence and solitude to regenerate. I am not a hermit, I work and live here in this vibrant city, but I long for peace and quiet maybe more often than others. So this is a blog of a more introvert nature, which in itself is potentially a conflict. I am willing to take the risk. At this time, it is about the writing up of these small moments and adventures. Is is about the search of quietness and peace in a city, region and country that I did want to visit regularly, but turned out to become the new destination. For how long is still a matter of internal debate, but that is maybe for another post.
The idea is that if I want to have something to write on the matter then I better go out and find those moments to write about in the first place. I shall also give them a rating on a scale of 1-10 in both Silence and Solitude. This shall be completely arbitrary of course, as I won't be measuring decibels or counting the number of people I see. It is as much about the experience and the emotional response to it, my perceived peace and quiet, if you like. Therefore here we go, writing this first post, gets a 7 for Silence. I can hear the noises of the road, work being done in one of the neighbouring flats, an airplane approaching. It is different for Solitude. This is a 10 as I was just by myself in the flat. It is time to explore. Are there more spots of Silence and Solitude to be found in or around Amsterdam?
Photo credit: I took this photo on a quiet, sunny autumn day in the formal garden of the Museum Willet Holthuysen. See www.willetholthuysen.nl for more information on this beautiful merchant house right on one of Amsterdam's most splendid canals.