a long walk
This afternoon I took a five hour walk around Amsterdam. I don’t know exactly where I went, and I like it that way. I find it hard to enjoy a city if I am constantly looking at a map. If I have to reach a specific destination at a specific time I will look at a map, but otherwise I just like to walk. As I walk I create a map of the city in my mind. The map I create is multi-dimensional. It includes the three spatial dimensions (the shapes and sizes of things), time (how long I spent at a given place and what time of day it was when I was there), and my sentiments (how I felt while I was there).
It is important to note that my mind’s map of Amsterdam exists only in my memory and thus is subject to change over short periods of time, while a paper map will stay the same from one day to the next. But, nonetheless, the map in my mind is more accurate than any two-dimensional map could ever be. I’d rather trust my instincts and my memory than trust a piece of paper with ink on it.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:57 am
On maps: I agree. Twenty some years ago I took an evening walk around Amsterdam on my first day there. I clung to a matchbook from my hotel, so I could ask for directions if necessary. It was a wonderful experience and bits and pieces of my mental map are with me today.
My favorite story from that evening. I sort of wondered about the red light district as I wandered. I had no idea where or what it might be. About dusk (10PM in late June?) I heard a brass band playing and walked toward the sound. I finally came around a corner and there was a 6-piece Salvation Army band playing on a little bridge over a little canal. As I looked around, I found scantily clad women in all the shop windows. The Salvation Army led me to the red light district and offered a couple Sousa pieces right there.
Enjoy.
October 26th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
While I was walking, coincidentally I followed the sound of a band as well. The band I found was performing on boat tied up to a dock in the more industrial part of town. I stayed and listened for about five minutes. As I walked away, I listened to the music for as long as I could; the further away I got, the more the electric drills and table saws drowned the notes away.
Thanks for sharing your story, Ken!