Walking through the streets of Leeuwarden should have been amazing; instead, it was a struggle and I felt like a teeny-tiny ant crawling in a giant anthill. I was more likely focused on how fast I could escape from this crowd rather than enjoying the medieval building surrounding me.
Two days ago I arrived in Leeuwarden. Before I decided to visit this city, I researched the city with my mobile phone and found pictures on Google of beautiful, medieval buildings and picturesque canals. I was absolutely amazed by the Oldehove and felt like a child in a candy store once arrived on the International airport of Leeuwarden. I checked my phone and took a few pictures to share on my thirty-three different social media WebPages.
Once I had arrived, I expected to see ethnic traditions being observed, Frisian people whom I could talk to and to learn from… a cultural delight. However, minutes later I found myself pushing through the crowds of tourists carrying bigger cameras than the size of their heads. No one, like literally no one looked like a typical Frisian local which I saw on the pictures of Google, unless they changed their appearance and wear socks in sandals, sunglasses and carry around a huge piece of chunk which is worth more than my house. Everywhere I looked I saw a lot, and I mean a lot, of dentures, grey hair and walkers. Seniors. They seems to be everywhere and unstoppable. Large families walked by of which I counted at least more than five generations. Because I did not wanted to give up my positive attitude right away, I found my way along the streets with majority of shops and people yelling “Kijken niet kopen!”, whatever that means. My field of view was only focused on the giant leaning tower, what looked even leaner with every step I took. I found it fascinating, a building what looks like it is going to collapse although this building is taking probably hundreds of years before it actually decides to drop. My thoughts about the Oldehove immediately destroyed when a young fellow pulls my sleeve. In his hands he holds a giant board in which numerous fake sunglasses and says that I need to buy sunglasses. Where the heck did the cultural city go? Instead of looking at beautiful buildings I am being obligated to buy a pair of fake sunglasses for a ridiculously high price. After saying five times no to the rude annoying boy, I noticed the giant hotels around Oldehove. It immediately destroyed the picture I had seconds ago of this building and all I could see was hotels rising higher than the Oldehove itself. The building looked smaller and anything but magnificent, but I still wanted to go up and see the view from there. I walked towards the entrance and noticed the giant led-televisions screens everyone was holding up so that they could all take the same picture which also can just be simply found on Google. I looked for a second to the show at the middle of the square, people were dressed in what they said ‘authentic’ clothes and tourist could take a photo with them in exchange of a ridiculously high amount of money. I felt alternate disgrace and I quickly passed by them and looked for a ticket office. That was when I saw the enormous, tenacious, extremely long drawn-out line for the ticket office. I asked a grey-haired tourist with socks in sandals if he knew how long it would take. After he responded my mouth felt open and knew it was time to go. Time to go out of this city, back to my own, cultural and non grey-haired city.
