The first of my walking areas to be described here is also the one I visit most often. As it is round the corner of my working place, I often go here during my lunch break to get some fresh air and stretch my muscles a bit. The Elsenburger Bos is a park between Rijswijk and Delft and -very uncharacteristic for Holland- it is a park with hills and valleys. Originally, this park was built over piles of refuse, which explains the height differences.
It is a fantastic park to walk in, not very large but with many opportunities for at least 30 to 45 minutes of wandering around. This park has also played a major role in awakening my pagan awareness some ten years ago as it was a lot more 'natural' back then, than it is now. Its atmosphere at that time -its “deva”, as some would call it- let me find the God and Goddess in various locations in the park, some quite obvious, others hidden away in more secretive locations.
One major clean operation, followed by many minor ones have, unfortunately, done away with all that, and though I feel the park's deva is recovering, it is not as spiritually uplifting as it used to be. As the pictures indicate, it is still a great place to stroll around in, but something has definitely been lost.
What is sometimes a nuisance, though, is the sheer number of dogs that are taken to this park throughout the day, as in most places here they are allowed to run free. The most obvious problem as a result is the constant noise of barking dogs and yelling dog owners. Another drawback is the nearby A4 motorway with its constant drone, but this is a feature of most places here in the Randstad.
All in all still a great place to hang out, but it used to be better!
No comments:
Post a Comment