The festivities of Lieds ontzet continued all of Monday, and remained just as crowded since everyone in Leiden had the day off. I went back into town and met my friend Kate around three o'clock, and we walked around and ran into some people that I met on the weekend trip. They were going to watch people polevault into the canal, so naturally we joined them. The goal was to jump from one side to the other, and onto a big landing pad. Most people just landed in the canal.
While watching everyone jump, we sat on the sidelines and talked about how the canals used to be used to dispose of sewage and other things I do not want to jump into.. these days the main concern jumping in is bikes, actually. Apparently people will throw bikes that aren't locked to something stationary into the canals, and when people jump in they can land on a bike- sounds painful.
While watching everyone jump, we sat on the sidelines and talked about how the canals used to be used to dispose of sewage and other things I do not want to jump into.. these days the main concern jumping in is bikes, actually. Apparently people will throw bikes that aren't locked to something stationary into the canals, and when people jump in they can land on a bike- sounds painful.
My original plan was to go home early and catch up on all the homework I did not do this weekend. However, it was the last night of the festival, so I decided to stay instead. After pole vaulting we wandered around a bit more and caught up with some friends with whom we sat outside in cafes and watched a BEAUTIFUL sunset, and then went to a silent disco. In case, like me, you had never heard of such a thing, a silent disco is a disco where everyone wears headphones and can change the channel to whatever music they want to listen to. It's a strange idea, but it was very fun. It's also amusing seeing everyone wearing headphones and dancing to different beats, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from there.
Sadly the festival is now over, but it was a very fun weekend, and it will be nice to be able to walk down the streets without pushing through thousands of people. I have a feeling Leiden is going to look very different when I go in for class this afternoon, and I can only hope all of the trash has already been cleaned up.
Also, I thought I would include the theme song of the weekend, "Drie Oktober." It is a typical Dutch drinking song, that I was told is effective because the song is so bad it drives you to drink. The title means "October Third," which as you know, is the date of Leids ontzet. The song is below for your listening pleasure:
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