Clinic Jan Thoméepad, COVID department
door Gabor Nijenhuis van de Filmbrigade
This is what the streets of Amsterdam looked like on the first day of the curfew.
I have never seen such empty streets on a Saturday night in the capital. Apart from the odd dog owner, care worker or busker, the only thing I can hear are the sounds of empty trams and buses rushing past. And where the inhabitants of the city centre could still appreciate how nice and quiet it was during the first lockdown, that same silence is starting to get to them now. ‘I am fed up with it. It is depressing’, says one.
‘I am taking my dog for a walk. Fortunately, that is still allowed’, says one of the few people allowed out after 9pm. ‘This is not my own dog, but my dad’s’, he adds with a smile. ‘But that’s permitted too!’, he assures me.
A bit further I come across another dog walker. ‘I feel fortunate that my dog gives me the excuse to go out. At first I appreciated the quietness but I have had enough now. It’s kind of sad to see so few people at Leidseplein.’
A homeless busker with guitar and harmonica agrees with her. ‘No, Amsterdam is no longer the happy place it once was.’
by NH Nieuws
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