Martin Matanovic

September 2, 2024

Letters from Somewhere No.055

Wiesmoor (East Frisia, Germany)

For more than a moment, we thought about looking for something in the area. A house or, if necessary, an apartment to rent. Rather an apartment, so that the costs remain low. After some initial research, I even found out that a fully furnished house was available for the same price as an apartment. The prospect seemed promising.

Now that we've been here for six weeks, we've been able to get a good impression of what it would be like to live here, especially in terms of quality of life. And this is where the problem lies. The landscape in this area is often drawn like a ruler. Long, straight roads that disappear into the horizon. And most of the houses are on these roads.

They are busy roads. A constant noise that never seems to end. From early morning into the evening and into the night. It never stops. An endless noise that we are at the mercy of and cannot escape.

We stayed in two accommodations at this location. In the first, we had the privilege of well-insulated windows. When they were all closed, it wasn't too disturbing. But as soon as they were open, the noise changed everything. Now we have arrived at the second accommodation. And it's worse here.

More traffic. Much more traffic. Windows with poor insulation. Not just cars, lots and lots of trucks. Over and over again, with no end in sight. We didn't remember it like this from the last time we spent just a week here in the same accommodation on our way to France. This is bad. This is not quality of life.

But there is something good about it, that's how I try to look at it. We just know that this corner is not for us either. This place is supposed to be the place with the lowest population in the entire state. If it's already so noisy here, what's it like elsewhere?

Originally written in German. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

About Martin Matanovic

I work, travel and live in different places in Europe and write about it in this newsletter.