I’m in Sacramento this weekend. Fun fact for all non-americans, this is California’s capital (I’ve been multiple times to California and had no clue).

I’m staying on a beautiful hotel called Delta King. It’s an old steamboat from 1927 that sank in 1981 due to unknown reasons. She was raised a year later and transformed into a hotel once they noticed the damages to the boat were minor. It’s now moored permanently on the Sacramento River, in the old town.

The boat was mostly kept true to how it was at the time, with some minor modernizations such as air conditioning and cards to open doors.

Unfortunately this also means sound insulation is very poor. You can hear everything through the door, windows and even walls. I was put on a beautiful corner room with sweeping views of the river, however this room is also directly besides the lobby. I could hear everything that was going on (mostly check-ins and check-outs) and I’m immediately frustrated. I’m also worried about tonight as I’m a light sleeper.

After talking to the hotel I’m moved to a corner room now facing the city (no water view rooms available), on the floor above. The room is not as cozy as the previous one as it’s smaller and the windows are smaller as well. I don’t hear all the noise from the lobby, only some voices coming from outside (my room faces the entrance).

Music

I go out for early dinner and come back to my room to do a bit of work. There’s loud music coming from everywhere. From the nearby cafe, from boats passing by playing extremely loud music. It’s loud everywhere in the hotel, so there’s some peace of mind in knowing there’s no better room I can move to. I reflect on why noise annoys me so much but I can’t come up with why. I actually work listening to music most of the time. Why does someone talking outside or playing music out loud annoy me so much?

There is so much noise pollution in the US. Trains sound their horns at every intersection. Cars are everywhere and some are even tuned to be extra loud. Elevators make a ‘ding’ noise for every floor they pass by.

A new day

Luckily the night was relatively quiet. Only a few boats played loud music after I went to bed 9:30pm. I remember waking up with someone watching television 3:45am, but volume was low and I could fall asleep again. I then woke up 6am. It was serenely quiet. No music. No people. The sun was still rising, the water looked beautiful and birds were singing. I feel at peace and I’m happy again.

I have breakfast admiring the view and quiet. I realize that being at peace allows me to reflect on what matters to me, and I start thinking about the blog. I sit outside and start writing on the sun. I love quiet.