"The traveller sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see", said the quote by G.K. Chesterton, on the Lonely Planet bookmark. One week after my return from a 15-day trip to Europe, the quote aptly sums up what I feel.
It was a whirlwind tour, or so it seems in retrospect. Italy, Switzerland, France and Belgium; numerous hotel rooms, innumerable train rides, unfamiliar languages and unforgettable experiences comprised the European holiday. If you ask me the short version, here are the top 10 things I remember:
1. Pizza, pasta non-stop
2. Gelato everyday
3. Playing cards on Eurostar
4. Grandeur of Rome
5. Canals of Venice
6. Lakes and mountains of Switzerland
7. Filter coffee in Paris
8. Warm Belgian waffles and icecream in Brussels
9. Chocolates and tiramisu
10. Walking, walking, walking
It was a fun fortnight. Great company; fantastic weather. The holiday included help from the travel agent for hotel and train bookings but we were on our own for local sightseeing. Did we see everything there is to see? Probably not. But did I get a feel for the new places that I had visited. Definitely yes. Its easy to get carried away by ambitious sight-seeing plans, packed itineraries and tiring days. Our days were full, when we were not seeing places, we were going places, literally, dragging out suitcases across train stations, poring over bus routes in new cities, asking for directions to strangers who did not speak English and finally crashing into beds in different hotels every third night. But we could chose our daily outings. We picked the place where we ate our meals. On many days we made sandwiches in the train, munched on juicy strawberries for dessert and ate ice-cream for an afternoon snack. That is how we came across lip-smacking pasta, melt-in-the mouth pizza and heavenly gelato in unpretentious eating places.
We took some organized tours - a day trip to Naples and the ruins of Pompei with Wilma as our tour guide, a guided our of the Vatican museums with Marco and saw the leaning tower of Pisa with Ricardo, the flirt. We had our share of adventures as well - finding out that the hotel booked for us in Venice was 100 km away from the gondolas, two youngsters in our group of six getting left behind on a platform in Paris, losing the key to a suitcase, misplacing sweaters/jackets. But there were no major mishaps. And many memorable moments.
At the top of the list are:
1. The symmetry of the spiral staircase in the Vatican
2. Being referred to as "Shahrukh Khan family" while waiting to get into the basilica in Florence by a street vendor
3. Seeing signs in Hindi on top of snow-covered Mount Titlis
4. Sliding down in snow tubes along with other "Aunties and Uncles" in Switzerland
5. Early morning in the Pantheon
6. Flea market at Montreaux
7. Waving to a family on the lakeside at Interlaken
8. The gentle clang of bells on the Swiss cows
9. Talking to the non-singing gondolier, Antonio
10.Learning about Belgian chocolates from Thomas at the Godiva store near Mannekin Pis
11. Wanting to work at UN for two reasons - to make a difference to the world and for the wonderful view of Lake Geneva from the corridors
Being a tourist is hard work, as demonstrated by the bus loads of Indian tourists who thronged many of the same places that we visited. But being a traveller is more interesting. Traveling is more of a two-way interaction. It is an experience, not just a visual treat. I have been to Paris at least twice before and I know I am not inclined to visit again but Rome, is another story. I know for sure I want to live there, not just scratch the surface as I did this time. Belgian beckons, as well.
I like going to new places. But now I have tasted the distinction between being a tourist and being a traveller. I want to be the latter. And I will. Where will I travel to next?
As Paul Theroux says, "Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going."
No comments:
Post a Comment