Sunday, November 25, 2007

Front seats for the sunset


Dreamy. Disoriented. Small.Charmed. Confounded. Captivated. Disturbed. Overwhelmed.
That is what going backpacking around Europe with my friends felt like.

Our itinerary was: (departure- 1st November) London- Brussels- Paris- Nice- Monaco- Venice- Rome- Vienna- Salzburg- (Linz)- London (arrival- 12th November).

There were several times during the trip when we found ourselves before a spectacular view when we weren’t really expecting it. It is one thing to know that you are heading towards a highly celebrated site but something else to turn a corner or climb a bridge or exit a metro station to suddenly see something so strikingly beautiful that everyone falls into a reverential silence before it. These silences and the gasps we let out were, to me, the essence of this trip.

Apart from the sights that worked their magic instantly, the trip was also one effective lesson in history, music, art, religion, politics and architecture. Sometimes, what we learnt about the lives of artists and composers and their times left us as stunned as did seeing an architectural wonder. We also have our cynic-sense in place and could partially see why a particular travel book describes Continental Europe as “that pile of elegant decay”. We did have our minor let-downs and the tourism-oriented marketing at some places did seem excessive. Despite any such flip-sides, I don’t think a trip to Europe can ever be anything less than extraordinary regardless of how and when it is done. All it takes is to see how an everyday occurrence as a sunset can seem like a grand opera in the backdrop of art and history and it becomes clear what the fuss is all about.

While the sights and sounds form the foreground of the trip, the researching, the unending debates while setting the itinerary, the reading of maps and figuring out the public transport systems and living in youth hostels, the great food we stumbled upon in places that inconspicuously happened in the background was equally significant in terms of recall-value. There is something about being a backpacker that makes it easy to talk to strangers and to other backpackers with itineraries that are more chaotic than our own. In almost every journey, our co-passengers shared with us stories of their own favourite fulfilling-yet-crazy trips after they discovered we were among the mavericks who holiday in their country in the wrong season. And very often, we would be asked “So where will your next holiday be?”. I was initially surprised that anyone was even suggesting we attempt another trip like this one, especially as it had been as more work than holiday with the visa application procedure and the bookings that sometimes wore us out. But then I now realize that my appetite for travel has just been kindled and it is a good state of mind to be in- to be planning for the next trip at any point of time. It places the business card, the deadlines, the worries and the task lists in perspective.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Il fait beau sur la France!

This is Padma Sharma blogging from sunny Nice in France.

That is the most I can manage to get across with a French keyboard and after two days of talking in French. More shall follow when I return to good ole Brum.

P.S: I am heading to the beach now :)