Slow Travel

Slow travel allows time to really get to know places visited. Over the last several years, we have spent several months in and around Montepulciano. I no longer need GPS or a map to navigate most of Tuscany and Umbria. After over a month in Venice, I can read a Donna Leone mystery novel and picture the San Stae vaporetto stop. I stand on the traghetti and eat in the back streets of the Cannaregio with the locals. We have spent well over a month in Florence and can make our way around all of that city. And not just its historic centre! And a month in Nazaré, Portugal where we saw the world’s biggest surfing waves on its north beach. The south beach waves – only ten to fifteen feet high – mesmerized as they rolled in – one after another.

Paris and beyond

Paris is even better after a month. The best markets, the parks that only the locals know, tiny restaurants with starched white tablecloths and short menus add a dimension to the city that national monuments cannot. The south of France and the Italian Riviera – Italy has far better public toilets than France! The hinterland town of Apricale is really another wonder of the world. Vienna has been a revelation — a wonderfully livable city with history and culture. I hope to spend more time there and to  get to know all of Austria better. 

London

We love London, it has so much history and so much « present ». We take the tube, double-deckers, the Overground , and we walk.  My cousin has lived there all her life and thinks we may have visited areas of the city that she hasn’t seen. I have taken my grandson to two Premiership games in heritage venues – Craven Cottage by the Thames in ritzy Chelsea and Selhurst Park in the much less ritzy Croydon. We always root for the home team even if we don’t really care who wins. But it is fun to sing along with the home side – London Calling at Craven Cottage and the ‘60’s  Dave Clark 5 hit, Glad all Over, while watching Crystal Palace. Slow travel – time to find Oslo Court restaurant – ground floor of the eponymously named apartment building!

Shorter Trips

There have been many shorter trips but we can’t claim to know Bruges, Antwerp, or Ghent as well as the Tuscan countryside. However two weeks in Italy’s Piedmont was enough time to hone my love of white truffles and Barolo, the king of wines. We ate at the Bra restaurant that is the home  to the Slow Food Movement. Christmas in Amsterdam and Cologne was chilly but lovely. Our trips to Scotland have been too short to really savour its breathtaking landscapes and to explore my birthplace – Dundee.

Slow travel, please! No cruises, thank you!

I have never understood the one-day tourism and the collection of destinations promoted by cruise lines and tour operators. It isn’t good enough for me just to be able to say ” been there!” I like to be able to get into the rhythm of the city or village we are visiting. I like leisurely days in museums, mingling in the cafés, buying food in the markets, and even going to the grocery stores. I enjoy getting to know the locals and becoming a regular at cafes and bars. You can’t get that kind of experience when you are  somewhere for a day and then back on the cruise ship or on a bus to another location in the evening.

Slow travel allows time to really get to know places visited.