Eating is usually a wonderful thing in a foreign place. Not only is it a perpetual source of something to look forward to, it also forces you to engage the locals. Menus in strange languages delivered by waiters who adamantly do not speak English presents a challenge that is best approached with humor and humility. Sign language when properly combined with a smattering of foreign words and a little help from the language ap on your cell phone can end you up with an amazing meal. Or not. In either case you will earn a memory and perhaps leave the world with one waiter who despises Americans a little less.
Walking is the most intimate way to explore a new place. I love a road trip as much as anyone but it's not the same as being in the place where you are at. It has the added advantage of being good for you and it not only makes you hungry, it also lessens the guilt of eating once you are done walking.
Watching is the thing we do most. Beth and I are unabashedly voyeuristic and watching the hive of humanity buzzing about their lives is something we never tire of. The stories are the same everywhere: fathers and sons, young lovers, short and stout old ladies caneing their way up narrow sidewalks, puppies and beggars. The cacophony of voices, perfumes and body odor in a sea of colors and styles, the joyous and the depressed, in never ending kaleidoscopic repetition.
I never read a lot because the time I allocated for it was bed time and I usually fell asleep after one paragraph. This is one way that this trip has fundamentally changed me. I am in my fourth book and reading for several hours a day. I guess it's because I am well rested, am not preoccupied with life's daily problems and spend a lot if time in boats, planes, buses and trains. Reading about the places I am in adds a lot to the depth of experience.
And finally sleeping, something that I am good at (Beth not so much). Sleeping in a new and foreign place every few nights is really exciting. Everyplace has its own landscape of sounds and smells, lights and air currents which inculcate into your dreams. You wake each morning aware of the mystery waiting to be explored all around you.
Segovia Spain
