Perspective and Pacing
Walks: Then and Now
Here I must venture into murky waters because my perspective on what a walk is has been drastically altered. There is a video about a wonderful walk in the Yorkshire dales from the village of Grassington to Kettlewell to Starbotton and looping back to Grassington. It is about a 13-mile loop. Dee and I have done that several times always stopping in Starbotton for a plowman’s lunch in the local pub. We were in our 60’s. Last year in Grassington we walked to Lynton through Lynton Falls. Less than 3 miles. The walk was one of the most beautiful we have ever experienced, but it was less than 3 miles. My enthusiasm tends to get me in trouble. I often think I can do now what I did decades ago. I can’t. Longer walks are now just a memory, but our shorter walks are equally memorable. Our perspective is different, our pace is different, but our experiences are just as enriching. I guess it’s something like that old story about the hare and the tortoise. Although I now think the tortoise needs to slow up a bit on the curves.
I have to constantly consult my T-shirt: DO NOT PLAN TO SEE EVERYTHING BUT SEE WELL WHAT YOU SEE.
A day in Paris is now confined to little more than experiencing one small corner of the city --- like Montmartre. A beautiful experience that at my age is all I need. There was a time we walked all over Paris now we do small bits and pieces. One day Montmartre, one day the Left bank, one day the Tuileries, and so on. That’s too bad. No, it’s delightful. We sit more, we stroll more slowly and let Paris come to us. As Hemingway said, “Paris is a movable feast”, and so we rarely go chasing Paris but let Paris come to us.
As we have grown older, and perhaps wiser, our perspective about “big cities” has slowly evolved. When we first went to Paris and London in the 1960’s they were honest reflections of their cultures, now there is little difference between one large European city and another. Still Paris is Paris and Rome is eternal, but now I am too old for a younger cosmopolitan world. Grouped together great cities are more or less of one flavor and a rather bland and tasteless flavor it is.
To recapture that feeling of cultural authenticity we have shifted our search from the larger cosmopolitical mega-cities to smaller, more intimate urban areas.
For example, we have written so much about the wonders of Rome, but we no longer go to Rome. Our perspective has changed. Now instead of Rome we go to Bologna, Milan, Venice, and even Naples, or even smaller spots like Lucca, Sienna, Padova, and Verona. Or still smaller towns and villages of Italy, and what holds for Italy holds for Spain or Portugal, Germany, or Scotland.
In other words, your tour: your choice. It really is about your perspective and the pace you establish as your comfort zone.
Take your time, prepare well.