Time is a four letter word. After every international trip, especially the ones where the husband accompanies me, the one thought that used to hit me as a refrain – I wish I had more time to explore more.

Outside the palace in Vienna

Slow travel as a concept is something that most of the Indian travellers do not understand, yours truly included. We want to explore every bit of the destination. The entire day is almost seized as we visit every attraction mentioned in the trip advisors of the world, photographing monuments or taking selfies and profile pictures. If its not the monuments, then it has to be cruises. And then there is the food, the shopping and the night life. And in between somewhere, we holiday !

Salzburg in a cow 🙂

During my first trip to Europe, I realized that I was falling into a similar trap. Thankfully my holiday was all about small towns nestled in river valleys rather than the big cities. But when I landed in the latter, I was caught in a tug of war between museums and monuments, cruises and beaches and other attractions. And that is when I discovered slow travel.

Markets in Poland

And I realized that if one wanted to soak yourself in a destination, then you dont need to see all the sights and hear all the sounds. All you need to do is explore a couple or more based on your interests but chill in a street or a square in the town.And you can discover a city through its streets.

Street art in Vienna

Streets to me, especially have been the window to every destination. It tells me so much about a place that no museum will be able to do so . I spend hours on the streets in every town I visit – in India or abroad. I walk as much as I can or sit in a square and absorb the life around me. In every destination – the streets tell a different story. And you can discover a city through its streets by your observations. Here is what I have seen.

Graffiti

Each street has a different colour. There is grafitti everywhere – some historic like the ones in Belfast, Ireland which have a political flavour or artistic as the wall in Adelaide where everyone can paint. I found interesting ones in Spain as well, but in India, too the paintings on the streets these days have taken a more artistic turn.

Graffiti wall in Adelaide

Humour in street corners

Tired after a long walk or you feel a bit lost in a new city ? There is plenty of humour in every street. All you need to do is look for sign boards. In India, I can do an entire volume on them. I have found for instance “Hamlet” being offered on the menu in a small eatery in Tamil Nadu. And this one had me in splits in Australia after a long day

Inside a hair saloon in Melbourne

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Sights and sounds

Walk along a street and each of them is a mini microcosm of the country. Some are wrapped in a leafy fabric, while others show you buildings glittering in the heat. Walk along the streets of Amsterdam and you will get a feel of both.

On the streets of Amsterdam Red Light District

The tiny streets in Venice are silent as you walk along the cobbled stones while the colourful tiled streets of La Ramblas are bursting with life. The narrow lanes in Melbourne are so filled with charm while the larger than life streets in Manhattan are just that – larger than life. One of my favourites are the streets in Krakow, Poland that burst into a world of nostalgia.

Posters being sold on a street in Krakow

Walk along the streets of Thailand or Cambodia, Turkey or Jordan, London or Paris, Mumbai or Chennai – each of them has a unique sound that echoes with the country.

Statues and fountains

You will never be at a loss for stories in a street. Lores and myths surround every fountain or statue in a town. In Barcelona, i heard that if I drink water from a particular fountain in Las Ramblas, I will be lured to the city again. But this story around the statue of Neptune, the lord of the seas in Gdansk in Poland was so fascinating. The symbol of Gdansk is said to have turned the famous liqueur Goldswasser golden. According to the legend, Neptune, tired of people throwing gold coins in the fountain, hit it so hard with his trident that the gold broke into pieces and formed flakes that filled the liqueur.But what really fascinated me is this – at Mebourne

The Melbourne purse

Markets and stalls

Vegetable markets, souvenir markets, night markets and farmers markets – take a pick.  Markets and local stalls run shoulders on these streets with mega malls.And if you still want more colour, walk along Las Ramblas, the street turned boulevard in Barcelona or along the romantic river in Paris, where artists court you. Colour is synonymous with Poland while dark humour is the theme at the German Christmas markets.

Christmas market in Germany

Street performances

You need free entertainment – the streets will showcase some of the most awesome talent available. Magic,  music, gags, street plays and acrobatics – I have been simply amazed by the variety of talent that is available on the street. I have seen a few performances in India, especially in Fort Kochi but nothing comes close to the ones abroad. The American artists win  hands down

Street performance in NYC

However I heard one of the most romantic songs sung in a street in Spain..see the video here

These are some of my experiences of discovering a city through its streets. What about you ? Have you had any favourite observations ? Or would you prefer exploring the museums to the streets ? If you ask me the man on the street has the last word !

A homeless man in SFO, US