Three days in the old quarter
The result is not perfect, but it is honest. Off-season towns are quieter, cheaper and far more honest.
A few details
The unplanned part is seldom the hard part; consistency is. Good rainy cities is mainly a series of modest, unglamorous decisions. Between keeping a journal and learning a few words, the second one taught me more.
A rail pass helps, but it is not the point. Every winter I revisit the same questions about modest islands. Nobody spoke much English, and somehow that made it easier.
I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. The best advice I got was simply to slow down. Here is what changed, and what stayed exactly the same.
- Write down what you change
- Stop before you are tired
- Stop before you are tired
The process
This is less a walkthrough and more a record of what worked for me. We arrived after dark and only understood the view in the morning. Nothing here requires a rain jacket, though it does make things easier.
A paper map invites conversations that a phone never does. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about border towns. Most problems with old maps turn out to be problems with time. Most problems with border towns turn out to be problems with time.
I keep coming back to border towns, mainly because it rewards time. I packed too much, as usual, and wore the same jacket every day.