Manversation

My travels in Europe

I’ve been to Europe four times – Once on a backpacking and Eurail trip with some friends, once as a foreign exchange student in Madrid, Spain, and twice more back to Spain for vacation since then. One thing that has been true on all of these trips is that my most cherished memories have come not from visiting the obligatory museums and monuments, but from getting off the beaten path and seeing what things are really like in the places I’m visiting.

How do you get off the beaten path? Well, one of the simplest ways is to just start walking. I know that sounds totally obvious but I have come across many tourists in my travels in Europe that were so busy rushing from place to place that they didn’t see the really interesting things right in front of them. Most European cities are extremely amenable to just talking a stroll and taking in the sights and sounds (and sometimes the smells) of a new place. I’m told by other world travelers that this is also true in many other international destinations. It seems that the rest of the world isn’t quite as dependent on driving everywhere as we are. Here are some other ideas for getting off the beaten path:

Local festivals

While staying in Barcelona, I went to a traditional festival in one of the nearby small towns in the hills of Catalonia. There was great food, and traditional performances by Castellers, groups who form human pyramids five levels high. A couple other Americans I’d met in a hostel and myself were the only tourists there and we had quite an adventure getting back as we missed the last bus back to Barcelona and then tried calling a taxi that never came. To make a long story short, one of the locals was very generous and gave us a ride back to Barcelona! (It was about an hour out of his way to do so).

Strike up a conversation or ask the locals for a recommendation

Most people in Europe were quite friendly and willing to supply a recommendation of a favorite local restaurant or thing to do. On a train ride from Madrid to Bilbao, a city in the Basque region in the North of Spain, I was seated in a compartment with a Spanish guy who shared a six pack of Mahou (Spain’s equivalent to Budweiser) with me and gave me two recommendations for unique things to do – 1. Try Bacalao a la Vizcaina – the local specialty – salt cod in a special sauce, and 2. Watch a match of Pelota vasca or Jai-alai.

I wound up doing both things and had a great time. It was much more fun talking to people around town and asking for pointers on where to get the best Bacalao a la Vizcaina or about when the next Jai-alai match would be than it would have been bouncing from museum to museum all day long. (Though I did make the obligatory visit to the Guggenheim Musuem while I was there too). Plus, I think the locals really open up a lot more than they might for the average tourist once they realize that you’re asking questions about things that are off the beaten path and are thereby demonstrating a real interest in their city or culture.

It turned out that there weren’t any Jai-alai matches going on while I was in Bilbao, but I found out through asking around that it was possible to go by the frontón (Jai-alai court) and watch some of the players in a practice session. When I got there, I started videotaping some of it and one of the locals noticed me doing so and starting talking to me. It turns out this gentleman was a serious aficionado of the game and since I was very curious about the game, he and I wound up talking for about an hour. He went over some of the different variants of the game with me and explained what was going on during certain points of the practice match I was watching. He also knew some of the players and he asked them to sign one of the special paddles they used in the game – made of a nearly 2” thick piece of red beech - and presented it to me as a gift afterwards. I still smile every time I see it and remember my time in Bilbao – it’s the kind of souvenir money can’t buy.

Here’s a neat mini-documentary about Jai-alai:

The video is interesting, but it only talks about one version of the game, that played with the long basket-like glove called the cesta punta. In the practice match I was watching, they were playing another version in which stout paddles made of 2″ thick beech were used to hit the pelota.

Sign up for a class

If you’re traveling to an English speaking country or if you have some proficiency in the local language, signing up for a class in almost any topic is a great way to see another side of that country. The year that I lived in Spain, I went to a cooking class and learned how to make traditional Spanish dishes such as paella and tortilla española. The class was initially just a one-time deal that was set up for some of the American students but I was so enthusiastic about the topic that the teacher told me I should start coming to her regular weekly classes for Spanish people.

I went to her class almost every week for the rest of the year and came back with some wonderful memories and a recipe book that I made by taking the handouts and notes from class to a copy shop and having them bound.

If all else fails, don’t be afraid to “point and pray”

This strategy mostly refers to choosing items off of a menu in a language you don’t understand, but I think it can be expanded to mean choosing your next destination or activity as well. Your itinerary should never be so heavily scheduled that you can’t afford a day or two to take an interesting detour off the beaten path.

What are some of your most cherished travel memories that involved getting off the beaten path? We’d love to hear about it, post a comment below!

Photo of Amsterdam by MorBCN