What we gained by planning less and staying longer. We had planned to see more. Instead we sat at the same table for two hours, watching the light move across the square, and agreed it was the most useful thing we did all week.
There is an argument for going slowly that has little to do with virtue. Slowness is simply how attention works: the longer you stay, the more a place has time to tell you.
What stayed with us
A local told us the trick is to walk until you are slightly lost, then ask for directions to somewhere you do not actually need to go. People are generous when the stakes are low.
The details are never the small part.
Back home, the details that stayed were small ones: the weight of a ceramic cup, the particular blue of a doorway, a stranger who insisted we take the last pastry.
None of this requires much money, only a willingness to leave the itinerary half-empty and to treat the unplanned hours as the point.
Before you go
- Take your time with it.
- Notice the small things.
- Write down what you want to remember.
The morning begins the way the best ones do: with nothing scheduled and the window open. Somewhere below, a shutter rattles up, and the smell of bread drifts between the buildings.
