Life at a different pace

Is it just me or does everyone feel it? Life in Europe has a different pace. People are busy, but there’s no mad rush. Trains are crowded, but it doesn’t get to push and shove. You simply wait your turn… another train will come along in the next few minutes. At peak hour, there’s shortage of seats, but everyone is willing to stand, no one’s running to grab a seat as soon as it falls vacant. Pedestrians wait patiently at zebra crossings and cars stop to let you cross the road, even when the signal is green. Best of all, there’s no honking…sometimes you feel the cars have no horns at all! Even beggars sit solemnly on pavements, the head bowed humbly, never pestering, never following…

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that people don’t care for time. The tour bus can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere, even if you’re five minutes late. They would warn you about in advance, though…offering an alternative method to reach home safely, just in case you miss the bus! In casual cafes, the waiter will bring you the bill along with the ordered item…no offence please, it just saves time and another unnecessary trip to your table. It doesn’t work exactly the same way when dining formally, though!

The smaller towns and quaint little villages look almost deserted. Does anyone live here at all? I ask myself as our coach passes one such village. The pretty streets, neatly lined with trees and foliage, have small, houses with sloped red brick roofs, each of them equally spaced, as if planned and built the very same day. As the tour guide takes us on the (designed to look casual) ‘walk through the village’, I get a peep into the homes… the window with soft white lace curtains, pretty curios and collectibles displayed on the sills, the cozy armchair with a half-read book, the coffee mugs left on the dining table and the wheelbarrow lying lazily in the backyard. Suddenly, we take a left and step into the main street, all abuzz with cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops. So here’s where all the action is…