The Hindu Business Line : Autumn is for travel

Europe can be an exciting destination for Indian travellers, even if you follow the tourist brochure. But if you move away from the beaten track and seek the unknown, it can open some of the most special moments.

Europe can seem exotic to an Indian. Often, in the thick of a golden autumn day or a rain-splashed hike, the feeling of being an alien in a non-native location sets in. That's when the fun begins, even as you bite into a chicken tikka masala or sample Balti cuisine in Birmingham or Brussels or Barcelona.

I have to confess that I haven't been all over Europe. My introduction to its colours and flavours, its natives and neighbours, has been mainly through its literature. Despite repeated forays into the continent and the United Kingdom, I've got my travel drive focussed firmly on Spain, Greece and Portugal, which beckon like imaginary homelands.

To me, travel is an irresistible call beyond museums, beyond mega-malls, beyond multiplex-dappled skylines. It's the lure of unknown places, chance encounters, rare facts and folklore.

Autumn is by far the best time to travel, beyond doubt or debate. No hymns to the pristine snow or odes to summer showers can alter that. I feel born again when leaves of green-gold, rose-rust or burnt apple rustle under my sneakers, when the air is scented with the ripeness of fruit and fern and frost. In those instants of merging with nature in a sprawl of parkland or munching an apple under a chestnut tree, the summers of self-doubt vanish into the faraway nip of winter in the air.

Responding to the song of autumn, I've chimed to the time of Big Ben, sung aloud with tourists at St. Marcos Square in Venice, eaten wurst with curry sauce at the Victualienmarkt or food market in Munich, and listened to folklore throb to life in Scotland. I've communed with the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, gazed in adoration at Michelengelo's David in Florence, trailed my toes through the warm running waters of Bath, and even listened to Mozart in rehearsal at a Salzburg church.

If each traveller is a directory of his memories, as much as a compass for his or her dreams, here are some of the most special moments I've savoured in Europe. They're yours to share, until you chance upon your own.

Last summer, a ruddy-faced fishing boat skipper named Paddy — every second Irishman is named Paddy after the patron saint St. Patrick — handed me a fishing rod in the choppy waters of Donegal Bay, with the rugged Bunglass cliffs towering over us. "What do I do with this?" I ask.

"Catch fish!" he chuckles.

In minutes, with a little help from our guide Andy, five shimmering mackerel were landed. Not an everyday tourist event, you'll agree.

With Andy at the helm of a Stray Travels 20-seater minibus, our assorted group of global backpackers enjoyed a six-day all-Ireland experience. We trekked or cycled or rode horses deep into the lake-laced wilderness of the Killarney National Park. We downed mugs of Irish coffee, laced with whisky and cream, picked up a traditional Irish song or two, while Andy strummed his guitar at O'Connor's pub at Killarney after a professional raconteur brought pub life vividly alive for us. We learnt of the Potato Famine, peat-cutting in the boglands, the politics of religion-riven Ireland. At the end of it all, we — South Africans, Americans, Australians, et al — felt like honorary Irish folk.

Even if you're not a backpacker by instinct, these tours are the cheapest and safest way to check out the by-lanes and inner psyches of a culture — night-stopping at clean hostels, food shopping at super-markets, cooking at communal kitchens. In Scotland, our sparkling driver Sue shared nuggets of history about the historical Battle of Culloden in 1746 — of how the English banned Gaelic, the plaid and the bagpipes, as punitive measures to stem Highland pride. Along with companions in travel from Canada and Australia, we dipped into icy streams in pursuit of local legends on the Isle of Skye, climbed into the clouds in search of Bone Caves and watched red deer graze on the tranquil hillsides. For us that was the inside story on Scotland.

But if you're more into cityscapes, you should be in Berlin for the Long Night of the Museums. What's that? That's when the city throws open the doors to all its 90 museums from 2 pm to 2 am for the price of a single entry ticket, in January-February and in late August. Whether you're smitten by the turquoise-and-gold Nefertiti mask at the Egyptian Museum or seek immersion in the wonders of contemporary art at a converted railway station, it's a steal! You're irresistibly caught up as Berliners celebrate their museum treasures, arm-in-arm with the strangers who throng their streets through that extraordinary experience.

What else beckons in Europe? The multicultural quaint cafes of the old Gamla Stan in Stockholm, where Peruvian panpipes share the air with cheers of "Skal!" as street lamps dapple the waters of this Swedish capital of 14 islands connected by 53 bridges. Or the Vogalonga in Venice on the first Sunday of every May, when any oar-savvy citizen can set out in a watercraft of his or her choice as thousands line the canal banks for a ringside view in this Italian pedestrian's paradise.

For a change of pace, stroll down the imposing Champs Elysee or the ornate gardens of the Tuileries in Paris, while munching on a chocolate éclair. Or bargain with the bouquinistes, who sell rare art prints and books by the river Seine. You could even hide away for a whole day amongst books at Shakespeare and Co., the favourite haunt of writers Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein in their heydey.

If small town wonders appeal to you, search out Europe's only museum of illustrations at the Italian Renaissance town of Ferrara, where streets link into each other at perfect right angles and homely restaurants serve cappeletti, special stuffed pasta dedicated to Venus' navel!

Or you could visit the multi-tiered, windowless anatomical theatre at the 12th century north Italian city of Padova, where students used to walk around with lighted candles to keep from fainting. Or buy yourself souvenirs shaped like a gingko leaf, the city's emblem, at Weimar in the German east, the site of the famed Bauhaus.

Whether its pasta or paella, Dresden china or Belgian chocolates, flamenco or the Oktoberfest you're in search of, choose an itinerary off the beaten track, pack a spirit of adventure, check every detail of your travel documents, and above all, be ready to adopt strangers as friends. Choose clothes suited to the weather abroad, but pack light. And take that first step out with a positive frame of mind. You'll go places that will become yours for life.

Travel tips

Lodging: Clean and hospitable youth hostels around Europe are your best bet. The prices range between £10 to 15 for dormitories and about £22 for double rooms, if you sign up for the Youth Hostels Association of India card and book in advance on the Net. Sheets and blankets are provided, but you should carry a towel along.

Food: Most hostels have communal kitchens with refrigerators, where you can rustle up a quick meal if you've already shopped at a supermarket. Pre-cooked Indian foods and spices are easily available.

Currency: It pays to stock up on Euros, instead of dollars. And to remember that punts and pounds are a currency apart in Ireland.

Information: Surfing the Net gives a wealth of travel data. You could try www.straytravel.com or www.radicaltravel.com or www.contiki.com or sriranjan@service2travel.com or info@vistaskipti.is for starters (the last two are India-based agents for European tours for 18-35 year-olds).

Visas: A multiple-entry Schengen visa entitles you to visit 15 countries on mainland Europe. It is less complicated to get the visas prior to your departure from India.

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