Walking around my home city, I’m often guilty of putting my earphones in, zoning out and looking down.
It’s the perfect way to numb your senses isn’t it?
I mean, the sounds of your day are muted, overpowered by the beats and bass of your music selection. Plus, being the perpetual dreamer that I am, songs instantly awaken associated memories or provide the soundtrack to my dreams for the future. Lost in my own thoughts and music, it’s so easy to forget where I am and what’s around me. Which is fine, if that’s what you’re aiming for. It’s not always a good thing though, especially when you’re travelling.
So I made myself a promise – applicable to both my travels and my time at home – to refrain from escaping into my music and to lift my head, absorbing the sights and sounds of my surroundings.
I spent a week in Croatia’s Istrian city of Rovinj, where I slowly lost myself in the pretty playground of old town streets. I was free from distraction, fully alert to the architectural details, and the summer sounds of the sea and coastal cafe culture. I even looked up, as well as down, admiring the full height of the destination’s features.
What did I see?
Buildings painted from a palette of pretty, rainbow and pastel colours.
A game of guessing where each curving corner might take you.
Wide open wooden shutters, taking colour inspiration from a packet of sweets.
A series of orangey coloured buildings, with a single tropical tree to match.
Lanterns lit to illuminate the narrow streets after dark.
Cute cobbles coated in summer rain.
Courtyards which tourists call beautiful, and locals call home.
Balbi’s Arch – a reminder of the city’s past rulers.
All that was in addition to scenes like this…
The moral of the story = to truly appreciate the finer features of where you are, you’ve got to LOOK UP.