Autumn is also when Europe remembers its darkness. Halloween is an American export, but in Transylvania, the mist over Bran Castle needs no fake cobwebs. In Ireland, Samhain (the origin of Halloween) is still felt in the hedgerows at dusk—the moment when the veil between worlds thins.
But spring’s real magic is psychological. After a dark, damp winter, southern Europeans spill into piazzas as if seeing each other for the first time. In Seville, orange blossoms perfume the air so thickly you can almost taste them. In London, every patch of grass is suddenly covered in people lying down, faces turned skyward—photosynthesizing. season in europe
To experience all four seasons in Europe is to understand something profound: that time moves differently here. Not faster or slower, but cyclically . The same chestnut tree that drops its leaves in your October photograph will bloom again in your April one. The same Roman fountain you saw frozen in January will be splashed by children in July. Autumn is also when Europe remembers its darkness