In my defense, I have been known to screw up my share of things. I often misread letters and speak in a confusing manner. This is not an uncommon occurrence and I have come to accept and anticipate it. However, the problem gets a little out of hand when I can’t tell the difference between a C and a 6. In my mind they are extremely similar, along with B and 3, among others. To the bus system in Florence, on the other hand, they are extremely dissimilar and travel in opposite directions. This is how I got lost in Florence for the first time.
When I stepped off the bus after counting to the appropriate number of stops I immediately realized I was not where I wanted to be. This was a part of town I had never seen before. In fact, it was a part of town that was barely on the map that I had. I asked a friendly looking lady what direction the Duomo was in. She looked at me with a concerned expression and said, “Oh, it’s very far.” Not a great sign. Trying to beat down my feeling of extreme paranoia and anxiety I asked her to show me where I was on the map (barely) and proceeded confidently in the direction I assumed was the correct one.
Lucky my deductive skills are better than my reading ones. I found myself at my desired destination thirty minutes later without any more wrong turns. Yes, I was a bit late for class, and yes, it was an extremely terrible way to start the day, but at least I know that I’ll never be as lost as that again as long as I keep to the tourist habits and have a map close at hand.
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