Sooooo I get lost…like a lot; I could get lost going down the street. I am convinced this is a genetic trait I inherited from my mother. All fine and good, I accepted my disability but when traveling this is NOT a trait you want to have. I figured it is high time to share some of my best getting lost travel stories. Enjoy!
Crespi d’Adda
My favorite story has to be Crespi d’Adda because it is one of the most out there things I decided to do while in Italy. So Crespi d’Adda is a UNESCO Site that I wanted visit (read about my obsession HERE), and I was relatively close to it but you can’t reach it with public transportation. I devised a complicated plan that in the end worked but had a few roadblocks.
I took a train from Novara to Milan to Bergamo and then a bus to the town nearest to Crespi d’Adda; unfortunately I second guessed myself and got off a couple of bus stops too early. So I ate a snack while I waited for the next bus to come in 30 minutes. Finally I got to the correct bus stop and then I had to walk about half an hour to the abandoned town. I spent a while walking around the ghost industrial town that actually had a surprising amount of tourists considering its location (by the way all those people drove there from what I could see).
This part went wayyyy better than I imagined, however I had no exit strategy. I figured I would take the reverse way back but that didn’t work out because I was totally unable to identify any bus stops along the way and I got lost and ended up in a new tiny town. So at this point I was still optimistic and decided the best plan was to follow the signs that said: Milan this way. Just ignoring I was over 30 kilometers away, I figured that eventually I would find an alternative route.
Well I did eventually find a bus stop that was heading toward Milan in which I waited about 40 minutes for the next bus. From there it was easy: hop on a train that was heading to Milan and then switch to a train to Novara. Overall I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to manage this situation and boy did I walk my butt off!
Tivoli
The town of Tivoli has 2 UNESCO Sites so obviously Will and I were going to see both. Our train dropped us off and it was an easy walk to the first site, Villa d’Este. We ate lunch and I pulled out my Google Maps print out to walk to the next site, Villa Adriana, which was only a 30 minute walk. I mean how far could they be! It was in the SAME town!
It was probably less than 15 minutes before Will made us turn around: we were walking along a highway road on the side of a mountain with no railing. 🙂 Google Maps neglected to include that information in its estimate. We then happily got on a bus that got us there in a few minutes. If I was by myself, I probably would have kept walking to be honest lol thanks for saving my life hunny!
Padova
I was spending the weekend in Padova and printed out very clear directions from the train station to my hotel. I specifically picked a hotel RIGHT NEXT to the station so I wouldn’t have to drag my luggage half way across town. Well, I dragged it all the way across town anyways because I’m dumb.
In essence, I missed a simple left turn which then led me through a huge, yet beautiful park to the other side of the city all while pulling my obnoxious pink floral carry on with me. I ended up going all the way back to the train station after about an hour to retrace my steps and BAM my hotel was less than a 5 minute walk right on the street that the train station was on.
Luckily I can laugh at myself in all situations. And in the end my unplanned adventures gave me great memories and funny stories, totally worth it if you ask me!
JMF
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