Lost, not Really
The gal I went to Scandinavia with was a novice traveler, but she knew it all. We were delayed a couple hours getting out of JFK airport so arrived in Helsinki mid-morning.
After freshening up, our guide took us on the local tram which stopped right in front of our hotel, down town for a bit of orientation. I paid close attention to the route and turns the tram made as we planned to walk back to the hotel later in the day.
We had lunch and did some sightseeing before we decided to head back to the hotel in mid afternoon. The hotel wasn’t far, Helsinki is very easy to walk and it was a beautiful warm sunny day.
When we approached an intersection I knew we should take a right turn and follow the tram tracks. But there was no arguing with my companion---she knew we should go straight. To this day four years later I don’t know why I didn’t put my foot down and insist.
We walked on through a lovely neighborhood, and we walked and walked. It was approaching the end of a long day after an all night flight as we trudged on and on. I kept saying, “We should have turned back at that intersection. None of this looks familiar. ”
My sense of direction is not the best, and I can get turned around pretty easily unless I pay very close attention, so she was the designated map reader.
“No, no we’re going right.” She had the map and could prove it.
We saw no cabs, tram, bus or pedestrians to ask directions, so we just continued to put one foot in front of the other.
Eventually we hit the coastline. We hung a right as I knew the hotel faced the harbor. We made it back in time for dinner, but walked over three miles over a couple of leisurely hours.
The next day we walked to town in 15 minutes---easy when you go more or less in a straight line. My companion spent the rest of the trip proving she could be a better map reader, but I always double checked her and we did not get lost again.
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