While travelling if you have not got lost and don’t have a
lost story to tell, were you even travelling? I have a history of getting lost
or getting separated from the group of people, or losing something important,
like everywhere. It’s either I am getting lost or my parents or my friends! I
thought why not share few glimpses of that today.
Vanished in Venice
We were in Venice, right in front of St. Mark’s Basilica
mingling with people and waiting for our turn to enter the cathedral. We had
some nice sandwich and cappuccino at a café at the Piazza and were pretty
excited to be in Venice in the first place. Just before entering the cathedral
I touched my sling bag (this was in 2006 or 2005 – I don’t quite remember – and
sling bags were not in fashion, it was a small pouch bag with a long sling like
strap) to see if everything was in place. I sometimes get this OCD rush when I
am travelling. And guess what happened? The sling was there over my shoulder
but the pouch was missing! WTF?? Where the hell was my bag. I was in Italy and
that pouch had some Euros and my Passport!!!!
Two things ran through my mind – my parents will probably
disown me if I lose the passport and I might be deported back to India that
very moment! I was super scared to report this to my parents even. I was what twenty
year old that time. I even asked them to go ahead with the Basilica and I’ll
join them in a while. But my dad understood something was wrong because I had
turned al red! For twenty minutes I searched almost everywhere, from the café to
the entrance of the church! It was finally another kind Indian Lady who came
searching for me, she had found my purse. She was searching for me to help me
out. Madam you saved me that day thank you!
Absent in Acropolis
If you have visited Acropolis or anywhere Athens, Greece you
will know it’s just tourist tourist tourist. Everyone wants to click a photo
first and then see everything else. I was also young and carefree when I
visited and climbed the place up much faster than our friends and my parents.
All I wanted was someone to click my photo with the nice backdrop. Then I realized
the camera was with my mom. (those were not the days of iPhones and
smartphones).
But where the hell was my mom, or my dad? They were tugging behind
the last I remembered. But I didn’t see anyone! There were scores of tourists
but not the people I was looking for. I went down the underground museum in
search of them. They were not there as well. I think for an hour I left
everything and kept searching for my parents. The other thought at the back of
my mind was – they must be worried about me too, their only daughter was lost,
and lost in Greece! This time my passport was not even with me – I started
trusting my documents with my dad after my Venice experience. I forgot about
the photos and everything else. I even reached the parking lot. I saw our bus parked;
I thought maybe I can take the driver’s help to report to the police! And then
guess what – my parents were seated inside the bus!!!
They roamed around everywhere, finished the sightseeing and
were waiting for me in the bus – supposedly! I still don’t know who was lost –
me or them. And I don’t have a single photo of mine at Acropolis!
There are many such incidents that I can write about, but may
be later. Tell me when was the last time you got lost in an unknown place?
Meanwhile check out a super grilled salad