Getting Lost in Padua
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
When I was in Padua, I had to find a laundry. I hadn't had my clothes washed for about three weeks. I was beginning to wonder about finding them in the morning. I was afraid they would either wander off, or get burned by the outraged Health Department.
I asked around for a laundromat at the Tourist Office in the train station. I specifically asked for some laundries close to the hotel. They told me about two laundromats "close" by. I set off walking to find the first one, as it looked to be the closest. About a mile down the road from both the Tourist Office and my hotel, I found the laundromat. It was closed. So I trudged back to my hotel.
The next day I stuffed all my dirty laundry into a duffel bag and set off to the first laundromat again. When I got there I discovered that they did clean clothes there, they dry cleaned them. The next nearest laundromat was another mile down the road. All I can say is, I'm glad I asked about the laundries close by. Finding the distant ones would have taken Lowell Thomas.
The lady running the laundry spoke English better than I spoke Italian. We agreed that my clothes needed to be washed, that she would wash them, and that I should come back in two days to pick them up. It's amazing what you can do with gestures.
Two days later I spent the afternoon roaming around Verona. I saw where Romeo and Juliet lived and all kinds of other neat stuff. You know the balcony scene in Zefferelli's movie, "Romeo & Juliet," where Romeo's lurking around in the garden? It's the one where Juliet says, "Romeo. Oh, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" In the movie, that garden is huge. It looks like a park or something.
In reality, Juliet's balcony looks out over a fairly small cobbled courtyard, about, say 20'x40'. Not a tree anywhere. Unless that girl was stone blind, she couldn't miss Romeo standing below her balcony. Another illusion shattered.
Then I came back at about 4:30. The train station also serves as one a major bus stops. I thought it would be nice to give my poor aching feet a rest and take a bus down to the laundry. I talked to the lady in the Tourist Office and she told me which bus to take.
I had my choice, #4, #7, or #19. I bought a couple of tickets and took my place out in the sun to wait. And wait, and wait as it turned out. About a half an hour later, good old #19 rolled up and I got on.
We headed into town and in the general direction of the laundromat. Things were great, things were wonderful. I was having a good time, all was right with the world. About a quarter mile from the train station, the bus went through a round-about and pulled a U-turn.
We were now heading out of town. I figured, "Hey, stay cool, stay calm. The bus will turn around soon." We kept going farther out of town. For a while the number of passengers getting on roughly matched the number getting off. We were still heading out of town. "Hey, stay cool, stay calm. The bus will turn around soon.", I repeated to myself.
Then the number of passengers getting off began exceeding the number getting on. We were still heading out of town. I kept chanting my mantra, "Hey, stay COOL, stay CALM. The BUS will turn around SOON.", with perhaps just a bit of desperation in my voice.
On and on, farther and farther we went. People kept getting off. Pretty soon the bus was deserted. It was just me and the bus driver. To hell with staying cool and calm, I was edging over into panic. It was 6:10 pm, I had to pick up my clothes at 6!
We swung around a corner. The bus driver pulled up to the curb, killed the engine, opened the doors, calmly got off and vanished. There I was, sitting on a deserted bus somewhere in Lower East Snake Navel, Italy. There wasn't a phones in sight. Not that finding a phone would have done me much good. I had gone mano a mano with the Italian phone system before and it was winning 387 to 3.
There was no other traffic in sight; no taxis, no cars, no trucks, no buses, no nothing. Not that finding a taxi would have done me much good either. I didn't have a lot of money on me. I couldn't tell the driver where I wanted to go because I couldn't remember the name or address of either my hotel or the laundromat.
There were no people in sight. Not that finding somebody would have done me much good. I don't speak Italian. Things were looking grim.
I got off of the bus and hunted around for a while. I found a bus schedule posted, and that calmed me down. The schedule claimed that within 45 minutes I could be stuck at the other end of the route, so I figured that the driver had to come back pretty soon. Sure enough, he did and we headed back into town.
Things were great again, all was well with the world. We came back into Padua, and the sights became familiar. We kept going, things stopped being familiar. A horrid sense of deja vu all over again started edging its icy fingers around my heart. I got off at the next stop somewhere in the middle of town near the hospital.
Fortunately, there was a street map posted nearby and I got my bearings. I was about a mile south and west of the laundromat, and it was 6:45. Walking very rapidly, I set off to get my laundry. I got to the laundromat at about 7 pm, just as they were locking the door. 39,000 lira later, about $30, I had my laundry back. I still had a bus ticket, but I walked back to the hotel.
I asked around for a laundromat at the Tourist Office in the train station. I specifically asked for some laundries close to the hotel. They told me about two laundromats "close" by. I set off walking to find the first one, as it looked to be the closest. About a mile down the road from both the Tourist Office and my hotel, I found the laundromat. It was closed. So I trudged back to my hotel.
The next day I stuffed all my dirty laundry into a duffel bag and set off to the first laundromat again. When I got there I discovered that they did clean clothes there, they dry cleaned them. The next nearest laundromat was another mile down the road. All I can say is, I'm glad I asked about the laundries close by. Finding the distant ones would have taken Lowell Thomas.
The lady running the laundry spoke English better than I spoke Italian. We agreed that my clothes needed to be washed, that she would wash them, and that I should come back in two days to pick them up. It's amazing what you can do with gestures.
Two days later I spent the afternoon roaming around Verona. I saw where Romeo and Juliet lived and all kinds of other neat stuff. You know the balcony scene in Zefferelli's movie, "Romeo & Juliet," where Romeo's lurking around in the garden? It's the one where Juliet says, "Romeo. Oh, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" In the movie, that garden is huge. It looks like a park or something.
In reality, Juliet's balcony looks out over a fairly small cobbled courtyard, about, say 20'x40'. Not a tree anywhere. Unless that girl was stone blind, she couldn't miss Romeo standing below her balcony. Another illusion shattered.
Then I came back at about 4:30. The train station also serves as one a major bus stops. I thought it would be nice to give my poor aching feet a rest and take a bus down to the laundry. I talked to the lady in the Tourist Office and she told me which bus to take.
I had my choice, #4, #7, or #19. I bought a couple of tickets and took my place out in the sun to wait. And wait, and wait as it turned out. About a half an hour later, good old #19 rolled up and I got on.
We headed into town and in the general direction of the laundromat. Things were great, things were wonderful. I was having a good time, all was right with the world. About a quarter mile from the train station, the bus went through a round-about and pulled a U-turn.
We were now heading out of town. I figured, "Hey, stay cool, stay calm. The bus will turn around soon." We kept going farther out of town. For a while the number of passengers getting on roughly matched the number getting off. We were still heading out of town. "Hey, stay cool, stay calm. The bus will turn around soon.", I repeated to myself.
Then the number of passengers getting off began exceeding the number getting on. We were still heading out of town. I kept chanting my mantra, "Hey, stay COOL, stay CALM. The BUS will turn around SOON.", with perhaps just a bit of desperation in my voice.
On and on, farther and farther we went. People kept getting off. Pretty soon the bus was deserted. It was just me and the bus driver. To hell with staying cool and calm, I was edging over into panic. It was 6:10 pm, I had to pick up my clothes at 6!
We swung around a corner. The bus driver pulled up to the curb, killed the engine, opened the doors, calmly got off and vanished. There I was, sitting on a deserted bus somewhere in Lower East Snake Navel, Italy. There wasn't a phones in sight. Not that finding a phone would have done me much good. I had gone mano a mano with the Italian phone system before and it was winning 387 to 3.
There was no other traffic in sight; no taxis, no cars, no trucks, no buses, no nothing. Not that finding a taxi would have done me much good either. I didn't have a lot of money on me. I couldn't tell the driver where I wanted to go because I couldn't remember the name or address of either my hotel or the laundromat.
There were no people in sight. Not that finding somebody would have done me much good. I don't speak Italian. Things were looking grim.
I got off of the bus and hunted around for a while. I found a bus schedule posted, and that calmed me down. The schedule claimed that within 45 minutes I could be stuck at the other end of the route, so I figured that the driver had to come back pretty soon. Sure enough, he did and we headed back into town.
Things were great again, all was well with the world. We came back into Padua, and the sights became familiar. We kept going, things stopped being familiar. A horrid sense of deja vu all over again started edging its icy fingers around my heart. I got off at the next stop somewhere in the middle of town near the hospital.
Fortunately, there was a street map posted nearby and I got my bearings. I was about a mile south and west of the laundromat, and it was 6:45. Walking very rapidly, I set off to get my laundry. I got to the laundromat at about 7 pm, just as they were locking the door. 39,000 lira later, about $30, I had my laundry back. I still had a bus ticket, but I walked back to the hotel.
