To begin with, let me say that I love Italy and everything that happens there. After all, if everything goes smoothly during a trip, can it really be called a trip? (Cited from Haruki Murakami’s What on Earth is in Laos?) By that measure, I’ve truly traveled a lot. Coming from Japan, I’m aware that my expectations might differ from others around the world, so if you have any thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them.
I recently traveled to northern Italy to attend my boyfriend’s wedding. The ceremony was held in a location a bit far from the city center, so we needed to take a bus to get there. Following Google Maps, we walked to the bus station. The road we walked had almost nobody, and sideroad itself also like forget his role. Finally, we reached what was supposed to be the bus stop. Bus stop? Despite looking around, we couldn’t find anything that clearly marked it as such.
I don’t fully understand the local norms or common practices in Italy, but I expected there to be some sort of SIGN to indicate the bus stop. We couldn’t afford to be late; if we missed the bus, we would miss the wedding. Time was ticking away, and we began to wonder if Google Maps had led us astray. Fortunately, there was a bar nearby, so we asked the waiter where the bus stop was. His response? “We don’t know.”
Okay, we made mistake. At that point, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we might miss the wedding. Just as we were about to give up, I noticed a bus approaching. I strained my eyes to check the number. YES! This was the bus we needed! With no time to waste, I jumped up and waved my arms frantically. Thankfully, the bus driver saw us, and we managed to catch the bus. Happy ending!
However, one mystery remains: where exactly was that bus stop? If anyone has any insight, please let me know! 🥸
