Continuing from the last post where I started a journey on foot, leaving my Assistante behind with the car in the parking lot, to look for our hotel on a dark and rainy night in Perugia, Italy:
The lady and I stopped at a structure at the corner of two major streets. Inside, it was really bright, a huge contrast from the thick and wet darkness that we came from. She explained something to a gentleman behind a glass counter and waved goodbye to me. It dawned on me that we were at a bus station and, with our language barrier, she had taken me somewhere I would get help in English.
Rocca-Paolina-Perugia-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography
The conversation at the bus station with the gentleman was a blur and it essentially reduced down to what I jotted on paper:
- Line I from Piazzale Europa to Piazza Italia (near our reserved hotel per the gentleman)
- Line A or E from Piazzale Europa to Piazza dei Partigiani
Armed with info, I decided to get back to the parking lot where my Assistante had been waiting (meaning, without further delay from being lost). With a cell phone shot of the map that a passing tourists couple had in their hands and my GPS kind of sense of directions (akem…), I was eventually descending back down the same set of escalators, at the bottom of which stood my partner-in-crime, worried sick.
The next morning, looking down from the top of the hill where the historical center stood, we both felt relieved and triumphal at the same time. And I somehow knew that I would remember the lady that took me under her umbrella on that rainy night.
Chiesa-di-San-Domenico-and-San-Pietro-Perugia-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography
Bonus:
I have some really smart people reading my blog. So I have a not-so-easy question for you: Where do you think we initially parked our car at? Remember, our plan was to park at Piazza dei Partigiani and take the escalator to go straight to our hotel.
