Bob

A friend of mine once went south on the autobahn when he thought he was going north to Frankfurt. He ended up at the Swiss border while his wife waited for him at the Frankfurt airport. True story. Does anyone else out there have any "getting lost" sagas?

Snoopy

A buddy of mine and I had been traveling in the UK and were squirrelling around on backroads in Wales. It was getting near dark and we spotted an interesting looking place to stay so we checked in but it was too late for dinner. We cleaned out the car, and took our bags and maps upstairs to our room expecting to plan our route for the following day.<BR><BR>The host gave us complicated directions to a restaurant a few miles away and we took off and immediately got lost and it got very dark and started to rain. We took a series of lefts and rights and eventually wound up in a small town where we found a restaurant and ate dinner.<BR><BR>We left the restaurant, got back into the car and had no idea where we were, and no idea of the name of the hotel we'd checked into. We drove around for almost 3 hours trying to retrace and backtrack . . . and about the time the gas gauge showed empty, we spotted a familiar looking driveway and it turned out to be the one into our hotel.<BR><BR>Yes, I know . . . how could we both forget the name of the hotel? Because we we're morons! Oh, well.

uncle sam

My wife, son and I were traveling by train from Paris to Brugges on our 2nd European visit. <BR><BR>The train had problems, they swiched another locomotive and we arrived in Brussells Sud station in the dark about three hours after our connection to Brugges left.<BR><BR>We unloaded our bags, and back then we carried everything but the kitchen sink, and I proceeded downstairs to the ticket office to find out when and on what track the next train to Brugges left.<BR><BR>The man said track X at 9:10. We went to track X at 8:50. A train arrived at 8:52 and I assumed that this was the train for Brugges only it was early. We got on the train in the 1st class compartment stored our bags and sat down.<BR><BR>I asked a person sitting n our compartment if they had been to Brugges before. They indicated that they had. I then asked what time this train was going to arrive in Brugges. The person told me that it never would as it was heading in the opposite direction to Ghent.<BR><BR>They suggested we get off at the next station Brussels Midi. We did and I ran out in the rain to the train station entrance to find out when the next train to Brugges would be. I was told in about 2 minutes. We hurriedlly found the train, loaded the bags and and wiped rain and sweat from our brows.<BR><BR>We then proceeded back to Brussels Sud and arrived at.....you guessed it...gate X at 9:10...right on time for our original departure to Brugges.<BR><BR>Didn't get lost but sure did get on the wrong train....and we learned a lot of valuable lessons about rail travel in Europe!<BR><BR>US

susan

My brother and I had just picked up his new custom Benz at the factory in Stuttgart and were on the Black Forest Rally arranged by the company. We were speeding along with the top down and the Rolling Stones playing. We were cruising in Freiburg looking for the old city and spied a gorgeous arch and watch tower with cobblestone streets beyond. We went through the arch only to find that on Saturdays the area around the church was an open market and was closed to traffic...we were in the middle of a sea of thousands of people and there was no turning around, only moving forward. I was laughing and my brother was sweating bullets and getting very stressed. We slowly moved through the people only to turn each corner and find no escape in sight while the streets narrowed. I decided to stop laughing when my brother started looking like he was going to begin having chest pains. We heard many comments in German but it was the person who yelled 'as*hole' in a German accent that got our attention. A guy on a bicycle in front of us seemed worried that we would run him over... I wish he knew he was not in danger. Suddenly we saw a cross street with traffic and emerged from the disaster. We sat in the car and started laughing hysterically. We figured that the many locals knew exactly which country we were from. How embarassing.

Melissa

I almost got lost in Frankfurt. I was by myself, I had just arrived, and went into town for shopping. At the end of the day, I relaxed with one...then two glasses of Apfel wein. I finished the last glass quickly because the waiter was hitting on me, and hurried back to the hauptbanhof. If you have ever seen the Frankfurt train station at rush hour, it was a mess! I had no idea which of the eight different directions I was supposed to go. I was tipsy and could not understand German, much less figure out what train I was supposed to catch. I wandered down to a platform...then up...then down another...then up. I finally staggered over to the information booth to see if I could make someone understand me.<BR><BR>I wasn't panicking or anything, but I was a little worried about how I would manage, being full of apfel wein! I did make it back to the hotel, too. Always an adventure.

Gavin

As a 16 year old I got hopelessly lost in Athens. I had arrived the day before as part of school group. It was not my school but had joined the trip because my school was not doing one that year and had the travel bug. I got up very early in the morning and so as not to disturb my roommates went for a walk. I had no map. I knew this was dangerous so I thought I will just go down the street and come back. That plan would have worked if I had stuck to it. My mistake was on seeing Omonia square I had to have a look and forgot which street I had come from. after trying several wrong streets I was getting a bit panicky. A police officer did speak enough English had never heard of my hotel. I accosted another likely looking passer-by who spoke excellent English but did not know my hotel either. He did find a cab for me. I has greeted by my puzzeled fellow travelers as I emerged from the cab safely back at the hotel. &quot;Where have you been?&quot; they asked. &quot;I don't know&quot; I replied.

wondering

<BR>Uncle Sam:<BR>Your story is very funny but puzzling, when you bear in mind that Brussels Sud = Brussels Midi, and that most (if not all) trains from Brussels to Bruges do stop in Ghent...

xxx

Yes, no wonder Uncle Sam got lost. He still thinks Ghent and Brugges are in opposite directions from Brussels, when if fact Ghent is right on the way to Brugges.

Amy

Getting lost is a part of just about every trip for me, but my favorite story happened in Kiev (back when Ukraine was part of the USSR.)<BR><BR>There were three of us wandering around on the first night we were there, and we went down through a park. It started to get dark and one traveler (not me got a little chicken at the idea of going back through the park on our way back. &quot;Going around&quot; landed us in a residential section with absolutely nobody in sight. Lo and behold, just as we were getting a bit worried, a taxi appeared out of nowhere. We have our suspicions that the taxi driver was an angel in disguise, because he only accepted rubles. Either that or he was our own personal KGB agent.<BR><BR>Oh, and on another USSR trip, in Leningrad-as-was, the tram driver took us past the end of the line to a place where we could get a taxi; we had gotten the #7 tram instead of bus, silly us. <BR><BR>

StCirq

Not a getting lost story, exactly, but...<BR><BR>We rented a car (a very old one, on the spur of the moment, from a Greek garage) on the island of Samos. We drove around the island and decided to take the car up Mount Ambelos. It was essentially a goat track, with a sheer I-don't-know-how-many-meters drop to the sea below on the passenger side - frightening as heck. We got up to the town at the top and stopped, got out, spied a small taverna (the only comercial establishment in sight), and sat down and had a lunch of salad and bread. As we ate, all the inhabitants of this tiny town came out of their houses and walked past and stared at us and talked amongst themselves - maybe we were the first visitors in a long time? Little boys with huge doughnut-shaped breads rolled them with sticks all around the tiny plaka and pointed fingers at us and laughed. We finished lunch around 2 pm,which was about when the siesta was about to begin. We paid the bill and asked the taverna owner if we could get back to the main road by continuing through town over the other side of the mountain (we communicated in German, apparently our only common language). He assured us we could. Big grins from him and all his family members. Got back in the car and headed out of town in the opposite direction from which we'd come, hoping for a better road down &quot;the other side of the mountain.&quot; All the villagers swarmed around the car and waved and smiled. One of the little boys pushed a loaf of the doughnut-shaped bread in the window of the car. We pulled in the side mirrors of the car and made our way through the astonishingly narrow streets of town and out to a road that appeared to head down the &quot;other side of the mountain.&quot; We got about a quarter of a mile, made a narrow turn, and .....the road just ended, with another who-knows-how-many-meters drop to the sea - no roadblock, no sign, nothing. Just a road that ended WAY high up over the sea. We had no choice but to back up the mountain. I was practically apoplectic at this point, and our two friends opted to get out and walk while my husband backed the car up. We backed through town. There wasn't a soul in sight. Every house had the shutters drawn tight. We still wonder if this was some cruel joke. It certainly was breathtaking.

Art

In Granada Spain, we were looking for our Hotel. After many trips around various blocks we spotted it down a side street, but it was one way. Tried to go around the block and found ourselves on vary narrow streets (we had to fold the side mirrors in to fit driving down the street. Took one turn and saw what we thought was a left turn at the end. Turned out to be steps so had to back up this same narrow street. pedestrians all over the place. Than found out that the street hotel street was closed for construction so had to find a different hotel. Thank goodness that I did have a cell phone on that trip.

mimi taylor

It was my first time riding the TGV and I THOUGHT, I was on the correct train, as I jumped aboard, a man started chatting me up, asked where I was from, where I was going. When I told him Avignon! He picked up my suitcse grabbed my hand and said &quot;fast&quot;, you have only minutes!&quot;He ran with me to the right train and demanded a kiss on the cheek and sent me on my way. I will never forget that kind person.

uncle sam

xxx and Wondering,I hear you and you are correct.<BR><BR>I could be mistaken as to the actual details. It was in 1991, but I swear that the person said Ghent. Perhaps it was not. <BR><BR>Regardless I was also under the impression that there were three stations in Brussels. Sud, Midi and Nord. Perhaps the first one was Midi and the 2nd was Nord.<BR><BR>Man, I look like I do not know what I'm talking about.<BR><BR>OTOH, I'll swear on a stack of Bibles that it happened!<BR><BR>US

Duke

My wife and I were on our first trip to Paris in 1971 driving a VW beatle from where we lived in Germany. <BR><BR>I got lost going into Paris. Finally found a map posted on the wall of a train station, but it did not tell you WHERE on the map you were actually at.<BR><BR>Two French guys walked by and I tried to ask them in English WHERE were we located. They did not understand so I stomped my foot and pointed at the map. They stomped their foot and looked at me. I stomped again and pointed at the map. They stomped again and then pointed to a spot on the map. I stomped and said OKAY? They stomped and said yes. Now I knew where I was and could find downtown.<BR><BR>My wife said it was the funniest dance she had ever seen. I just responded that we were not lost anymore and my foot hurt.<BR><BR>I have also driven through a crowd of Germans on a walking path....but that is another story.

Betsy

LOL, Duke. My husband and I drove through a crowd of Germans on a hiking path once. They were not amused. We have since mastered most of the critical international road signs.

Nan

We joined an old friend,who was living in Paris and was pretty old himself. He wanted to drive us out to Versailles for the day. He had a tiny, tiny car and drove like a maniac. When we reached the fountains in Versailles he said he would drive us closer and proceeded to drive us right by the fountain and on the walking path almost up to the entrance. We kept telling him to turn back but he wouldn't hear of it then when the guards started running towards us, he backed up the path and we circled the fountain a few times, then off to the parking lot. He wanted to take a nap while we went inside, but when we came out the car was nowhere to be found. We waited about an hour and walked around looking for him, he had moved the car far away to be in shade. <BR><BR>That same trip,not having learned our lesson yet, he lead us to his favorite cafe. We walked and walked and he kept saying, the next block, the next block. We passed a section of town where we were walking amidst hoards of hookers, who jeered at us, we kept on turning corners behind him until finally we hailed a cab and never did find the favorite cafe.

xxx

US didn't seem wrong to me &quot;in the opposite direction to Ghent&quot; is also in the opposite direction to Brugge.

mills

Have been lost many times in Europe, it wasn't until we returned from our first trip to Germany and Austria that we learned that &quot;Umleitung&quot; meant diversion, but what fun. Have been lost in the fog, followed a car and ended up going along farm tracks.However through the fog we saw two church towers and knew that there would be at least a hotel in the vicinity. Thats when we discovered Zweifalten, surely the most beautiful church in Germany.Have also driven on oneway streets, down steps and up steps. Thats travel, how tremendous it is and the memories!!

LeeAnn

We took our rented car for a day trip out of London to see Dartmoor area. It was late on the way back after dinner so I helped navigate to get us back on the right track. After we passed a sign saying Exeter 35k ahead I thought I would take a little snooze, when I woke up a little later everything seemed fine and I was just looking out of the window when I saw a sign Exeter 48k ahead. We should have been almost back to London, instead my husband must have gotten out on the wrong slot from a turnabout and we were headed south again. We finally got back to our worried friend's home about 3am. We didnt want to wake the whole family by calling, seems like they were so worried the whole family was waiting literally by the door.

Mike

Headed from ROME TO NICE on the bullet train we missed our stop in Bologna, we hopped back on the train going back to Bologna.<BR><BR>We asked for help and took a local train to Ventimilla. It ended up being too late for the train to Nice (about 11pm).<BR><BR>The next train left for Nice at 6 a.m. <BR><BR>We spent a Saturday night in Ventimilla. This town is dead! Nothing was open except one resturaunt.<BR><BR>10-15 OTHER TOURIST ALL GOT STUCK IN VENTIMILLIA AND SPENT A COLD NIGHT IN THE TRAIN STATION. THANK GOD WE MADE IT TO NICE BY SUNRISE.