Lost in Lisbon

Sofía was sure the museum was three streets away. According to her map, all she had to do was turn left. But Lisbon's streets did not behave like streets in other cities. They climbed. They twisted. They ended without warning.

Sofía je bila sigurna da je muzej udaljen tri ulice. Prema njezinoj karti, trebala je samo skrenuti lijevo. Ali ulice Lisabona nisu se ponašale kao ulice u drugim gradovima. Penjale su se. Vijugale su. Završavale su bez upozorenja.

After twenty minutes, she stopped on a small square she had never seen on any map. A cat was asleep on a chair. An old woman was hanging clothes from a balcony.

Nakon dvadeset minuta, zaustavila se na malom trgu koji nikad nije vidjela ni na jednoj karti. Mačka je spavala na stolici. Stara žena je vješala rublje s balkona.

"Excuse me," Sofía called up. "Do you know the way to the museum?" The old woman frowned and disappeared inside. Sofía thought she had been rude. But a minute later, the woman came out of the front door of the building, slowly, holding a piece of paper.

"Oprostite," viknula je Sofía prema gore. "Znate li put do muzeja?" Stara žena se namrštila i nestala je u kući. Sofía je pomislila da je bila nepristojna. Ali minutu kasnije, žena je izašla kroz ulazna vrata zgrade, polako, držeći komad papira.

She had drawn a small map by hand. Three streets, two corners, a fountain. "Don't trust the phone here," she said in careful English. "The phone gets confused in this neighborhood."

Nacrtala je malu kartu rukom. Tri ulice, dva ugla, fontanu. "Ne vjerujte telefonu ovdje," rekla je pažljivim engleskim. "Telefon se zbuni u ovom kvartu."

Sofía thanked her. She did not find the museum that afternoon. She kept the paper map for the rest of the trip.

Sofía joj je zahvalila. Tog popodneva nije pronašla muzej. Zadržala je papirnu kartu do kraja putovanja.