There's something to be said for feeling like a local...especially when you're not. For me, my vacations are not considered 'successful' until I know my surroundings, when I feel comfortable walking around without a map. My shining moment in Australia came when I was strolling down a side street in the Rocks neighborhood in Sydney and a woman stopped me to ask for directions.
Me?!?! The little tourist girl from Chicago??? And YES!!! I was able to tell her how to get to the hotel she was trying to find. I was pretty proud of myself and felt even more comfortable in my "home away from home" that is Australia.
How strange is it that a city on the other side of the planet feels more like home to me than one just 2 hours' flight away?
By the time Firecracker and I left New York last weekend, I had a small measure of comfort in knowing my way around. I mean, terms like "Upper West Side" and "the Village" held meaning for me, a significant difference from the week before.
But it wasn't until I was watching an old episode of "Sex & the City" that I realized that New York isn't as foreign to me as it had once been. Carrie Bradshaw was having an affair with a married Mr. Big and they had a rendezvous at a trashy hotel. Carrie figured that their anonymity was assured since no one would know them down there (at 58th and 7th).
AND I RECOGNIZED THE LOCATION!
Okay, I didn't know exactly which hotel they were talking about, but I had to smile because I knew that 58th and 7th is near Times Square.
Small world.
And I'm getting to know more and more of it all the time.
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1 comment:
Thats one of your many fine attributes! The fact you appreciate what a big wide world it is - and actively go and visit it.
Love the Limey Clan.
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