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 si bola istá, že múzeum je len tri ulice ďaleko. Podľa jej mapy stačilo len zabočiť doľava. Ale lisabonské ulice sa nespávali ako ulice v iných mestách. Stúpali do kopca. Krútili sa. Končili sa bez varovania.

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.

Po dvadsiatich minútach sa zastavila na malom námestí, ktoré nikdy nevidela na žiadnej mape. Na stoličke spala mačka. Stará žena vešala bielizeň z balkóna.

"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.

"Prepáčte," zavolala Sofía nahor. "Viete cestu do múzea?" Stará žena sa zamračila a zmizla vo vnútri. Sofía si myslela, že bola nezdvorilá. Ale o minútu neskôr vyšla žena z vchodových dverí budovy, pomaly, držiac kúsok papiera.

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."

Nakreslila malú mapku rukou. Tri ulice, dva rohy, fontánu. "Nedôveruj tu telefónu," povedala opatrnou angličtinou. "Telefón sa v tejto štvrti zmätie."

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

Sofía jej poďakovala. To popoludnie múzeum nenašla. Papierovú mapku si nechala po celý zvyšok výletu.