i like to think that ive come to know the metro system pretty well. i know which lines to take to get where, I know which part of the train to get on to exit closet to where i need to go at the next change. i have learned how long it takes to get from one place to another, what side of the train the doors will open on at what stop, and unless im going somewhere strange, i dont need to look at the map to see how to get there. when the train is moving, i know when i can stand without holding on, shifting my weight as needed, and when there will be a curve strong enough to warrent holding on to a bar. i dont think about the metro anymore, its part of my life everyday, and i simply do it as easily as breathing. and until today, i've never taken the wrong train.

at lambrate station where i go for school, (and where i used to live) there are two entrances/exits, one at either end of the station. i always exit through the same one when going to school - the other when i would go to my old house. when i'm coming home though, i enter depending on who im with. when im walking with others who take the metro, i enter at the first, go down the stairs, and to the platform on the right. when im with my friend who lives near the station, i enter at the other, go down the stairs and to the platform on the left.

today was a day when i was with my friend, and entered at the second. I went down the stairs, and got on the train that had just arrived. it seemed a little odd as there were a lot of people on baord for this time of day - normally people are heading home, out of the city, not into the center. I shrugged off the weird feeling though, thinking it was probably because I got on a car more towards the center rather than one of the end ones i normally take. as the train started going though, things felt a little weird. the motion of the ride was different - i cant say how, but it felt different. where i normally needed to hold on, i didnt. and where i normally didnt, i did. it's been a long few days, so again i just thought, eh, I'm tired. nothing more. then we got to the first stop, and the doors opened on the other side of the train from where they should have. now i knew something was up - this has only happened once before, when i was coming home and for some reason the train stopped on the opposite platform than normal (i still havent figured out why). I looked up and out through the window at the station, where there should have been a sign with the name "piola" there was isntead a sign with the name "udine." I was headed in the wrong direction. the doors closed, as i stood mistified, trying to figure out how i had managed to take the wrong train. as we headed to the next station i thought over what i had done, and realized that i had gone to the platform on the right, as though I had entered from the other entrance, when i should have gone to the left. everything that seemed weird to me before became clear. there were more people on the train, because they WERE headed home, i was the one headed the wrong direction.

it wasnt a hard mistake to fix, I got off at the next stop (which was above ground, the first time I'd seen a metro stop above ground here - at a location I'd never been) and walked across to the other side of the platform to wait. I felt a bit stupid getting off one train only to head back in the direction that I had just come from. but there was little more i could do. All in all it only added maybe 8 minutes to my trip, but it seemed like so much more. furthermore, it was a bash to my ego. I always pride myself on knowing where I am and what direction things are - i never get lost, i may not know the quickest way, but i always know what direction i need to go, and get there (except for one drunken incident a few years ago where i got lost 2 blocks from my house...) i guess it just goes to show that no matter how many times we've taken a journey, we can still loose our way.