Bob And The Mysterious Woman In His Car.

On the road to somewhere...

Only a few years ago we went where we went with the aide of maps, old fashioned paper maps. Cumbersome, at times irritating but always fun to have on one's lap whilst directing the driver. Interesting side streets were discovered with a mere flick of a finger, wrong turns easily put right with moving the map one direction over and at the end of a trip a souvenir was had.

Not so now with Bob's discovery of this woman called, Siri. A happy voice with an impossibly correct English accent only slightly hindered by pronouncing German street names. Oh yes, she has usurped me and my co-driver's duty.

Yesterday Bob asked her to direct us from Eisenberg to the Zotter Chocolate Factory and from word go she breathlessly gave Bob various instructions which of course he duly ignored just for the fun of it. Honestly, I think he just wanted to get her flustered but ironically enough the only one flustered proved to be Bob as he had to listen to her repeatedly give him opportunity to correct the error of his driving ways. Eventually she stopped nagging and gave him new directions.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned travelling with map in tow? A whole industry again erased by Smartphone technology, and a skill taken away from most of us. Map reading was learned in our youth at various camps, guide groups, parents or at school. A skill that shaped our brain as much as it shaped our dreams of far off travels. Looking at maps was a way to give one's imagination free reign. Even going to the bookshop to buy maps was exciting in itself.

So, now I can hand over the reigns to Siri although I have to admit that Bob has a much better sense of direction than me or Siri for that matter...

Biggi