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Apologies that I omitted to post this snippet headed 'Poles apart from
destination' yesterday, from the [London] 'Evening Standard' of Tuesday 11
December 2001:-

"Sixteen Poles found wandering by police near an autobahn in Passau, Bavaria
thought they were 800 miles away in northern Portugal.

The Poles said they had lost their way during a pilgrimage from Warsaw to a
religious festival.  Officers found they were using maps which were 50 years
out of date."

Comment.  Good enough sense of general direction, but not of distance ; and
what of landscape interpretation, language, beer, etc.?  Could have been
worse as, had they had Rome as a pilgrimage venue in mind, they might well
have been using a purposely-designed and printed map of Europe for pilgrims
of around *500* years old : 'Das ist der Rom Weg von meylen zu meylen ...'
of c.1500.  But I doubt whether the Poles' adventure will make even a short
note in the next issue of 'Peregrinus Cracoviensis' (ISSN 1425-1922) - as
some of you, Dear Readers, will be asking yourselves.  Or maybe they will
lie the blame at the door of the map-maker?

Francis
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