Unusual Excursion Around the City
- Recently, my husband has given me an unusual present. It was an excursion.
- Wow, not bad, ha? Let me guess! Did you go to San Francisco?
- No, no, much better. The excursion was through my native city, where I have already lived for 20 years.
- Ok. Now I don't understand a thing. What?
- The thing is that we were going along the streets I see every day, but that time I was blindfolded. That's funny, but it was a real eye-opener for me!
- For instance…
- For instance, that was the first time I noticed that two acacias grow right near our parking lot! And they smell gorgeous, but I was always too busy looking how awfully our neighbour parked, so I never noticed them.
- That's interesting! Tell me more.
- For the first time I didn't focus on traffic jams, and I heard how happy kids were making fast steps on the sidewalk returning home after school. Daniel was telling me how a street vendor was feeding a homeless dog and how impatient was the man with flowers at the cash machine.
I liked the city I heard more than the city I saw every day. We had a great time at the grocery shop, I touched cool vegetables in the middle of a hot day and I guessed their color. There were some places I recognized immediately, for example, an old library, it smelled like nothing else. I recognized one underpass as well because of my favorite street musician who has been playing here for two years. But there was one place I recognized because of its silence – a huge old temple in the city centre.
When we started running into people I understood we were in the department store. It was interesting even without shop windows!
- Did you go to the suburbs?
- Suburbs? Are you kidding me? It would be too cruel!
- We explored only the downtown. The court, the House of Parliament. When I was too tired, we took a double-decker bus.
- Wow…
- Although, I would say it was not the most interesting thing. The real challenge was when I had to cross a busy intersection with my eyes closed just holding my husband's hand. But I passed this test for trust!
- You know what? I hope you didn't throw your blindfold away. I guess, it's time to take my husband for such an excursion. He really needs to pass the test for trust…
- Ok, but, please, make sure when you cross an intersection there is a pharmacy close to it.
- Ok, you have just failed the trust test for me!
Vocabulary
grocery shop - бакалейный магазин
cash machine - кассовый аппарат
temple - храм
parking lot - парковка
sidewalk - тротуар
underpass - подземный переход
street vendor - уличный торговец
intersection - перекресток
pharmacy - аптека
department store - универмаг
traffic jam - дорожная пробка
acacia - акация
city center - центр города
suburbs - окраины
explore - исследовать
downtown - бизнес район города
double-decker bus - двухъярусный автобус
court - здание суда
the House of Parliament - парламент
