One time I went on a trip (note I did not use the word vacation) to Europe with my wife and her parents. We went to Warsaw, Berlin and Prague. At each location I had a place one would go if one got lost. In Warsaw it was the MDM Hotel, in Berlin the Brandenburg Gate, and in Prague it was the Astronomical Clock.
These places were chosen for a couple reasons. One being their native language pronunciation were close-ish to their English version (Brandenburger Tor for example). Another being that these we're VERY common, public, and centrally located places. Easier to remember, easier to find on tourist signs. A friendly passerby could probably understand a dumb american tourist trying to get to the big "clock thing".
Sooooo the WHOLE vacation, all my travel companions think I'm the big silly guy worried about nothing. "We don't need any of this". Etc. Etc. Etc.
Cut to day 2 in Prague, I wake up: "ThisIsMyHatNow, Jimmy left for coffee 4 hours ago, he's not back yet."
Jimmy is my father in law. Nicest guy in the world, but god left a bit of his brain in the junk drawer.
So I say, "Well, let's go on down to the clock, and see if he's there".
Not one of my remaining traveling companions thought this was a good idea. But I convinced them that we should, at least, START looking there. Keep in mind, we're down a man, and I'm the only one that had a plan but you know... don't listen to me.
On the way to the clock, my mother in law repeatedly looks down streets on our left. This was because "Jimmy loves going left". I tried to explain that "left" is only "left" when going this direction and it's "right" when going the other way. This information was useless you see, because he likes to go "left".
So we make the 10 minute walk to the clock in about 30 minutes (due to left/right confusion mentioned earlier) and sure enough Jimmy is there drinking a coffee. He got lost, remembered what I said about the clock, asked some friendly people where the clock was, and made his way there and stayed put.
Everyone (except Jimmy and I) was mad at Jimmy for getting lost. HE DID WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED to do. It happens. Cities are confusing. They also proceeded to get mad at me for not going down random side streets because he could have been there.
So I guess the moral of the story is: When in doubt: go to the FUCKING CLOCK.
Thank you.
P.S. I love you Jimmy, never change. The vacation was actually amazing, I love everyone in the family to death. It's one of the great experiences of my life, and I shared it with my wife.