THE JOURNEY UP

So I had my reservation time booked over a month ago- but we got there early so I went in the ticket line and had my time changed to an earlier one. They only allow groups of 30 people to go up at once- and then everyone has to be out before another group is allowed in. So when the time came I went in the cog with my group- and of course since Carol was sitting it out, I was just standing there minding my own business listening to all the different languages being spoken. All of a sudden a woman comes bursting to the front of the line and looks at me desperately and says, "Espanol"??? To which I say of course, "sorry- no". She sagged in her disappointment- but being the good samaritan that I am, I pointed to the ticket building across the square and said, "TICKETS!" "THERE!" "TICKETS"! She brightened!! "Ce pasa sing do libre do masa nota bo tana do mata???"(I have no idea what I've just written)--- I pause, and look at the guy ahead of me and say, "What do you think?"- that's when I noticed that his teeth were an interesting shade of sienna brown. He looks at me, looks at her, and that's when I realized that this poor guy was not only physically disabled, he was mentally challenged. She looks back at me desperate, and so I say quite confidently, "TICKETS" "THERE"--- to which she waves her hand in exasperation and walks away from me at which point the Italian guard pulls back the rope and we are off!"