Wrong-way tourist says g'day to Sydney, N.S.
Published: Friday, September 19, 2008
SYDNEY, N.S. - It was the right name but the wrong continent for a sculptor from Argentina.
Monique Rozanes Torres Aguero of Buenos Aires was daydreaming about her vacation in Sydney, Australia, when her Air Canada Jazz flight landed in Sydney, N.S., this week.
"She never thought anything was wrong until she got on the small Dash 8 in Halifax," said Christiane Tanner of Westmount, N.S., who met Aguero on the flight and has since befriended her.
"She was taking pictures out the airplane window and said to herself, 'Something is not right.' "
But rather than get upset, Aguero decided to stay and vacation in the northern Sydney - not the first time an accidental tourist has discovered the charms of Cape Breton.
The same thing happened in August 2002 to Raeoul Sebastian and Emma Nunn, both of London, England.
Sebastian and Nunn also spent their vacation in Cape Breton and became local celebrities, even being presented with the key to the city.
Air Canada Jazz employee Clare MacDougall said Aguero's problems began when she bought her ticket on the Internet.
"She had never heard of Sydney, N.S., or Cape Breton," she said.
Andrea Batten, also of Air Canada Jazz, said Aguero was a bit embarrassed about the mistake. Batten told her not to be, explaining that even Sidney, B.C., on Vancouver Island has gotten in on the act.
"We have had people land here from Germany and even recently from Czechoslovakia, when they meant to go to Sidney, B.C.," she said.
Although like the English couple she had never heard of Cape Breton, Aguero believes she was destined to go to there and is looking forward to a nine-day stay.
"When things happen, you let it happen," she said through an interpreter.
Cape Breton Post
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