Originally Posted by
rex615
IME Americans tend to be the best at giving directions. They tell you "go 5 miles north, then turn right at the church, if you get to the bridge, you went too far.". Most are however skeptical you can ride 5 miles on a bicycle and have very little sense of terrain.
Latins tend to start "do you know where the blue church is?" They also tend to mention a lot of landmarks you will pass on they way, none of which require any action. Then when i pass the big mango tree, i remember something was said about a tree, was I supposed to turn here?
Many addresses in Costa Rica include nearby landmarks. "Next to the green church" or "diagonal from Pulperia Chepe". Some actually use the word "antiguo" which means it is no longer there. "Next to the former School".
I find street names useless out in the countryside in France and Italy. It's much more useful to know the towns along the way to your destination and follow signs from one town to the next town.
I've been in the Veneto (Venetian mainland, NE Italy), where I came along a street to a fork and all 3 branches at the junction were signed with the same street name! Then there are the wonderful French junctions where there's a sign pointing one way to "Toutes Directions", while a sign pointing the opposite way says "Autres Directions"!