British driver, 81, heading to Rome to see the Pope ends up in GERMANY

British driver, 81, heading to Rome to see the Pope ends up a thousand miles away in GERMANY after typing the wrong destination into his satnav

  • 81-year-old was travelling from Newcastle in hope of seeing Pope in Rome
  • But he ended up in Rom, west Germany after typing error into his satnav
  • Ironically he forgot to put the handbrake on and knocked over a sign for the city
  • However, the detour only cost the pensioner about two hours in travel time 

An 81-year-old travelling from his home in Newcastle to Rome in Italy to see the Pope ended up in Germany after blindly following his satellite navigation system.

The OAP, who is originally from Italy but now lives in Newcastle, decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome in the hope of seeing his holiness at the Vatican.

But he mistakenly entered the details for the district of ‘Rom’, part of a small rural community in the western German state of North Rhine Westphalia rather than the slightly more famous Italian capital.

The OAP, who is originally from Italy but now lives in Newcastle, accidentally drove his Jaguar (pictured after running over a sign for Rom) to west Germany after incorrectly entering Rome into his satnav

After the navigation system insisted he had arrived safely, the confused OAP climbed out of his vehicle, possibly to try and see some of the landmarks that should have been clearly visible, such as the Colosseum or The Sistine Chapel.

In a further twist, he forgot to put the handbrake of his Jaguar on, which rolled away and ended up knocking down the sign for Rom.

Police were then called to investigate and found the confused man 900 miles from his intended destination.

Police spokesman Monika Treutler said: ‘The man was on a pilgrimage. He was on his way to Rome, where he was hoping to visit the Pope.’

A police spokesman said that the man, who has not been named, realised something was wrong when he could not see any of the landmarks he was expecting, given that he was supposed to be in Rome

A police spokesman said that the man, who has not been named, realised something was wrong when he could not see any of the landmarks he was expecting, given that he was supposed to be in Rome

She added that the man, who has not been named, realised something was wrong when he could not see any of the landmarks he was expecting, given that he was supposed to be in Rome.

The Italian man may also have been confused by the fact that Rome is written Roma in Italian and Rom in German.

Police said that the car had come to a halt after hitting the sign but did not appear to be seriously damaged although an ambulance was called to check on the pensioner.

Luckily despite the detour he had only managed to add around two hours travel time to his journey.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk