A coincidence can be when two friends meet without planning to. They meet by chance, by accident. For example, have you ever seen a classmate from school somewhere else like a movie theater or a concert? You and your classmate didn’t plan on meeting, but you were both at the same place at the same time. Has this ever happened to you? Where were you? Who did you see? Were you surprised?

This is a story of Cecilia and Martha meeting by chance while they were far away from home.
Cecilia and Martha were university students. They always did their homework together. Cecilia was short and had long brown hair. Martha was tall and had short blonde hair. They both liked travelling.
At the end of the school year they said good bye to each other. It was the start of their summer vacation. Martha went to England and Cecilia went to France. Martha visited Big Ben, went to the Tower of London and took photos of Buckingham Palace in London. Cecilia went to Paris and she went up the Eiffel Tower, visited the Louvre Museum and walked around Avenue des Champs Elysees. A week before the end of the summer holiday Martha decided to go to Italy but she didn’t tell anyone that she was travelling to Italy. Martha spoke a bit of Italian and wanted to practice. She also wanted to eat pizza and pasta from Italy, so Martha travelled from London, England to Florence, Italy.
Florence is a beautiful place and many tourists visit it every year. One sunny afternoon Martha was eating strawberry gelato and enjoying the sunset. She was on the famous Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. Martha was hoping to meet someone so she could practice Italian. Suddenly, she heard someone calling the name ‘Marta, Martha’. Martha didn’t know anyone in Italy but she was curious to see who else was called Martha. Perhaps she could introduce herself and have a one-to-one with this Italian woman also called Martha. She heard the name ‘Martha, Martha,’ many times. Finally, she saw someone waving her hands and jumping up and down. It was Cecilia! What a coincidence! They met by chance!
After her visit to Paris, Cecilia wanted to visit Italy too, but she hadn’t told anyone. After they hugged and giggled, the two friends decided to have dinner together and share their travelling experiences. They ate Pasta Primavera and Pizza Margherita. For dessert they ate delicious gelato. Cecilia was staying in a beautiful and extravagant hotel, but Martha was staying in a small and economical hostel. After dinner they said good bye.
A week later they were in their lecture hall at university and they told all their peers about their chance encounter. Everyone was flabbergasted. What a coincidence! This is a happy accident Martha and Cecilia will always remember.

Exercise 1