In Prague in 1983, at whatever the hotel was that the government put us and everybody else up in (hideous AND expensive), the menu featured (I kept it for its sentimental value): <BR> <BR>Bloodless duck charred with crashed potatoes <BR> <BR>The plump chicken served for you on a pasted bed of cracked rice with spice <BR> <BR>Pig nose and its lively accompaniments <BR> <BR>Your best sausages with cabbidge and more side temptings <BR> <BR>Needless to say, when we ordered, the only thing available was the sausage. Every night, for four nights running. <BR> <BR>But they did have a violin player beyond belief. And I still have the post-war toothbrush glasses I filched (OK, yes, I did - I KNEW it was the end of an era) from the place. Good glass, with a picture of a toothbrush on them. It was the only amenity the hotel provided. I also kept some East German pfennigs,which I have to this day, even though you weren't supposed to leave the country without them. Shoot me. Or crash me, whatever. <BR> <BR>

Okay, in the red light district of a European town, I saw a sign whose translation was either "Space to Rent" or "Space to Let" (don't know if there's much of a difference)& a scantily clad, heavily made-up prostitue was standing immediately beneath it! <BR>NN

I sort of thought "Blue Ball Court"near Pall Mall was funny!I can;'t believe I said this!

Saw a sign travelling south out of Charlottesville VA <BR> <BR>"Homemade Christmas Reefs For Sale" <BR> <BR>How novel!

This recent trip to France I saw a menu transalation of Pave Grille as Grilled Pavement. <BR> <BR>When we were driving across the US in 96 a pizza palce had a huge sign saying <BR> <BR>We Toss Em Highest <BR> <BR>(Tossing means something extra in UK) <BR> <BR>Kavey

ciao! <BR> <BR>actually where i live! i live in the chianti up in the colline del chianti. on both sides before drive up to our spot, they have 2 huges signs: "you have to put on snowchains to your car from km...." the thing is, that we are on 530 m altitude and sometimes we have snow in january, february for 2 hours. i've planned at least a million times to stop and take a picture from this sign, but guess what: i allways forgett...... <BR> <BR>tanti saluti <BR> <BR>christina

On a small street in Venice: <BR> <BR>"Don't Piss Please", in French, English, and German. Had to get a picture of it, apparantly they don't have a problem with Italians pissing on that spot???

When I was in England three years ago my husband and I were driving along and saw a diner sign that said, BAMBI BURGERS. YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE NOW EAT THE CAST. They were selling deer burgers.

Saw a sign in Mexico once that said "For many years we have been making home for stray CADS" "any donnation will be happy!"

notice in the Snake Temple in Penang: <BR>Mediums are forbidden to fall into a trance in the temple to avoid causing inconvenience to worshippers and visitors.

to the top

I still get a kick out of a sign I saw in Windsor, England, on my very first trip to Europe. Denoting toilets for disabled people it said: "Disabled Toilets."

Well, until this past weekend I would have said that the best sign I ever saw - and there were actually quite a few of them - were in Kuala Lumpur, advertising hairdressers. They said "Beauty Saloon." (Did they also serve beer?) However, and I don't know if this qualifies as a sign, I was at an opera performance on Saturday and they had surtitles projected on the wall during a performance of "Tosca". The libretto reads "The saints give no heed to my invocations." But the surtitle read "The saints give no head to my invocations." Well, of course not! They're SAINTS!

In a city history museum in Cartegena, Colombia, in a room featuring a rack and other items used to inflict pain: <BR> <BR>Please do not use the instruments of torture

In Toronto: Avenue Road. For real, it's on the map. <BR> <BR>In Hungary, a small but cute diner, on the chalkboard menu: "brekfast - hemenex" ( try to sound it out, you'll get it) <BR> <BR>In Romania, , I forgot the name of the city but it's a classic among the locals: the jail is on "Liberty Street" and the cemmetery on "Ressurection Street". Honestly! <BR> <BR>In Boston, in a (old) store window: SALE,SALE, SALE, Everything must go!" Nothing special right? But the (even older) sign above the window reads" GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS"

In Kathmandu's airport in Nepal, on a list of things that are forbidden to bring into the country: certain kinds of weapons, ammunition, etc., and then, "tricycles." Huh?? <BR> <BR>In Jaipur, India: "If you have a Complaint about the Elephants, Please Report it to the Elephant Complaint Office." <BR> <BR>

Years ago in a small Minnesota city, the storefront windows each had a big sign that read "A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA." <BR> <BR>Each window had an item that was on sale that week. One window displayed a gigantic box of sanitary napkins (the big mattress-sized kind). <BR> <BR>Thank goodness I didn't find THAT under the tree for Christmas! <BR> <BR>

A sign on a fence overlooking a cliff down to the sea in Kauai: <BR> <BR>Only birds permitted beyond this point.

When we were on the island of Carriacou in the Grenadines waiting for our flight out we saw this strange sign near the airport which said something like, When you hear the alarm you are required by law to start running! Bizarre. When we heard the siren indeed people and their animals in the adjacent field began to run! Apparently one of the island's main thorofares doubles as the island's airstrip. When you hear the siren it means the airplane is about to land, possibly on you!

Had to add one more. In my neighborhood in Maryland they've recently added speedbumps. The signs just before the bumps say, "Traffic Calming." Traffic CALMING??!! Huh?! I think of a mother on the side of the road with her arms outstretched trying to calm down all the unruly cars driving by!