Lynn

These postings are hilarious! I have one to share too. During my college years I spent one summer working at the front desk of Yosemite Lodge in Yosemite National Park. I was warned by co-workers that I would eventually get this question from a visitor, and sure enough, one day it happened. An elderly woman walked up to me and asked, "What time do they turn the falls off?" (She was referring to Yosemite Falls.) It was difficult to keep a straight face. <BR>

Martha

My personal favorites: <BR> <BR>The girl in High School SPANISH class who stood up and did an oral report on ITALY - it was her report on a spanish speaking country! <BR> <BR>The volunteer I was working with in England who believed that the sun set in the East because we were in England. <BR> <BR>The man who can into my library looking for a book on Hippopotamus, New York. When I suggested he might mean Buffalo. He said "I know it is some big animal" <BR> <BR>Non-travel related: A room-mate asked me once while taking a film class "why did they ever bother making silent films?"

elvira

I went to a college in the U.S. that had a lot of students from Toronto and Montrel. THEIR favorite comment was "gee you sure don't look like the pictures of the Eskimos I'VE seen!". Their favorite sight was the cars coming over the border from the U.S. (like from Detroit or New York) with skis on the top...in the middle of summer.

becky

Overheard at a cafe: Do you charge for hot water if I order tea? <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Philip

We live on San Juan island in Washington. When I am talking to people on the phone or writing email etc I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me what its like to live in Puerto Rico, or how is it to live in a foreign country or what good English I speak. When I tell them this is Washington state then they say things like "doesn't living near all those politicans bother you" and stuff like that. Now all that is DUMB.

Jen

"What was that place, you know, the hill with all that old stuff on it that we went to this afternoon?" <BR> <BR>--asked by my travel companion over dinner one evening in Athens

Bob Brown

I have three tidbits to contribute. <BR>The first one was not dumb because it was said tongue in cheek, and was highly appropriate. The second one is typical of arrogant but ignorant aristocrats. <BR>The third one still has me chuckling. <BR> <BR>Number 1 happened when we were in England with our 16 year old son, who was quite able to navigate alone around London and had his own passport. We were standing on the platform of the tube station at Earls Court. As near as we could tell, we were the only English speakers within view who were also of European ancestry. It seemed that you could hear spoken every language of the Empire except English. At the same time, we had noticed that American college sweatshirts were being faked and sold. We saw one huge fellow with a too tight sweatshirt on that read University of Georgia, complete with the facsimile of a bulldog. The only problem is that the shirt was yellow and black: Georgia Tech colors, UGA's arch enemy in sports. (UGA is red and black.) Seeing and hearing all of the babble prompted my son to say to me, "Hey Dad! Did you ever see so many foreigners?" <BR> <BR>#2. Once in my youth I came to Basel Switzerland late at night. I took the first hotel I could find, even though it was a little too expensive for my budget, but I was tired and semi lost and I think the clerk gave me a "deal" because of the hour. The next morning at breakfast, there was an elderly English dowager sitting at a table with an expression on her face that made her look like she had just eaten a green persimmon. I seated myself and the waitress, who was perhaps 17 or 18, soon came over with a menu. Being somewhat slightly fluent in German, I spoke with her and quickly established that she spoke no English. So we communicated in German. The English lady spoke to her in English and said "It is a nice day isn't it?" The Swiss girl smiled and continued serving coffee. The English dame repeated the question, slightly louder. Same response -- a polite smile. When the waitress came back with the brotchen, the English lady bellowed in a voice that could be heard in Russia, "I SAID, IT IS A NICE DAY ISN'T IT?" At that point, I turned to the English lady and said, "She does not speak English. Would you like for me to translate." The response was an aristocratic "Humph" followed by the observation that this was the last time she would ever stay in a hotel that catered to savages. <BR> <BR>#3. To sign off: A woman walking outside of the Sphinx tower at the Jungfraujoch asked "If hot air rises, why is so cold on top of a mountain?" Hmm. Anybody got the right answer?? <BR>

Smilin' Sam

<BR>&lt;the Dumbest Questions Ever!&gt; <BR> <BR>Asked of me by a person I met on the street in my hometown ;"You live here? I thought only tourists lived here."

elvira

"If hot air rises, why is it cold on the mountain?" Well, the answer is obvious: GRAVITY pulls the hot air back down, and the reason that the Sahara, Death Valley and Yuma, Arizona are so hot is because the GRAVITY is stronger there. Like all of you didn't know that already....

Brian in Atlanta

Elvira, I hope you're kidding. <BR>

Bob Brown

Elvira -- if you can establish experimental evidence to support your gravitational theory of heat entrapment, you will become a candidate for the Nobel Prize in thermodynamics. <BR> <BR>

elvira

I'm working on empirical proof, I'll have you know....additional proof is in my appearing to gain weight on a trip, but it's just because I'm travelling to places with stronger gravity, not because I'm indulging in the culinary experiences....

Becky

My favorite car rental flyer features Venice in the background. I have had it on my fridge for several years because I could not (and still cannot) believe this large, international company could be so stupid; I love it. During a gathering at my house during the holidays someone ask me if I rented a car the last time I visited Venice. <BR>

Meg

My mother used to be a ski patrol nurse. One day a man came into her office complaining that his feet were killing him. "I can't understand it," he said, "I skied all day yesterday and they were fine, but today I've only taken a few runs and they are in extreme pain!" My mother looked down at his feet to discover he had his ski boots on the WRONG FEET! Ouch! I can't even begin to imagine how he was able to do that.

Glenn

A number of years ago my wife and myself took a teen tour around the U.S. When we were in Arizona, one of the teenagers wanted to know what time they celebrated New Years Eve there!

pam

to the top

Kavey

Joanna <BR> <BR>The question asked of your friend in the post office actually ISN'T so stupid as it sounds... (she was asked how much it was for a 45 cent stamp). <BR> <BR>I have been on holiday before and found that a stamp costs MORE than it's face value... of course I can't remember where now, but it has happened to me a few times. <BR> <BR>The dumbest questions I usually get are things like "why are the roads are so narrow in parts of London?" and various questions about the aging technology of the underground, usually from people who haven't quite realised many roads were made before cars (you mean there was civilisation before cars!!) or how old the London Underground is....

cheryl

Not quite a travel question: <BR> <BR>A few years ago, on the TV quiz show "Jeopardy" the question was "What's the largest island in Narragansett Bay?" The answer on the show was Rhode Island! (not an island at all). For those of you who are wondering, the correct answer should be Aquidneck Island (where Newport is, I grew up there).

K

I love this thread; just discovered it since it has been brought back to the top. My favorite travel question, although it was in the U.S., not Europe, was in the Natural History museum of the Smithsonian. A woman asked her travel companions, as we were all looking at various reconstructions of dinosaurs, where one would go to see "live" ones. And this was years before Jurassaic Park fame. <BR>

JoAnn

This happened just yesterday: I was telling a mutual friend about our upcoming trip to London. Her question: What language do they speak there? <BR>I could barely contain myself.