ohwell

Thyra, when my friend & I visited Newschwanstein last year, a large American in an NFL sweats ensemble felt the need to proclaim over and over, "I don't know what the big deal is ... these castles aren't any better than going to Disneyworld." Maybe it's more of an "ugly American sighting" than the dumbest question ever.

A Local

A few years ago, while visiting Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, I was approached by a rather flustered US tourist armed with a map. He was asking everyone directions on how to get to "the White Cliffs". I asked if he meant the white cliffs of Dover (as immortalised in the wartime song). "You got it..." he says, "...hell, we came on over to the Isle of White [sic] and you're the first person who knows where those cliffs are !" It took me several minutes to explain he was about 140 miles west of where he thought he was.

Cass

I don't even want to guess where they were from, but a couple on the tour in Toledo kept muttering to each other in El Greco's house (this was a while ago), disturbing the tour guide's presentation. Finally, Mr. Whosis asked loudly, "so where are the REAL paintings?" The tour guide was completely baffled, so he persisted: "These are the real ones, right? You got the real ones in the cellar or someplace, right? I mean, you wouldn't just have the real ones out here, right?" <BR> <BR>Finally the tour guide explained that these were, indeed, the "real" El Grecos. "See, that's the byooteeful part of it, Harry," said Mrs. Whosis, "They got'em right here for everybody."

Art

This thread is hilarious. Two things that have happened to me. <BR>1. In Florence many years ago, we were camping our way through southern Europe and met an American couple attached to an Embassy in Spain. My wife asked the woman if she was going to go the straw market and she responded "No, we really don't need any straw". <BR>2. We were in Amsterdam sitting in the back of a canal tour boat with friends and two English couples. When the tour guide announced that we were passing the Ann Frank house one of the ladies asked the other in very proper British "I say, who was Ann Frank" the other replyed "I'm not quite sure, but I think that she wrote a best seller or something like that". Needless to say our friends and us just started howling with laughter. <BR>

livebyjfk

NYC Subway 42 Street and 8th Avenue--- <BR> DOES THIS TRAIN GO TO NEW YORK CITY??

Natalie

I used to work in the Dominican Republic at a resort. Questions I got: <BR>What time does the beach open? <BR>What time is the 10'oclock swimming lesson? <BR>Is this really an island? <BR> <BR>And one of the girls I worked with...well, I don't know how she got out of high school. She insisted that some of our guests had driven there all the way from Spain. Also, we would have guests take our mail with them, and drop them in a mailbox, therefore we could use American postage, and things would arrive quicker. She was always worried about WHERE the person was going to mail the letter from, because she thought postage for a letter changed depending on how far it was going in the USA. <BR> <BR>And my "is my face red" story...I thought that Sabbatical was a place that teachers went to on vacation.

jim

We were in the Sistine Chapel last spring when an attendant scolded a group of American teenage girls for entering the chapel wearing shoulder-baring tank tops. We heard one girl say to another, "Jeez, like, their acting like we're in church or something (like)."

mogillus

The dumbest question I was ever asked... "What is the dumbest question you were ever asked?"

Shayne

I have two: <BR> <BR>First, my wife and I were about to get off of a train in Orvieto when two young girls asked us: "Is this Rome?" - keep in mind this is the Orvieto train station - will all of maybe 3 tracks! I told them that this was Orvieto and that Rome was still probably 1 - 1 1/2 hrs away. One of them replied that I must be wrong since their schedule said that they should be in Rome by now. I tried to tell them that Italian trains are often late, but she would have none of it. She left to ask a conductor if this was indeed Rome! I should have told her yes, see over there behind that tree, I think that's the Colosseum! <BR> <BR>#2 - While in the Capitoline Museum two girls asked us where Michaelangelo's Pieta was. I told them that I was pretty sure that it is in St. Peter's in the Vatican, not here. One of them told me that she had heard that they moved it here recently! I tried to explain to her that the Vatican is a separate country, so it is unlikely that they would lend it to Rome for awhile - especially since this was the Jubliee year! <BR>

Gordon R

It isn't really a question and it's not about European travel, but I simply have to share this little gem: <BR> <BR>Travelling south from Nairobi, Kenya on the first day of a month long truck expedition through E Africa, a fellow traveller from the UK suddenly jumped up pointing wildly out of the window. "Oooh look...," she exlaims in a broad Yorkshire accent, "...it's one of them stripey things !!!" Yes, you guessed it, her first sight of a zebra....

Dino

I travel to Greece once a year to visit relatives and friends. I was waiting for my luggage in Athens and a couple who was on the plane with me all the way from Chicago came up and asked if every floor of the hotel intercontinental had running water or was it only the first few floors. I laughed all the way to the apartment.

christine

While on the phone with a customer service rep. from my U.S. Bank, she noticed on my account information that I live in Switzerland, she commented how "neat that must be" and asked me if I could speak Swedish. <BR> <BR>When I lived in the cruise ship port town of Ketchikan, Alaska I was asked: <BR>-What sea level are we at? Ummm,. Well you just arrived on a ship. <BR>-Do you take American money here? <BR>-Does it cost more to send things through the USPS? <BR>And my all time favorite question. <BR>Where does everyone go in the winter? Well, this is a real town, not some Disneyish creation set up just for your benefit. <BR>

George Cerny

I think I have you all beat. <BR>I am a freelance journalist. This last Tuesday, I was in Prague for the opening of the IMF conference and the protests that followed. <BR>The protests were marred by violence, and on Vaclavske Namesti, the MCDonald's had been looted and other damge done. About 10:00, I went back to the square, and worked my way up to the top where the riot police were lining up. I was ten meters from them, and realized that they were getting ready to charge into the crowd and clear the square, and that I was not in a good place to be. <BR>At that moment, two American tourists, middle-aged Mid-Western types, came up to me and asked, all grins, "Did we miss all the excitement?" <BR>Just as they said that, the first police concussion grenade went of a few yards to our left. <BR>"No," I replied, over my shoulder, as the police, truncheons swinging, charged. <BR> <BR>No idea what the hell they were thinking was going on....

Mary

While touring the Spanish style (outstanding) home and museum of Wm. K. Vanderbilt on Long Island a tourist asked "was this Vanderbilt guy from Spain?" <BR> <BR>Also, while in Virginia, I spoke to a local phone operator giving her the street address of 222 Patrick Henry Drive. She asked me if Patrick Henry was one word? Does anyone go to school these days?

Island Girl

These are not as funny as the ones already posted, but here goes: <BR> <BR>I live in Canada and worked a few summers in a clothing store. One of my most memorable questions was an American tourist looking at a price tag and asking "is this in American dollars?" Another popular question was:"if I pay in US dollars can you give me my change in US currency?" <BR> <BR>The answer to both is NO!

sue

most idiotic questions i have ever been asked by friends curious about my travels.....one......does a kimono dragon REALLY breathe fire???? Two.......how long does it take to drive to Australia??? ( my leaving point was LA)......

Autumn

A good friend of mine was looking through some snapshots of mine and came upon a photo of me and another friend on horseback with the very identifiable pyramids in the background and asked,"Where was this picture taken?".

NotAPsychic

Just have to add one of the latest postings this morning to this list: <BR> <BR>Author: Steve ([email protected]) <BR>Date: 10/17/2000, 6:32 am ET <BR> <BR>Message: In a nutshell: I DON'T like San Francisco at all! Will I like Paris? <BR> <BR>

jwagner

We were at the Hofbrauhaus swilling bier with some Aussies when my pal asked: "So, what language do you speak in Australia?" <BR> <BR>The Aussies, nicest people on earth, looked dumbfounded. "Uh, English, of course."

Fwhiteside

Here's another one - my Wife's going to hate me for this but here goes.... <BR> <BR>A few years ago we went to Lanzarote in the Canaries. One of the <BR>attractions there is the Timanfaya National Park, this is a volcanic <BR>region where you can, amongst other things, eat a steak that's been <BR>grilled by volcanic heat. There are guides around who entertain <BR>visitors in various ways, they pour water down tubes sunk into the ground & <BR>seconds later it whooshes back out as steam. Another thing they do is take a long metal pole, impale a lump of straw on the end then poke it into a depression in the ground. The heat sets the straw on fire. I was watching them do this when my Wife ( who had been <BR>looking at something else ) ambled up & said, to her eternal embarrasment, <BR>"Oh, is that how they heat the rock up ?". As if it was the burning straw that heated the volcano !!! Cue hysterical laughter amongst visitors. Now, years later, whenever a volcano appears on TV someone in the room will say something like "Wow, they must have put plenty of straw on that baby !". <BR> <BR>On the same holiday one of my Daughters, <BR>who had noticed a very vague resemblance between the lamps used to light the paths in our holiday village & the hindquarters of a horse ( I said it was vague ) exclaimed 'Oh, don't those lights look like horses bums !'. <BR>( Butts/Fannies in USA ). Thenceforth they became a unit of measurement for distances - 'How far is it to that other pool ?' 'Oh you keep straight on for 3 horses bums then turn right...'. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>