Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Life's most embarrassing moments

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interesting post. esp. love those pronunciation boo boos!!

i'd finally found a way to beat bangkok's insane humidity, which defeated any attempts at drying laundry in the room: i stuck my wet underwear on the tv antenna under the ac vent. they looked like two flags waving in a breeze. my travelmates complimented me on my ingenuity and i basked in the glory of my own cleverness. it wasn't until they brought up my underwear trick again in the airport checkin line the next day that i realized i had forgotten to pack them.

This one's too good to lose...so back to the top!

In Italy, I washed out my husband's T shirt & draped it over a very tall floor lamp to dry. Later, my husband turned on the floor lamp (not noticing the T shirt) & left the room. It turned out to be a halogen lamp and, almost instantly, the shirt burst into flames. Heavy floor to tall ceiling velvet draperies were only 6 inches away. I just happened to walk into the room at that moment, grabbed the shirt, threw it to the ground and stomped out the fire. But not before the smoke alarm sounded throughout the hotel. Soon, there was frantic pounding on our door by some hotel staff. Fortunately, there was a long hall to the door and, while my husband opened the shutters & tried to fan out the acrid smelling smoke, I answered the door a crack & assured them there was nothing wrong. Potentially very embarrassing but thank god I didn't catch the room on fire.

Come on...let's hear some more! THis is a great thread!

Oh dear -- where to begin? The most cringe-inducing incident happened in Germany. I was backpacking alone over Christmas holidays and had had everything of value stolen on my fourth day of travel. I still had my clothes and about $250 worth of travellers checks and a replacement credit card (with $100 worth of cash advances) but no cash, no credit cards, no EurRail pass. Howerver, I am a very stubborn person. I had five weeks of holiday and a whole schedule mapped out, and I would do it on what I had left or be damned! About three weeks in, I was in Germany; I had had a long trip that morning, I was feeling tired and very grimy, and I stopped by a pharmacy to buy some essential toiletries. When I got to the teller, however, she couldn't get my credit card to work. After about three or four swipes, I realized that, it being a replacement card, it was made of cardboard and the "magnetic" stripe was just inked on. I still don't know how to say "You have to type the credit card numbers into the machine" in German, but at that point, I don't think it would have mattered -- my counter lady was getting frustrated and angry, and her voice was getting louder. I was finally saved by a very sweet guy and his girlfriend who chipped in and paid for my toiletries and let me slip away in embarrassment. My utter inability to think/process/communicate in that shop still makes me wince!

My favorite language lesson: I was a University student in Avignon in 1975. Friends were at the apartment and we decided to make spaghetti (cheap food). When I learned we were out of garlic, I grabbed my wallet and headed for my favorite little grocery store, Epicerie Ricard. After dispensing with the “Bonjour Madame Ricard” I was dumbfounded to realize I had not the slightest idea what the French word was for garlic. I started explaining that what I wanted was not really a spice, not really a vegetable, white, made up of little pieces, and a crucial ingredient in making spagetti. Madame knew exactly what I wanted. With a big grin, she pinched me on the back of the arm. I looked puzzled. She looked puzzled. She pinched me again with considerable force. “Ow!” I cried. “Ow? Qu’est ce que c’est que ‘Ow??’” Now, as completely confused as I, she shouts to her husband, “Bernard, venez ici! Vite! Vite!!” Bernard comes down the stairs, somehat perterbed shouting back “Attend, Je viens!” Upon arrival, she immediately pinches him on back of the arm with all the gusto she can muster. Shocked, he cries out in pain something that sounds like “eye-uh!” “Voila,” she proudly smiles. I will never forget that the French word for garlic is “ail”, which, in the South of France, is pronounced, as it is has two syllables: eye-uh. Larry

Great story, Larry! Betcha never knew that learning new words was such a painful experience.

This story of the August 2000 eclipse really happened to my alter ego, YentaKvetch. <<YentaKvetch was in Europe in August 2000 and was determined to see the total eclipse extravaganza. At the time she was home exchanging in Hamburg in the north of Germany. The only solution was to drive south into the zone of totality. Taking a train was out of the question. The trains were booked at 150% of capacity. As luck would have it, YentaKvetch has a friend in Berlin and we set out to see the great event, known in German as "sonnenfinsternis" together. On August 10th we drove all day and settled in a small hotel in the area along the Rhine. Well, August 11th arrived and the two of us--along with half of Germany--set out for the zone and the world's largest traffic jam. We settled on the little town of Pirmasens near the French border. As we drove into the zone the clouds magically began to clear. Was YentaKvetch actually going to see the great event? Well, this is what happened. We arrived in Pirmasens, found a parking space and went to join the mob in the town square. As the eclipse began to proceed to totality, YentaKvetch's friend poked her and pointed to the sky. Ominous clouds had appeared in the East. "We have 5 minutes," he said. And he was right. Five minutes later the heavens opened up. YentaKvetch had seen 70% of totality, but that was about it. For YentaKvetch the eclipse was over. She and her friend made a hasty exit from the central square in Primasens and started to look for someplace where we could go inside and at least stay dry. Everyone was laughing at the ridiculous situation. Everyone was also soaking wet. Well, leaving the square YentaKvetch tripped on one of the cobblestones and down she went. Her friend wondered why YentaKvetch's legs were crossed when he perused her seated unceremoniously on the pavement. Well, you see, YentaKvetch's pants were wet from the rain--but that was not the only reason. Repairing quickly into a bar for a drink, YentaKvetch watched the eclipse from inside, running out at totality to say she'd been there--even if she hadn't seen it. When the sun began to come back, the hardy souls in the central square of Pirmasens began to cheer. They were even wetter than YentaKvetch, although not, perhaps, for the same reason. So that was how the "sonnenfinsternis" became for YentaKvetch the "sonnenfinsterNICHT"--and the subject of a hilarious story that will be told again and again every time the subject of the August 11th eclipse is brought up. In 2081 YentaKvetch plans to be in Europe for the next total eclipse. After the 2000 eclipse (or noneclipse) ended, YentaKvetch repaired to a bathroom for clean up, after which she ate lunch with her friend. They then faced the world's second largest traffic jam to drive back to Berlin. In 2081, YentaKvetch will wear Depends.

I found out the hard way that the French word for exhibition is not "exhibition", but "exposition". "Exhibition" is, well, sort of related to the English word "exhibitionist".

Anymore strangers in strange lands?

When I was 15 I went to Italy with my family during the summer. We each packed our own suitcase.My mother had told me, several times, to make sure I packed eough underwear and socks to last for a week because there were no laundry facilites where we were staying. Well you guessed it, I didn't listen and ended up running out of underwear by the fourth day. Since our bag containing everyone's dirty clothes had gotten wet from a leaking window the night before I had no underwear at all on the 5th day to wear, even dirty ones. My mother,concerned about my safety because of the thick and rusty zipper on my Levi jeans, made me wear my sister's panties, much to my dislike and anger. Later that same morning while in the hotel lobby I dropped the room key and when I picked it up I heard a bunch of giggling and laughing behind me. There stood about three feet away 4 Italian girls looking and laughing at me for some unknown reason until one pointed at my belt and then reached over and pulled up my shirt. I then realized what happened. When I had bent down to pick up the key my shirt had risen up revealing the top of my sister's undies. I was so embarrassed I actually thought I was going to cry or faint. Never in the years since then have I ever felt that humiliated. All I wanted to do that day was disappear or die. I didn't understand a word those girls were saying but they sure got a good laugh at my expense. To this day the first thing I pack in my suit case is enough underwear to last a couple of extra days! The moral of the story? Always listen to your mother!

<<Always listen to your mother.>> That's the "Our Mothers Were Right Thread. LOL.

<<This story of the August 2000 eclipse really happened to my alter ego, YentaKvetch.>> You mean one of your internet aliases - the one you actually admit to, not the dozens of others you pretend don't exist. The one that posts obnoxious tales of obnoxious travels. Yes, that one. Yentakvetch - lovely name, all would agree. Lovely tales - NOT!

<<<<Message: <<This story of the August 2000 eclipse really happened to my alter ego, YentaKvetch.>> You mean one of your internet aliases - the one you actually admit to, not the dozens of others you pretend don't exist. The one that posts obnoxious tales of obnoxious travels. Yes, that one. Yentakvetch - lovely name, all would agree. Lovely tales - NOT! >>>> Since you mention it, StCirq Political Action Committee posting under 1,000 names, I do have travel related articles on other sites including epinions.com. I did use the "YentaKvetch" name as a JOKE on epinions. My post on this thread made it clear that YentaKvetch was the same as [email protected]. If you don't like my writing, please don't read it. I am sorry you do not like the name YentaKvetch, but that name was not yours to choose; that was my choice. You are free to like it or not like it. The joke--to anyone with a minimal sense of humor--is obvious. If anyone would like information on where my travel articles are posted, please email me privately and I will send you links. In order to get the links, however, you do have to give me your "real" internet address And, I find it amusing to be attacked by aliases complaining than I am using aliases when I am posting under my own name. There seems to be both a dearth of guts and a sense of humor by the poster. Now, this thread is supposed to be funny. Can we please return to the embarrassing stories and get off the vendetta, StCirqPAC Thank you.

Lauren, you are only embarrasing yourself.

I am laughing so hard that I am crying! These are hysterical. I am trying to think of one humiliating or even vaguely funny thing to add - but thankfully can't think of a single thing. I will check in an hour or so - to see if anyone else has posted!

Like Aztec said. What about that milk thing? Neal, you left us hanging.

<<Author: why ([email protected]?) Date: 5/26/2001, 7:56 pm ET Message: Lauren, you are only embarrasing yourself. >> Well, this thread did ask for embarrassing stories, and I gave a couple. Where are yours, StCirqPAC?