Oh, this is such fun. I've never read anything on this site that made me SNORT I was laughing so hard!

I'll have to think of a good embarassing story to share. Thanks for the needed giggles!

Okay, I am a "newbie" here but I will share anyway.
We were visiting our son in Rome over Christmas. He is in a study abroad program. This was my first time to visit Europe. I was so excited!!

I researched and studied everything I could before our trip. I felt in was prudent (not to mention polite) to learn a "little Italian" before we left.....So, study I did!

Quick Backround: When I was in school, many years ago, I studied Spanish. When we have traveled to Mexico, I can get by..a little

Anyway, upon our arrival in Italy, I immediately began testing out my NEW, limited Italian. After two days, (and ignoring my family rolling their eyes), I was feeling very good about myself.

I could never understand the Italian response to my Italian spoken (?)question, but that was ok. I would smile and they would smile and I felt great!!...Little did I know, they weren't just smiling, they were probably laughing!!

My son finally said to me.."MOM, just speak English, You are speaking Italian with a Spanish accent"

Needless to say, I was heartbroken!! BUT, just briefly! After dinner and some great Chianti, I was laughing along with the rest of family!!

Lesson learned: No more phrase books for me, I will use the audio lessons!!

Yep, I still plan to learn!

A nun wears a wimple. perhaps you were referring to Mr. Whipple?

Kellee - your post reminds me of my hubby's wonderful gift of speaking any language.

Well, let me clarify that. His gift of conversing with the locals is to speak english with the local accent - I guess that makes it easier for them to understand?

In Italy, he speaks english with an Italiano accento. In Mexico he speaks english with el spanisho accenta. In Japan - well let's not get into his Japanese... hehe

Somehow it works for him though - guess that's just the charmer in him - he's always the guy with everyone gathered around his table buying him drinks, slapping him on the back and inviting him back to their childs confirmation.... go fig!

I am in Banff with my family and I am so excited about going skiing in the Canadian rockies. I am juiced up and I cannot wait till morning to go skiing. Its my family's first ski trip out west and we are staying in the Banff Springs hotel. A magnificent hotel. I wake up early and figure I am going to go to the gym first. I am very quiet in the room so I do not wake up the kids and look at my watch and it says 5:30AM. This is great because I will work out for about 1 1/2 hours before the huge buffet breakfast they serve and away we go on a magnificent day of skiing. I go to the front desk and notice it is very quiet and dark outside. I ask about the gym and they say it opens at 6:00 AM but if I want I can go to the coffee shop and have coffee before the gym opens. I go to the counter and ask about the coffee and he says the special coffee's are usually brewed at 6:00 AM. I figure it is close to that now but will not wait I just get a regular cup of coffee. I am so excited about skiing I sit down in a booth and start to read a travel paper. I look at my watch and figure after the cup of coffee I will be ready to hit the gym. Well, after the 9th sip I look at my watch again and start to think. Did I change my watch from New York time. I think again and I almost spit out the coffee. I realize it is 3:00AM and I have a long way to wait. I have now left the room drank coffee and now have to go back to my room, not wake the family and try and go back to sleep with a 1/2 cup of coffee already drank. I laughed for 2 days over that and my family didn't stop for the entire week asking if I was going to the gym for an early workout.

What a great thread!

Our last trip took us to three countries, so we had heard quite a few different accents and languages. The last week of it we were in France, and for some reason I starting speaking in my pathetic Italian. Italy, however, was not a part of that trip, so I have no idea why I started speaking that language!

Frankdaddy--We have been to the Banff Springs Hotel so I am just picturing you at 3am there waiting for the gym, lol!

hightide...
Your message, (thanks), makes me feel better!
Maybe they weren't laughing..maybe they were JUST smiling!

Didn't get invited to any confirmations, but may be next time!! (Grin)

Your husband sounds like my husband, how do they do that???

Message: Have told this one before on an obscure thread which quickly became buried. Here it is again.
We were in Tuscany, driving and recognizing that our rental car was getting pretty tacky after a couple of weeks of touring. We had stopped at a market to get fixings for a picnic. As we left the parking area, we spotted what appeared to be a car wash of some kind just above the market. Good timing. We would take advantage of it. We took the little side road, drove up to the apparent entrance and positioned the car for the wash. I got out and looked at the coin receptacle and, satisfied that I could manage it, I fed the appropriate coins. I quickly joined my wife in the car and waited for the washer to spring into action. Nothing! I got out and read the instructions again, making sure I had put in the right coins. I had. I pushed the slide mechanism in and out several times and quickly jumped into the car again. Nothing! I did this several times and could get no action. Pretty upset by now (damned foreign machines never work like ours), I jumped out to check once more. As I carefully examined the coin mechanism, I happened to look up on the slight rise above the washing apparatus (about 15 yards away). There I saw two elderly gentleman sitting on a bench, caps at a jaunty angle, sweaters tightly buttoned across ample midsections, complexions of leather and they were laughing uproarously; I mean knee slapping, head wagging, belly jumping laughter. They were looking right at us, so we were obviously the source of their mirth. All of a sudden "the light went on". I jumped into the car and moved forward to the under-washer position to wash. The water came on and we got our wash. This was a stationary car wash and no matter how long I would have waited or jiggled that coin mechanism, that washer was never going to move over our car. We obviously made the day for those two old gentleman, "dumb Americans". What a story they had to tell there friends; "there were these two Americans who drove their car in front of the car wash...." This is many years ago and we still cannot remember this experience without breaking into laughter ourselves. The thought of those two old gentleman watching me, in and out of the car, checking the coin op, a car length short of the overhead washer, it's too much.

I don't see my post here so it must be another with the same subject.
Mine was my first time outside of Paris, but that is not important here. We were dining at a resto as a stop off on our way. I had to go to the toilet, but, could not figure how to flush and did not want to face the next woman seeing my bounty. So I stood outside the door and waited for the next female. She was beautiful, humerous, when I tried my few french words and gesturs, she laughed and told me how!!!
She later sent us a glass of champpagne.

We were in Brugge and were jet lagged. Went to bed early. Woke up and it was 9 o`clock! I made every one get up and get dressed, so we could go sight see and have breakfast. Then found out it was actually 9pm, not 9am, and we had barely been to bed! I still get teased about it.

SeaUrchin--tears rolling down by face!

We were in Metz, France with our two daughters (10 & 14 at the time). Early in the morning I walked from the hotel to the nearest boulangerie to get our morning croissants. I speak some Spanish, but only "bare neccesity" French. I ordered six croissants, she questioned me so I repeated several times, "seis" croissants. Well of course the word for six in Spanish is seis and the French for sixteen is pronounced the same way.

We fed the extra croissants to the birds. My girls (22 & 26 now) never let me forget this incident.

Margy

Okay, well...this embarassing moment didn't happen in Europe, but I'll still share. My husband took me to Mexico last year. Of course, I had to try a Margarita. Very mild. Went down too easily, tasted like it didn't have any alcohol in it! Well, it must have, because during the water Taxi ride back to the mainland, I felt compelled to tell a total stranger about my husband getting "de-ah-raya" from some fish tacos. And then invited her and her kids to come visit us in the US. And then swapped email addresses! Needless to say, I never heard from her, nor did I write. Nor did I have any more margaritas!

<<so I repeated several times, "seis" croissants. Well of course the word for six in Spanish is seis and the French for sixteen is pronounced the same way. >>

Huh? No, the word for sixteen isn't pronounced anything like that in French. The word for 16 in French is "soixante," nothing like the Spanish. It doesn't sound like the same word at all. I'm confused about what you were confused about.

Well....then I'm the one who is confused. Could I have been wrong all these years? I just did a search for French numbers and the first site I came to also has "seize" listed as sixteen in French...

http://french.about.com/library/begin/bl_numbers.htm

Now I'm really confused!

I just took another look at the numbers site...it says that "soixante" is sixty?

Lots of little embarassing moments - but my worst ever one was nearer to home. Was spending a Saturday down in San Francisco w/ a new-ish boyfriend. We were still in the "trying to impress each other, on our best behavior" phase.

The plan was lunch downtown, matinee at ACT, wander through Chinatown/North Beach, dinner at a Japanese restaurant at the Wharf.

OK - in this order: at lunch I spilled an entire glass of red wine down the front of my peach silk dress (no place to change), stubbed my toe on a curb which cause a run about 3 inches wide and all the way up my leg (went into a bathroom and shed my pantyhose), got a attack of hiccups which lasted for more than an hour and nothing worked to stop them (finally went into a bar and got a wedge of lime sprinkled w/ salt and angostera bitters - works every time BTW).

So by now I look like a homeless bag lady w/ stained clothing, scuffed up sandals and mascara stains on my cheeks from all the hiccupping -- but it got worse.

We got to the restaurant and I freshened up as best I could. We were in a screened room and I was feeling adventurous. I had had Japanese food many time but never Sashimi - so that's what I ordered. The boyfriend ordered Sukiyaki so the waitress brought the garnishes for my sashimi and then left to get the hot plate to cook his. I am looking at all the little bits - pickled carrots, radishes, etc. And there is this little ball of green stuff - looked just like Avocado to me. Well I take my chopsticks and pop the entire ball into my mouth -- and MY HEAD EXPLODED! My first ever taste of wasabi!!!!. I lunged for my Saki bottle and downed it in one gulp, reached across the table and downed the BF's saki. Just then the waitress returned and opened the screens. At one glance she knew immediately what had happened. She was wearing those cleated wooden Japanese sandals and a long kimono - but she RAN across the whole restaurant to the bar to get me a pitcher of water. You could hear the click clack of those sandals throughout the whole place.

I really impressed that new boyfriend - yeah, that's for sure

Of course, that should be "sake" (oh, the memory is still painful)

Okay so I was In Switzerland with the Girl Guides (yes, a long time ago)and the local outdoor pool often had giant inflatables in it. I was so excited to get in I had changed and put my bathing suit UNDER all my clothes first thing so I could rip it all off and jump in....needless to say after plunging in and fighting my way to the top of a giant slide I stood up and shouted with glee....only to find out that my giant blue 'granny' knickers were still on.....thankfully it was only the WHOLE troop and several local attractive teenagers laughing away. Luckily that was the last time I EVER wore giant undies and to this day never live it down when I run into the 'gang' at home!

hi margyb: Just to make you feel better!seize is 16, soixante is 60, six is six,pronounced like "siss".
Great thread!