lesliec1

When I was 13 (many years ago), my parents took my older sister and me on a trip to Europe. After viewing a production of Aida in Rome, we emerged from the theater around 11:30 PM hungry for a snack. My parents were not experienced European travelers and figured you could always find somewhere to eat at any time of day or night, just like in the U.S. After wandering the neighborhood a bit, my father finally found a dimly lit restaurant that appeared to be open, although there were no other patrons in the dining room. We went in and sat at one of the empty tables. The place was decorated with flocked wallpaper, and many marble fountains and statues of naked women. We thought the decor rather odd. A somewhat confused man came out from the back and my father told him in english and gesticulations that we were hungry and wanted some pasta to eat. Another man came out and the 2 men conferred a bit, then vanished. We waited a long time and eventually the men came back out with some food, which we ate. The men watched us the whole time we were eating. When it was time to leave, they refused to let us get a taxi and instead found a relative to drive us back to our hotel. Only after we'd left did it occur to us, all at the same exact moment, that the place at which we'd just eaten wasn't really a restaurant---it was a brothel! No wonder the men were confused. They had probably raced to someone's home nearby and gotten food from there rather than try to explain to an American family with children the true nature of the establishment. And they probably didn't want us to hear the truth from a taxi driver, either! My mother was one of those prim, proper, and prudish ladies of the sixties. We all waited for her to lambast my father for taking his daughters to such a place, but instead she roared with laughter, and so did the rest of us! This became a huge family joke.

WillTravel

radiofanatic, my mother-in-law says she has a similar story of someone wanting to purchase her for X number of camels (maybe 10, I can't remember). But that was in Morocco, and she was middle-aged, although dyed blonde and quite attractive, at that point.

radiofanatic

glad to hear I wasn't the only one! A lot of morroccans and middle easterns live in southern france, especially the toulon area. I probably ate more coucous and middle eastern food than I did french food!

radiofanatic

ttt

1tiredmama

One comes to mind. Funny now, humiliating then. We were at a spa in Baden Baden and I decided to enter the sauna. I believe there was a sign in English indicating that swimsuits, etc. were not allowed. I know I would not have been in there totally nude if I didn't have to be. Everything up to that point had been unisex, so I went in with my husband. For some reason there were only a bunch of stark naked men, no women. But I was determined to show I was comfortable with my body and not some uptight American.

There were several large saunas, and we choose an empty one. My husband abandoned me because the heat got to him (he doesn't even like saunas). I wasn't alone for long though! All of a sudden all the other saunas were empty and mine was packed, with MEN! Still NO women. I just sat kind of curled up in a ball, afraid to get up and completely expose myself. Most of the men stared at me, others were cooler and just glanced occasionally. After a long while, my husband came to check on me. Fearing dehydration, I grabbed his hand and made a quick exit. My husband could see how embarassed I was and he asked why I didn't just move to one of the empty saunas. I wanted to smack him.

I guess no matter what country you are in, hey, a naked girl is a naked girl!!! I still don't know why there were no other women in there. Weird.

TarheelsInNj

This is just a little story, but it comes to mind now as I am awake late after work!

In Paris, there was one particular clerk that always worked the night shift at our hotel. I went down one evening (perhaps 10:00pm) and asked for another pillow- and discovered he had fallen asleep mid-sentence!

Surely a narcoleptic person isn't the best suited for a night shift

Calamari

During my sophmore year of university I went to Corfu with my best friend. On our first day on the island we went down to the beach for a swim. We noticed that everyone was topless. My friend quickly took her bikini top off and jumped into the water. After much teasing she finally convinced me to do the same. I figured that I stood out more with my top on than off. We swam out to a platform floating way out in the ocean. We thought how great it was to be in the middle of the ocean and working on our tans so uninhibited. About half an hour later we were invaded by a group of boys that we had both gone to middle school with back in L.A. New meaning to "it's a small world"! Twenty years later, it is finally funny.

ira

Hi 1tiredmama

Loved your sauna story.

Many years ago my wife and I visited a resort hotel North of Helsinki. They had a sauna by the lake, where you could heat up and then jump into the not-too-cold water.

So there we were, naked, in the lake when a pontoon plane, with four men in it, lands on the lake.

It took about 15 min before I could talk my shivering wife into getting out of the water and running into the bath house.

1tiredmama

Calamari and ira, hilarious stories. Maybe I should have started a new thread titled "Your funniest NAKED travel experience"! I have other funny stories, but the ones involving nudity always seem to be the funniest.