Even the most seasoned explorers are surprised by some of the things they run into in their travels, and this is a chance to share some of those surprises! Dig up some of the wonderfully Weird Things Found on your trips and share your favorite "Huh?!" moments. :^) :?
Dingle, Ireland: Foxy John's bar, hardware store and bike shop.
I traveled all the way to Reykjavik to find these in a grocery store. They were grown in the town in NJ where my wedding was.
and in less funny, but still kind of WTF, Derry, Northern Ireland:
Still no idea what was going on here, but I know it was not happy.
And finally, a pub in Ireland where Guinness was EUR 3.90, and Budweiser & Heineken (draught!) were EUR 4.30. And some iditos ordered it! (The Bud, I mean.) Talk about WTF!
This is at Incheon Airport (Seoul). Just a giant pile of some sort of bread. Our flight was delayed so we were there a good two hours and nobody touched it. People just kept wandering by with confused looks on their faces.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Nov 17, 2014 15:32:43 GMT -5
I'm C&Ping this from a post I wrote in H&G a few weeks ago, because it's the only WTF I have a photo of (although there's one somewhere at my parents' house involving being chased through the streets of Segovia Spain by a dude wearing a giant head):
Mine have a funny story. In 2008, we were considering moving to the back of nowhere, Alaska (long story). So, we're driving around with our job-interview hosts checking things out and we come across an ice climber (I guess its a popular hobby?). He had parked his truck next to the road and was getting ready to head up this sheet of ice, so we stopped to be tourists and gawk. But then he disconnected from his rope/gear and walks back over to his truck. He opened the hood, and boom - cats. Like, there were 5 of them just chilling under the hood of the car. And he was totally nonplussed about the whole thing and literally just picks them up and tosses them (gently) through the window of the truck and into the cab, then he went back over and climbed the ice sheet. Totally didn't miss a beat even though there were CATS IN HIS ENGINE.
From China, some of our students had an "Enjoy our English Learning" show--basically a talent show. This group of students did a skit of Snow White. The dwarfs are in Santa suits, because, well, why not?
The Vietnam War Memorial in Hanoi. I wish I had pictures on this computer of the "Hanoi Hilton" because they showed pictures of US prisoners having fun and playing ping-pong....no mention of torture.
Land mine museum in Siem Reap Cambodia....with livestock walking though areas showing land mines to the visitors.
Whatever this means....they obviously think 69 is a fun number to mention when renting out inner tubes in Vang Vieng, Laos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
You'd be amazed by how stupid people are. I know someone who wanted to sue the 4S on Maui because her kid got stung by a jellyfish off their beach. Because they totally should have told her there were jellyfish in the ocean.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
New Jersey has similar signs in the women's bathrooms at restaurants and bars.
I think that bars in New York are required to have that sign (or at the very least, they all have it), but it is usually above the bar and not in the bathroom.
But speaking of weird bar bathrooms, this bathroom was in a bar in Atlantic City
And while I'm looking through my phone, this is a display at a Marriott in downtown Brooklyn. Creepy much?
</div>It's very sad that I have lived in Australia long enough not to even blink at those prices for cokes. Anything below $20 for a 24-pack box is CHEAP. It's insane how expensive things are here.
I've also seen a lot of the graffiti on cacti. I thought that was just odd.
It's blurry but this was the line to get into Prada when we were in Hong Kong last year in early December, and a lot of the other designer stores had lines, too. We were told the stores like to control the amount of people so everyone has a better shopping experience.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
It's blurry but this was the line to get into Prada when we were in Hong Kong last year in early December, and a lot of the other designer stores had lines, too. We were told the stores like to control the amount of people so everyone has a better shopping experience.
The outlet center about an hour outside of New York City has lots of lines. Outside Gucci and Prada it tends to be Asian tourists (apparently luxury goods are so expensive in Asia that people are willing to fly to NY to do outlet shopping here!!!). Coach and Tory Burch outlets have long lines of Americans.
In New York City itself, Abercrombie always has a line around the block before it opens, and the Uggs and Dash (owned by the Kardashians) stores in Soho always have long lines outside of them. People have bad taste.
It's blurry but this was the line to get into Prada when we were in Hong Kong last year in early December, and a lot of the other designer stores had lines, too. We were told the stores like to control the amount of people so everyone has a better shopping experience.
I was at the posh mall last Christmas and there were not only lines to get into the upscale stores, but tickets! You had to register with the doorman for timed tickets. It was insane.
I just saw a sign at the bar in a restaurant tonight, right above the pregnant-women-shouldn't-drink sign that said "CAUTION: Consumption of alcoholic beverages can actually cause pregnancy." Ha!