Travel memories I can't erase: Now I've seen everything...

Firenze. A gelato place on the south end of Ponte Vecchio. As we approached, we heard a shrill voice say, " Ten dollars for ice cream! This would never happen in the United States of America!" ( it was apparently a family of four, so even €10 was not bad). We averted our eyes and ordered in Italian.

Ever since, whenever something seems out of sync, we say to ourselves, " This would never happen in . . . . ( fill in the blank).

And then there was the time when I was hiking in Switzerland, a fairly tough trail near Grindelwald. It was a hot day, and we came across two women hiking in their lacy bras ( no shirt). We stopped to talk ( our men averting their eyes of course) and learned they were from Russia, and very friendly. Apparently hiking in lingerie is not an issue in their culture at all. Actually it is OK here too, but we wear ugly sports bras, not nice lace lingerie.

On my frequent visits to the Kaiserdom in Frankfurt, I often run across people having their photo taken in front of a Crucifixion group statue and saying "Cheese!" flashing a victory sign at the same time. I call this some extremely odd behavior and the nationalities are all different.

Well Zoe – One can say that the first family surely felt themselves there at home :) .

I discovered on our visit to Toronto why sometimes it isn't good to strike up a convo with strangers on a bus - sitting beside some folks who were getting into a rather heated discussion about the refugees being brought into Canada - oh my! At least not hot button topics - avoid politics at all costs!

We had a "things you can't unsee" moment in the Cinque Terre. Hiking down from a santuario, which was a tough climb on a warm day, we met a German couple coming uphill, she with blouse unbuttoned and flapping but luckily in a bra (not fancy like Lola's Russians), and he without a shirt wearing suspenders and shorts. Let us just say he was as well-endowed as his wife.

In Dijon, France, a woman of about 70 came down in her hotel-issued bathrobe and slippers to get her breakfast, Children in jammies I can understand, but adults?

Thirteen years ago in Verona Italy, the last time we ever stayed in a hotel with a bathroom down the hall...I was walking down the hall to the bathroom one morning and an elderly Italian woman came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and slippers on her feet. That was the only thing she was wearing...

I'm afraid PJs for breakfast is rather common and at any age, at least in the US. I'm not thinking a restaurant, but the complementary breakfast room in certain hotel chains or the lounge for elite members of other chains. It can be quite unappetizing, I'm thinking particularly of two beefy, barefoot women in a Comfort Inn, with large dangling earrings as being the least appetizing sight. I mean, if you are going to put one thing on before going out in public, how about skip the earrings and put on a bathrobe?

Zoe,
Are you sure it wasn't the same family?
JK :)

Sitting at the airport, I see lots of young adults and teens who are wearing jammies. I understand you want to be comfy on the plane, but that is kind of going overboard.

I forgot about the five women we saw on a train in the UK with their hair up in rollers ( I didn't know anyone still used those!). It seems they were on their way to a hen party in York.

And apparently, the breakfast family was going commando.

About one month ago...

Drunk ( or perhaps stoned) huge man in Amsterdam.. made some remark to myself and my stepdaughter.. hubby heard and turned around and said "what did you say".. man moved on.. but, about 15 feet he stopped at a window with a very bored looking lady in it ( Red Light area).. he then took his you know what out of his pants and proceeded to "play the violin" for this lady.. step daughter started dry heaving.. ( she is a young adult not a child) but was really shocked. I am old and do not shock easily .. wondered why lady did not just lower her screen..she did keep filing her nails.. I admired her ability to not react in any way at all.. that would have satisfied this creep and she was not taking the bait.

This was in broad daylight about 4.30 in afternoon , right down my river where we had gone to meet for a canal cruise.

When I was about 15 I worked as a maid in the hotel where a professional football team stayed the night before home games. The guys just loved messing with us - take our cart and hide it in their room, ask for a dozen towels, etc. One of their favorite tricks was to open the door buck naked! I would just walk on in saying "Sorry - I don't do miniatures!" That put a stop to the naked greeting right away!

How about smells you can't unsmell? Paris is a urinal... and the only city in Europe (or here at home for that matter) where I've witnessed defecation on a public sidewalk (human, that is.)

I'm finding this thread to be very amusing. In defense of the half-dressed German hikers in the CT, I must point out that Europeans, especially Germans and Scandinavians, have a much more relaxed attitude toward nudity than do Americans. Several of them have remarked to me that they find our attitude baffling. ( Anybody else remember our Attorney Gen'l Ashcroft who ordered scarves draped across the breasts of statues in the Justice Dept.?). PJ's in public? Now that's a different story.

What's the 'nice' cutoff point for these dress rules?

I was making breakfast on a chilly morning in a hostel many years back, and sat down at the common table to eat, when a German hosteler asked me if what I was wearing was current fashion in America.
I was wearing a plaid red flannel nightshirt.
I didn't think he was teasing me, I thought he wanted to know-
so I told him that it wasn't clothing, it was a sleep item, not for wearing out of the house.

Now I wonder if I was being naive, and he was having a laugh on my account.
Humor is something you can never quite be sure about, when it comes to Germans.

Accidently wandered past the clothing optional part of Englishergarten in Munich - got an eyeful before I knew it!

And was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in my capital city of Halifax this weekend - just when the naked bike ride went by. I suddenly found an empty window very interesting, but turned back before the pack of about 24 went by and got another eyeful of some dude's junk - I really didn't need to see that...lol.

Russ,
I think the picture you painted is an unfair picture of Paris. I'm not saying you didn't see it, but I think the vast majority of people who have been to Paris, myself included, would strongly disagree with your description of Paris. It is similar to someone who has been treated rudely by a Frenchman and judging all Frenchmen by that encounter.

Russ, I've never seen or smelled what you describe in Paris but have seen the latter in SF.

Hiking near the Russian River (California) up on a mountain on a warm day, two older women passed us and they were completely topless. It was not a pretty sight!

I have to add a couple of comments. The smell got to me, but the one that I struggle to forget was not in Europe. Rather, it was when I was hiking with a friend in Yosemite. It was summer and we were headed up toward Vernal Falls and on to Nevada Falls. It was a very crowded trail. But at one point, an incredibly foul odor wafted back to us. We accelerated to get past it and it turned out to be a couple who just plain stank. I think that they hadn't washed in months. It was appalling. We were glad we were fit enough to out walk them!

Second comment is about ice cream. Clearly, the American in question has not bought Hagan Daz in NYC. It would be double that cost for a family of four! :)

Pam

But the shrill woman was right! That wouldn't happen in the U.S. Because it would cost twice that in the U.S.!

In London about 5 am- the fire alarm went off in our hotel and we were all evacuated to the street. My then 8 year old son was looking around at the sky and the ground, anywhere but straight ahead. It was then I noticed the two very buxom women across from us wearing tiny bikini underwear and teeny cropped camisoles. They also had no shoes on but did remember their cigarettes! It does stick with you!

Well, I guess I've had a sheltered life compared to some of you!

Russ.. we love Dublin.. but let me tell you .. that is a city that smells of urine.. most especially in some areas.. all that damm beer..

Am I the only person here that sees grown people wearing pajamas in public in the US? It's definitely a thing, and not a good thing. I used to like Spongebob, but after seeing him stretched across big rear ends in the grocery store, I have lost my affection for him.

Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity. It helps you understand and appreciate different cultures. Travel changes people. It broadens perspectives and teaches new ways to measure quality of life. Many travelers toss aside their hometown blinders. Their prized souvenirs are the strands of different cultures they decide to knit into their own character. The world is a cultural yarn shop. Back Door Travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.

–Rick Steves

haha Karen - stretched across big bottoms. No - people where I live also walk around in PJ bottoms - generally late teens-early 20's The flannel ones. I mean, I love my black yoga pants, but the only time I wear them out in public is in the morning when I take my dog out to potty. And they are much more respectable than flannel PJ's (they aren't the tight leggings but looser fitting with a flare leg) - I'm pretty sure I recall seeing an 'adult' wearing a flannel onesie in the last 6 mos....

I was trying to think of something I could add to the memories I can't erase.

I had an encounter in a coed hostel bathroom one time that was pretty funny. I went down the hall to get an early shower and it was full of college age women in various states of undress. The common area is for using sinks, not showering or using toilets, but the Germans don't view nudity as necessarily prurient. Since the room was full, I was going to find another one but one of the girls said, "Nein, nein, es gibts jetzt noch ein mall," - meaning another shower was available - so I went in and took a shower. None of that is the funny part. The showers had two curtains, one for the shower and another for a little changing area. While I was in the shower a white haired women, possibly an American?, kept peeking in.

On the not so funny side, I'll never get over the number of people being wheeled out of Oktoberfest on gurnies by medical teams because of excessive drinking.

I had an experience like that literally right at the beginning of one trip to Germany - got off the plane at Schoenefeld, walked to the railway station, got on the train to Berlin, and a woman carried her bike onto the train dripping with sweat, obviously having had a strenuous workout on it, pulled her T-shirt off (no bra), wiped the sweat off her torso with it, pulled a clean T-shirt out of her bag, and put it on, all in full view of the other passengers, none of whom reacted.

FKK seems quite popular in Germany.

Put me in the group that thinks Paris stinks. A lot. And everywhere. Metro, Metro stations, Church entries, even the steps up to the top of the Sacre Coure. Who pees in a church? Truly put me off Paris (little desire to return) and I am used to smelling this aroma far too often in Germany.

When my wife and I were in Paris, we were visiting a cheese shop on the Rue Cler when a couple barged ahead of us in line and the first thing out of the woman's mouth was 'Do you speak English?' -- and in an American accent.

My wife and I were mortified. I know that having been in Paris for all of three days made me a seasoned world traveler and everything, but even a bumpkin like me knew that you say 'Bonjour', then go about questioning the cheese-monger's linguistic abilities. That said, the merchant was the height of class and answered with a hearty and friendly, "Of course!" and proceeded to help them.

Also, don't get me started on Selfie-Sticks -- ohhh, I know a selfie you can take with that stick and I'll even HELP you with it!

We were sitting at a Ramblas side café in Barcelona in 2007. The Ramblas were heaving with people. DH says "Ange, there's a weiner". Sure enough a guy walked right past the restaurant completely naked. Funnily enough, when he passed we saw he had painted his bum and top of the back of his thighs green so at a quick glance it would look like he was wearing tight green shorts.

I was in Chamonix in May 2015. Walking down the hallway at the hotel I passed a room with the key still in the lock. I knocked and a big man with an even bigger gut answered the door wearing only his underwear, the smallest bikini I've ever seen. I held out the key, turned, and practically ran down the hall. Chamonix is a small town so of course I ran into the guy again, at breakfast, walking down the street, and later that evening at a restaurant. That's something I wish I hadn't seen!

The New York subways in summer sure beat anything I've ever experienced in Europe (and I remember when they weren't air conditioned). It smells? You just move on! Imagine what places smelled like in the Middle Ages!!

Inside one of the many beautiful places of worship in Krakow, I was in the back of a church observing a heavily attended afternoon service. During the sermon(?) two middle-aged gals from Kansas (I know this because every stitch of clothing they were wearing had U of Kansas on it), walked into the middle of the church started taking pictures and shouting to one another "take a picture of this....take a picture of that" completely oblivious to the service going on and standing right next to the priest on the pew. I was so embarrassed I fled.

The story that Michael related was similar to what I experienced one afternoon at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. It wasn't any particular individuals, but quite a number of people who weren't observing the rules. Despite numerous prominent signs prohibiting photography, there were still flashes popping all over the place as the service started. The Priest climbed the pulpit and delivered a stern and direct warning to "cease and desist", and that seemed to finally get the inconsiderate morons to put their cameras away.

I must have missed these famous pee smells of Paris in all my trips there since 1973. The last time there was last May, before that in 2012. Only once or twice in Paris did I distinctly come across the pee smell, ie at a stairway at Gare de l'Est, or all the times I was not paying attention, or couldn't care less. I'll have factor Paris into my next trip next summer.

I did see a guy watering the sidewalk in Paris this winter. Granted, it was New Year's Eve. But I didn't notice any particular odor as I was traveling across town. Not like how posters are describing.

The Vernal Falls story....must be that trail or the Half Dome route or something. Years back I boarded the transit bus that circles the valley floor after walking part of Vernal Falls trail, and a backpacker got on. Let's just say our bus buddy had been out on the trail for quite.some.time. I assume (hope) he was headed to the nearest shower house!

A couple of women from Utah demanding Lemon Pepper for their salad. After several attempts to please them including bring a half lemon, fresh and wrapped in a cheese cloth like material with a bow, plus a pepper mill. They shouted and quite rudely shoved their salads into the middle of the table and announced among other things, "How can you expect us to eat this without lemon pepper?"

And for the other hand, two absolutely magnificent, stunning young ladies on the top-less beach in Nice. To have been 40 years younger!

I don't rem urine odor in Paris, but after going up to Sacre Coeur in the evening (which I wouldn't recommend) and seeing the immigrants selling beer and wine and all the broken glass lying around - that upset me. And the guy who obviously had a rough night barely able even sit on the metro on a Sunday morning (he must have slept in the gutter) - and the huge puddle of vomit on the floor - ick.

Men pee anywhere, everywhere...install a few pissotières in strategic locations?

This isn't a travel memory I particularly want to erase. I think it was the funniest incident on my recent trip to the UK.

Picture this. The open pool on the top of the Thermae Spa in Bath. People of all ages and sizes floating around in the warm water and bubbles. Ordinary people like you and me.

Then this big guy steps off the lift. Six foot four and full of muscles big. He wasn't a body builder because he wasn't cut enough. I'm guessing he played rugby. All of a sudden the pool became very quiet.

I was where I could see him to my left, but more importantly I could see the faces of almost everyone in the pool. To the person, regardless of age or gender, they stared in a transfixed way that I interpreted as amazement and admiration. I did think it was a good thing that he had very modest swim trunks on. A speedo might have caused some of the agape to faint and need CPR.

Emma ---I believe you are correct! I realized I misspoke when I said we were going to York as this was late iin our trip, and we were in York early on.

Further thought led me to the conclusion it must have been on our journey up to the Lakes District. We traveled from Stamford up to Penrith, with a train change at Birmingham. Ladies from Liverpool in their hair rollers could have joined the train at Warrington. The final destination of the train was either Glasgow or Edinburgh----which is more popular for hen parties?

My husband was highly amused and slightly dismayed at the whole hen party thing. We were in York on a bank holiday weekend, and on Saturday night the streets were full of young women in groups, with their sashes and very high heels, mostly quite drunk. It was not a pretty sight.

Pamela---that couple in Yosemite may have been out backpacking for days, or even weeks. When we do that we are insistent on washing, but some people just skip it, especially where water is scarce.

The worst -smelling human I have ever encountered was last month at the French Open. We were privileged to be invited into the player's box by a young friend who was playing a match, and then we gathered in the players's lounge/cafe to decompress. The food is not free but it is much more affordable (and better) than what is available in the general public area. But at the next table a player came fresh from his match, and I had to move. Athletic sweat need not small that bad unless it gets "aged" or one wears the same clothes over and over. But nervous sweat smells terrible--and that was what was going on. Totally understandable---but still hard to take. He should have headed to the showers first.

Pamela and Rachel both commented on the ice cream thing---and I totally agree. We pay $3.39 for a single scoop at Baskin -Robbins---not exactly high end ice cream but still my favorite. Gelato in 2010 when this occurred was €1.50 a scoop at this particular place. Even with the euro at $1.40 that was around $8.00 for the family of four. Maybe they ordered something super-fancy. But in any case she was out of line, and we were embarrassed.

I love this thread!

A friend and I were in New Orleans in 2007. We took a bus or a streetcar to a point near the zoo but didn't know where to go from there. We were crossing a park and an older guy in a wheelchair was coming toward us. We stopped him to ask if he knew how to get to the zoo. He wore a shirt, and some kind of short blanket across his lap but no pants or anything. His business was hanging out, yet he talked to us sanely and gave us good directions like everything was normal!

One day at a Mass in Gaeta, the priest was so annoyed at people talking, walking around, taking photos (it was a First Communion Mass and these were mostly family members), but the final straw was a couple arguing over whether or not to leave. He stopped his homily and gave the congregation what-for, including a street phrase or two, and then calmly continued. The congregation was well-behaved for the rest of the Mass.

The general tone is one of levity, but only the first one is humorous:
—On a cruise once back in 2011 (RT out of Athens), the cruise ship had a special spa area that cost a little extra to get into—$20-40 per day. It was pretty clearly a swimsuits required area. Some guy didn't get the memo on that and was walking around entirely naked. Think he was European, but not sure. Context is everything, I had no problem in Baden Baden at the nude baths, but this was weird.
—I saw a young woman with very dilated pupils staggering as if extremely drunk in Barcelona. My intuition said she was on heroin (a known issue, at least at the time, in Barcelona), and it was utterly chilling to me. I know what a very drunk person looks like, this was just different and I felt very sorry for her.

A walk through a nude beach in St. Marten; wife and I did not participate! After viewing it; no pictures; some folks need to keep their clothes on!

We were in a pub in Dingle, Ireland, listening to great music and having a great time. We arrived a bit late, so we snagged the one remaining table, which was relatively near the bar. At the bar were two Americans, a couple from New Jersey (a fact they proudly declared numerous times), who were absolutely hammered drunk. For over an hour, we heard them yelling to and at the bartender about various things said and done on Howard Stern's radio program. This included loud, repetitive cursing. We are by no means prudes, but these people were the epitome of the "ugly American." I was embarrassed for them. Fortunately, the bartender and the customers around these people seemed to recognize these folks were best dealt with by laughter. Eventually they left, and everyone was happier for it.

On a metro car in Prague, not too crowded so you could see everyone. A guy was so very drunk ( it was about 10 in the morning) and abnoxious. He pulled his pants down and proceeded to play with himself all the while turning around so all could see and clearly inviting others to join him! Until the next stop we were all a captive audience. Always think of him when I think of Prague.

My wife and I were cycling on the Loire River levee when we passed a completely naked man just strolling along. No clothes or towel being carried. It was away from any town or place to swim. I still can't imagine what he was doing.

" I still can't imagine what he was doing." Walking.

Odiferous people story - my father in law worked at a family owned (not his family) hardware store after retiring from the RCAF. There was a guy who was a pig farmer who used to come in the store who was quite...fragrant. He told us it was always a rush to see who could get to the stockroom first (especially if they saw him coming) and last man standing had to wait on him. And he wouldn't just come in for a minute...

This is easy: a woman, very well dressed, flawlessly wearing stilettos on cobblestones...and walking an enormous pet pig down the streets of Prague.

The one travel memory that sticks out over all others is from my first trip to Germany. I had read up and was aware of the nude sunbathers in city parks (saw many that trip), and many of the other happenings that others have written about here so I though I was ready for everything.

Well, I was using the toilet in Frankfurt in a fancy department store and a women rolled in a mop bucket and started cleaning. No knock on the door, no "excuse me I need to clean", nothing. She did it like it was nothing to her. And then I realized it was nothing to her except her job that she did every day. Nothing she hadn't seen before! She was probably completely perplexed at my flustered condition. :-) I have encountered similar toilet cleaning all over Europe since then and it no longer surprises me.

I have not noticed the "smell" in Paris or Dublin. I might have just gotten lucky in that it had rained very heavily, nearly flooding, right when I arrived in Paris so the smell may have temporarily been washed away. My other visits to Paris kept me away from the places that might have smelled. Dublin was similar in that it was a rainy cold time I was there. Now don't get me wrong because European cities do have an odor, probably no more so than the older more densely packed cities in the US, but for the most part I have not found it offensive.

Mark, I've spent 7+ yrs in Paris and never noticed a urine smell.

@ Mark...this same experience I encountered on the night ferry from Malmö to Travemünde on my first trip in 1971. The ferry was docking and I knew I had to get out of the WC, get my luggage, and get off. I'm in the WC, the "Klofrau" comes in doing her mopping. Although I had been warned of this prior to the trip, it did take me aback a bit but my pressing concern was to get the luggage and get off, ie not her. I am sure the mop woman couldn't have care less I was there. After the initial surprise, I felt the likewise towards her

Some older guy in Germany, dressed in a tux, started talking to my gf about how beautiful she is and how she doesn't have to choose a man yet. He retreated quickly after my response.

And of course there was the time my friend and I visited the beach with the Taverna when staying on Paros. We didn't know that the beach with the Taverna was the clothing optional beach, so when we showed up in our one piece black bathing suites we definitely stood out. But we were getting used to it and just decided to relax. We were sitting up on our towels and my friend decide to have a cigarette--this was many years ago. She barely got the pack out and the cigarette in hand when she looked up to find a very nude man hovering in front of her with a lighter and an appendage not far from her nose. (He wasn't very tall.) I was only a foot or two away. I have to say that Sharon kept her composure and accepted the light. He sat down, which was a relief, and we had a conversation that was likely a mixture of English, German, French and a wee bit of Greek. I can't remember what was said, the first image erases all other thought.

It is only a matter of chance , luck, bad luck, missed opportunity, whatever you want to call it if one did not miss the disagreeable smell of urine in Paris. The next thing is whether it bothers you to the point of making a decision on Paris, return or not, or who cares? If it bothers you, so it bothers you, That would hardly deter me from going back if I happened to encounter that each time taking the Metro, which is an impossibility. After all, c'est ça Paris!

The only places I've noticed that urine smell in Paris is in the Metro stations.

For all of you who encountered urine smells , did it happen mostly during the warm months? We normally travel during the off season, so have not encountered these experiences. Warm weather leads to more liquid intake, which results in more liquid output.

You don't have to go to Paris/Europe for those unforgettable sights/smells. San Francisco has it all.
(Nearly) naked bicyclists? Check.
Public defecation on the grassy knoll outside Macy's in Union Square? Check.
Urine smells almost everywhere in almost every season? Check.
Drunken teenagers teetering on high heels stopping to vomit on the sidewalk right in front of you? Check.
A guy on the escalator ahead of you turning around to loudly burp in your face and then spit on you? Check.
A confused, ranting man following you for several blocks shaking his fists and cussing at you? Check.

The last time we were in the city for the symphony we came up the Civic Center BART escalator to see a group of men with bottles of urine perched on the walls. They were having an animated conversation about which unsuspecting person to dump them on. ( I will admit that experience did result in us driving into the city for the next concert and parking at the performing arts garage. )

None of that permanently deters us from spending time in one of the worlds' great cities. Just the price of admission as it were. :)

Hah Traveling Mom--I think we've got the same sights and smells in NYC! :)

Wow,
So totally missed all that last time I was in SFO. Apparently I was mesmerized by watching people do tai chi in the park or seeing goat carcasses being carried into the market or wondering how many $10 fleeces could be sold to tourists who didn't realize that rolling fog is damp and cold. It's one fascinating city--apparently in a variety of ways!

TrevelingMom, you nailed it. Still love SF but Paris will always be my favorite. Guess I've been lucky for 7+ yrs never encountering the aforementioned smell... lol.

Now, see, often we Americans are chided for being uncomfortable with nudity. Then you hear a story like Pamela's and say, "Bring on the swimsuits!"

Very accurate portrayal of SF and its negative side but I wonder who cares. It may shock the tourists who aren't used to big cities, feel overwhelmed by them as in London, Berlin, Paris, but does it bother one? As regards to urine smell, I'll say the worse is in SF. It is not every time I encounter that bit of unpleasantness lodged at Paris, just hit and miss or luck, not so with SF where it's almost a daily occurrence downtown.

Nude beaches or nudity in general isn't what makes this American uptight... but when I walked into the Australian hostel bathroom to see a naked woman trimming her "landing strip" out in the open about half a foot from the sink where I have to go brush my teeth and just letting the hairs fall wherever, then yeah, call me uptight! I also am not typically uptight about men and women having to share bathroom facilities, but did find it really creepy that there was a guy in the shower stall next to mine that was really enjoying playing with himself as he was very loud about what he was doing in there. Those 2 incidents just reinforce why it's crucial to always wear flip flops in any shared bathrooms!

Oh, and we did run into a French guy peeing in between 2 parked cars at about 2AM, but he was super apologetic as we passed by him mid-stream. I don't quite get why they need to pee on the streets of Paris when they seem to have sidewalk toilets in most neighborhoods, but I don't think Paris smells any worse than other large cities. And it looked to me like the poop on the sidewalks was left mostly by dog owners. Now I did see a whole lot of human pee & poop on the streets of San Francisco during my last visit. Unfortunate, but they do have a really tough time with a lot of homeless people living out on the streets and it's not really confined like it used to be around the Tenderloin and Union Square. This time I was seeing it in some pretty high end neighborhoods - The Mission District, Pacific Heights and North Beach. Living in a large city myself, I'm much more inclined to be forgiving about it when it is a homeless person. It's the obnoxious drunk guys peeing on people's cars and doorsteps that is irritating.

Earplugs would have been nice!

Ed, I've also been to the nude beach on St. Maarten. Generally I was impressed by the tans. None of them were worth gawking at but I was impressed by one woman who had one breast and a fairly nasty (I assume mastectomy) scar where the other breast would have been. I totally approved of her being comfortable enough with herself to hang out (no pun intended) on the nude beach.

The good looking girls were in Sydney, Australia. They weren't naked but were topless and tucked their bottoms as "cheekies" (like a thong).

I also saw a group of women doing mostly naked yoga at a park in St. Petersburg, Russia.

I used to surf at Black's beach in San Diego. When I was a kid it was lightly salted with either hippy families or very good looking young women with their very gray haired boyfriends. Once the City Council made it legal to be naked at Black's it turned into something completely (horribly) different.

While yoga pants are very popular in the US, it seemed every woman (and some men even) in Barcelona wore them.

All i can say is thank GOD FOR YOGA PANTS.

The only smell that sticks with me after 6 trips to Europe: My wife and I honeymooned in Germany & Switzerland. It was her first trip over and it was early spring. Early spring is when the German farmers spread manure for the crops (so it was 30 years ago). We traveled mostly on the secondaries (German Federal Highway). For most of the trip we had the sweet scent of manure as we drove the secondaries from town to town. We also passed a farm house that had a "Zimmer Frei" sign that had a huge pile of manure next to it. That is something one never forgets. The upside is, being a German home you can believe that Zimmer would have been clean!
Still, nothing compares to the smell of a rendering plant. After driving by one that smell never left my nose all day.

John...we have a rendering plant in our town and tho they've mostly contained the odours, sometimes the reek...ugh. Every once in a while we get the paper plant odour if the wind is blowing wrong. And some farms around who spread pig manure...bleech

I am on my way to Atlanta and had an overnite stay in Knoxville...about 30% of the people in the breakfast room were in pajamas and robes...just fell out of bed😴and came to breakfast...
Guess I better step it up to the next level of hotels! It's a bit disturbing... I can handle kids or even teens, but these were a bunch of old people! Yuk!

One travel memory that sticks out is the unfortunate smells of the caves/underground settlements in Goreme/Cappadocia Turkey. They smelled like a urinal. They are interesting to visit but it was nice to get fresh air on the surface.
J

In NYC, my family saw a somewhat aged and shriveled old gal standing naked with a strategically placed guitar in Time Square, singing and hoping for bills to be placed anywhere on her body or undies , if she had them. She had no talent.

I heard that within the last few days, a person stepped backward off a cliff at the Grand Canyon while taking selfies. Darwin's evolution at work perhaps - self removal from the gene pool.

barbnrob,

The woman at the Grand Canyon had one moment of inattention, a simple mistake, but unfortunately it proved fatal. I was truly saddened when reading the details of who she was......

http://www.people.com/article/colleen-burns-cliff-fall-grand-canyon-death

Ken et al: Maybe this is a different person but I read the other day that a 30-something woman fell to her death in the Grand Canyon when she stepped aside to let another hiker pass and somehow got tripped up.. I think she just got tangled up in her own feet, and fell backwards over the ledge. No selfie was involved in the actual fall. Tragic really. And another reason I avoid all high spaces that don't have high railings.

I had no idea it was acceptable to show up in hotel breakfast rooms in your Jammie's. I've missed out on the free breakfast multiple times because I couldn't get myself dressed and made up by 9 am. And I could have shown up in my Jammie pants and t shirt!! Who knew?

Elaine,

That's the one I was referring to, as shown in the link to the story. She was trying to move for another person.

In NYC, my family saw a somewhat aged and shriveled old gal standing naked with a strategically placed guitar in Time Square, singing and hoping for bills to be placed anywhere on her body or undies , if she had them. She had no talent.

Ah yes - the Naked Cow Granny -just wrong! Not to be confused with the Naked Cow Girl.

Ken, I realize my above reply could be read as cold- hearted. I regard anyone falling to his/her death as a tragedy regardless of cause. National Parks are dangerous for many reasons. There are always accidental deaths each year in them. Accidents happen in split seconds.

barbnrob,

I wasn't implying that your reply was cold-hearted. This was just a tragic accident which occurred due to her proximity to the cliff edge (which is one reason I don't like going close to a cliff edge unless I'm tethered).

Not horrible, but absurd! Last time I was in Paris I saw one homeless man sitting on the sidewalk with two (!) puppies. People who seem to be living in the Metro stations .....

And then there is the Naked Rambler, who I have never seen, but about whom I've read so very many posts. I've a friend in Scotland who used to send me regular reports. He would get arrested, go to jail get released, go 100 yards and an old lady would see him and he would get arrested, go to jail...well you get the picture. His first ramble was from lands end to John O'Groats I believe. He went along swimmingly until he reached Scotland and all the little old ladies. :) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11664860/Naked-rambler-why-have-we-spent-300000-imprisoning-this-harmless-eccentric.html

I Maybe crazy or a bit over sensitive but the level of body shaming in this stream is a bit over the top.

jkc, I agree with you. I mentioned the pajamas as wardrobe misfires, but it seems to have taken a turn...

I don't think he was swimming - more hiking very slowly.

Besides, it gives the papers something to write about and, more importantly, print a picture.

Jkc, I agree with you on a few.

I think this thread might reflect the views of people who don't travel or use public transportation very often, and quite a few of the remarks are truly mean-spirited.

"There but for the grace of God go I" is not really a nice way to live your life.

One simple twist of fate is all it takes - and those befuddled, dirty, smelly, badly-dressed and utterly clueless people could be you and your family, one day.

I agree with JKC and Chexbres. Although I think, 'but by the grace of God go I' means that the unfortunate person could be me at any moment... Too bad more people didn't have a better understanding of the life experience.