Things That Are Just Funny…continued

Another year has gone by, and the collection of weird/questionable/funny things we come across continues to grow. For the first edition of “Things That Are Just Funny” click here.

I find myself, yet again, taking pictures inside bathroom stalls. (click here for a refresher) This particular bathroom stall (somewhere in Germany) had a built-in cup holder. Now, I realize that bringing your drink into the bathroom could prevent a roofies incident…but what about the flushing toilet plume? Yuck…nobody wants that in their drink!!

bathroom cup holder

Sticking to “inappropriate” topics…I have no idea what to say about this next one. Found in Fiji, apparently Ass Bangles are a type of jewelry?! I don’t want to know!

ass bangles

If all this gross talk is making you sick, don’t worry, I know exactly where you can go to toss your lunch! Normally, I wouldn’t think much about the clever labeling of this trash can, except that we were in Siena, Italy. I wouldn’t say that sleepy Siena tops the list of Europe’s party locations, but I guess the English speakers know how to throw down…and where to throw up:

trash can

Here is a good one, which I don’t even need to translate. This coffee machine was located in a busy hotel lobby, right near the check-in desk. I mean, it couldn’t have been in a more public space. My 1st question is: did the robbery involve the coffee or the money? Next Question: why did the German hotel staff feel the need to inform us of the reasoning behind their inability to properly caffeinate their guests? Why couldn’t they just leave it at “Out of Order”?  Final question: how did anyone rob this machine without leaving considerable damage or half their hand behind?

coffee machine

What about this guy?! Wherever he is going…he’s gonna get there fast!!

wheelchair

The best for last, of course. I love this one! Found it in Freiburg, while driving to and from the barn.  Achtung means “heads up!” or “watch out!” in German.  While driving this road, I definitely watch out…not because I want to avoid the wildlife, but because I would give anything to see a wild boar half the size of my car! And then I ask: how many cars were tipped over by giant boars before the city council in Freiburg decided to put up a sign?

Achtung!

The Clean-Up Tour: the Netherlands

See the inspiration for the Netherlands Clean-Up Tour here.

Our first stop was not really in the Netherlands and not really in Belgium. Actually, it was kind of in both. We went to Baarle-Nassau/Hertog, which is an amalgamation of Belgian enclaves within the Netherlands. Here is a map that I stole from Wikipedia, showing the wacky borders!

Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en

The boundary between Belgium and the Netherlands zigs and zags directly through streets, houses, stores, cafes, etc. Buildings and light posts are marked with tiny flags to show which country they belong to. Some locations even have two addresses…one for each country! I thought this town was pretty cool!

border house

street signs

town sign

We drove to the Noordoostpolder and arrived just in time to see the tulips get decapitated!

tractor

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. This is one of the reasons I love it though:

shoes

Thanks to Facebook I have reconnected with a college friend who lives in Amsterdam! After ten years of absence, we have met up twice in the Netherlands and have a third visit on the books in Germany. The four of us (Liv included) wandered around the quintessential Zaanse Schans.

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Finally, we ended our clean-up tour of the Netherlands with a sunset walk through the windmills of Kinderdijk.

windmills

The Clean-Up Tour: Belgium

We spent this weekend sweeping through Belgium and the Netherlands, to see all the things that we missed the first time around and enjoy what we loved a second time! Click here to see the inspiration for the Clean-Up Tour.

First, some beer!

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Don’t forget the waffles! If your waffle doesn’t have huge chunks of crack sugar in it, then it is simply sub-par!

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We made a pit stop at the Atomium in Brussels, which is a museum, restaurant, viewing platform, and gift shop of course!

atomioum

We spent some time playing “Venus Fixers” (the nickname for the officers depicted in The Monuments Men) and stopped in Bruges to see Michelangelo’s Madonna. It is crazy to look at a piece of art like this and imagine the unbelievable stories she could tell, through her hundreds of years of peace, war, plunder, and more.

madonna

We also spent some time with the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (better known as ‘the Ghent Altar’).

altar

I continue to be amazed by the American cemeteries in Europe. Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial is the smallest American cemetery and is so beautiful. Every inch of the property was so well cared for. It is an unbelievable testament to the sacrifices these soldiers paid in WWI.

flag 2

Alright…here comes the real truth: this entire weekend spurred from one event, one person. Justin Timberlake in concert! It was a fantastic show!! There is definitely something to be said about seeing such an event amongst non-native English speakers. I’m sure most of them got the Michael Jackson references/songs, but I think the cover of Elvis’ Heart Break Hotel was lost on many. I’m confident we were the only two singing along to JT’s version of Poison by Bel Biv Devoe. I don’t care…I’ll Let The Grove Get In anytime!

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