European washrooms.
There are ALL kinds of washrooms out there. Outhouses, port-a-potties in the middle of a busy street, restaurant washrooms, coin operated washrooms, washrooms where you have to pay for toilet paper BEFORE going in, bidets, piss pots, etc...
One of the more frustrating - now entertaining - experiences out there was when I was in Lyon, France. It was a gorgeous day, so my friend and I decided to rent bicycles and go riding around town. We ended up heading into this public park area to meet up with some of her friends. It was a large lake with plenty of green space, ice cream and hot dog stands, balloon vendors, families, groups of people sun-tanning, playing frisbee or soccer or football and the like.
The only issue was that I didn't see very many washrooms available in the park. Being still quite sick on this vacation, I habitually scoped out the nearest washroom wherever we went.
Once we decided to rest and have some ice cream, I needed a washroom. And I mean, I NEEDED a washroom.
I walked back to the ice cream vendor to ask where the washroom was. They pointed out the direction and I started almost jogging. It was a lot farther than I had anticipated, but I had made it. When I walked towards the building, I saw a few people walk up to it, look inside, then turn around and close the door. No one was going in! I was really confused... One guy even suggested that if I could hold it, to wait until I left the park.
Well... that wasn't going to happen.
I open the door.
I see two footholds on either side of a hole in the floor. That's it.
Sucking it up and chalking it up to a true European experience, I step in and lock the door.
Not a good idea.
With the door shut, there wasn't enough light to see anything at all. For fear of missing the footholds, I decided to keep the door open about an inch. I mean, in theory, I wasn't going to see any of these people again, so if someone accidentally walked in, I had to just buck up and go as fast as I could.
Almost frantic, I muster up the courage to just go - carefully watching the door over my shoulder in case I got some unexpected company.
Then, another problem.
No toilet paper.
Awesome.
This is a moment that seemed straight out of a comedy sitcom.
I peek out the partially opened door, check all around the building, and wait for the area to clear out. I step out, pants around my knees, yank a branch full of leaves off of the nearest tree, and scurry back to the room with the hole in the floor.
I got lucky.
I don't think anyone saw me, I didn't accidentally use poison ivy or anything of the sort, and I managed to get through that experience unscathed.
When I arrived back with the group, I was very grateful that I had learned to always keep hand sanitizer on me at all times. You really never know when you're going to need it.
It wasn't the worst bathroom experience - but it sure was one of the most interesting.
=D
There are ALL kinds of washrooms out there. Outhouses, port-a-potties in the middle of a busy street, restaurant washrooms, coin operated washrooms, washrooms where you have to pay for toilet paper BEFORE going in, bidets, piss pots, etc...
One of the more frustrating - now entertaining - experiences out there was when I was in Lyon, France. It was a gorgeous day, so my friend and I decided to rent bicycles and go riding around town. We ended up heading into this public park area to meet up with some of her friends. It was a large lake with plenty of green space, ice cream and hot dog stands, balloon vendors, families, groups of people sun-tanning, playing frisbee or soccer or football and the like.
The only issue was that I didn't see very many washrooms available in the park. Being still quite sick on this vacation, I habitually scoped out the nearest washroom wherever we went.
Once we decided to rest and have some ice cream, I needed a washroom. And I mean, I NEEDED a washroom.
I walked back to the ice cream vendor to ask where the washroom was. They pointed out the direction and I started almost jogging. It was a lot farther than I had anticipated, but I had made it. When I walked towards the building, I saw a few people walk up to it, look inside, then turn around and close the door. No one was going in! I was really confused... One guy even suggested that if I could hold it, to wait until I left the park.
Well... that wasn't going to happen.
I open the door.
I see two footholds on either side of a hole in the floor. That's it.
Sucking it up and chalking it up to a true European experience, I step in and lock the door.
Not a good idea.
With the door shut, there wasn't enough light to see anything at all. For fear of missing the footholds, I decided to keep the door open about an inch. I mean, in theory, I wasn't going to see any of these people again, so if someone accidentally walked in, I had to just buck up and go as fast as I could.
Almost frantic, I muster up the courage to just go - carefully watching the door over my shoulder in case I got some unexpected company.
Then, another problem.
No toilet paper.
Awesome.
This is a moment that seemed straight out of a comedy sitcom.
I peek out the partially opened door, check all around the building, and wait for the area to clear out. I step out, pants around my knees, yank a branch full of leaves off of the nearest tree, and scurry back to the room with the hole in the floor.
I got lucky.
I don't think anyone saw me, I didn't accidentally use poison ivy or anything of the sort, and I managed to get through that experience unscathed.
When I arrived back with the group, I was very grateful that I had learned to always keep hand sanitizer on me at all times. You really never know when you're going to need it.
It wasn't the worst bathroom experience - but it sure was one of the most interesting.
=D