Funniest Thing for October

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is KENNETH JESSEN of Loveland, CO:

One of the great pleasures of travel is to get away from tourist areas. This is possible even in a place like Venice. It is so much fun wandering its narrow streets, running into dead ends and trying to find the closest bridge across a canal.

On our visit in May ‘07, my wife and I delighted in looking through partially opened gates into fantastic courtyards and private gardens. Every building is old and probably has an extensive history. We were not the least bit mindful of where we were going or even our direction of travel.

Heading down a narrow street, we made a sharp turn to the left, went up a single stair and were in a place of nicely dressed young men. They were very polite but also very busy.

One of them came over to us and informed us, firmly but nicely, that we were not criminals and we should leave the Venice jail! It had looked so historic and inviting with its open wrought-iron gate.