Munich surprise

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. 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 Ned Johnson of Seneca, SC:

Our walking tour in Munich in May 2007 ended in the English Garden, where our guide stopped us beside a large hedge and said that there was something she definitely wanted us to see but not until she had provided some history about it.

She told us that, back in the 1960s, there was a number of nudists who routinely walked around downtown Munich. Local businessmen felt that these nudists offended the tourists, so they asked the city council to do something about the situation.

The council’s solution was to ban the nudists from downtown Munich, but, in exchange, they were given exclusive rights to a large meadow in the English Garden. This solved the problem, and the nudists have occupied the meadow to this day.

“And,” our guide told us, “that meadow is right on the other side of this hedge we’re standing next to.”

All of us guys, of course, started craning our necks to see around the hedge.

Our guide continued: “I should warn you that the nudists who occupy the meadow today are the same ones who were walking around downtown Munich in the 1960s.”