And You Thought Jordan Had A Corner on the Ridiculous Signage Market...

So, during our time in Rome, I got the same funny looks that I get in Jordan for snapping pictures of signs. Yes, I'm surely one of the only people bypassing fabulous works of art in the Vatican and snapping shots of the signage... You can imagine the tour guide's expression...

But, really, you'll have to agree, they WERE funny.

This first picture is, indeed, inside the Vatican. Is it just me or does it sound like they're restoring a restaurant (restauration, anyone?). But don't stop there. Look further at the admonition not to come "knoking." I have to admit that my very first thought on reading the second line was the Seinfeld episode when they buy a conversion van (if the van's a-rockin', don't come knockin').

My next picture is of the no-pedestrians-allowed-Ped-Xing. This picture was grabbed at night, but as you can still see, there is a picture of a little man with an X through him. This would be directly in front of the internationally accepted symbol of white lines painted on the road for pedestrians to cross... On the opposite side of the sign (back to back with this one) is a little man crossing with no X. Talk about mixed messages.

Now, let's move on to funny signs common across the city. My favorite is the Emergency Exit (or just plain Exit) sign. You see these everywhere. Is it just me or is there something distinctly shifty about this character? He looks like a thief running out the back door.

And this caution sign in the same vein has so much emotion... Who knew a blob guy could express so much? You can almost hear him saying Yikes! Hollywood should be taking notes.

Now, my last funny sign (not the last one I saw but the last one I photographed) is another of my favorites. I give you... the No Stop sign. Yep, this store is open not all day or non-stop, but no stop...

We saw one in the airport that I decided not to snap as I could see being hauled off to jail on suspicion of being a bomber... It was really very funny. It was a sign for a place that sold American-style hot dogs. They had very little in English and what was in English was in bad English... It invited you to come and try their hot dogs with ketchup, mainnaise, and relish. Then in English it said, very clearly, Don't Indulge. Reading the Italian (not that I speak Italian, but in some ways it's like Spanish drop the o the word's the same), it said don't be afraid to enjoy... Talk about mistranslations...

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the wold of silly Italian signage.

Happy Global Sign-reading!