Funny Street Signs

Truth be told, I don't get the chance to blog as often as I'd like to/used to. Sometimes ideas occur to me in the strangest of places/circumstances and I can draft an idea, but never get round to actually writing the post. Well, this is one of them. Apologies if it seems a bit disjointed, I had to hunt out a few links and pics, and this was started a while back...

Obviously being a foreigner in a country makes you look a whole lot more at certain things, and especially with two different languages, for example. I remember after first getting here, looking at certain signs or notices (and not even knowing if it was Spanish or Catalan, for example) and chuckling to myself or being thoroughly puzzled.

Like how potential terrorists have their own deposit box outside buildings to leave their dynamite.



Or how some buildings have signs for eggy brandy Christmas drinks, but no mulled wines, for example...



This is something I think I'm not alone in experiencing, or maybe we just share the same sense of humour?!

Then part of me adding to the post was the ongoing debate of one shop owner who refuses to change his shop sign to Catalan (as required by law) and other such cases that have sprung up. So this also used to make me smile when walking around the city centre and spotting new shops or even older ones, but with signs that made me laugh. Take for example, the image below:




Now, I've had to lift that image from Google Maps, as the real restaurant has now changed to a Catalan sign (see what I mean about me not having time?!). Good job I've been able to rely on google maps! This is no disrespect or racial implications in any way shape or form, but I think that's hilarious. "Spinesh Tapas" is surely supposed to be "Spanish Tapas" right ?! So how on earth could the sign be made?! Surely even the makers of these signs could check and say, "Er, sorry mate, shouldn't that be "Spanish" not "Spinesh" ? Maybe they were hoping for the owners to come back and order a new one. Well, it was up there for about 3 years I can tell you, so there you go.

Another one is the classic confusion of "Mobile phones" and "Movil". Apart from the fact that "B" and "V" sound the same in Spanish, so that's confusing enough, then you also have to deal with getting it wrong as well.

I've probably seen loads more as well on my walks around town, which is whay I thought it might merit a blog post, but probably didn't have my phone/camera at the time. So, I'll encourage all of you to let me know about any places you guys know. Doesn't have to be mis-spellings, but just some funny stuff or things that have tickled your fancy. Feel free to leave a comment below!

Coming to Barcelona soon? Check out these Barcelona apartments as a great alternative to a hotel room, and if you're looking for a quick digestible what's what of the city, see this Barcelona guide.