Lost in Translation

As I was, back on my first trip to Europe in 1979, I am in awe of how many Europeans (I'm guessing the majority outside of small villages and rural areas) speak more than one language. Our tour guide in Ljubljana speaks 6, for example, and most hotel and restaurant employees understand English, German or both.  So, for the most part, we have been doing fine without speaking the official language of any of country we've visited. Who speaks Czech other than the Czechs anyway? We have, however, had some amusing moments that can only be explained by the language barrier.

• In Krakow, when we inquired about eating at a cute cafe, we were told, "The restaurant is open but the kitchen is closed."  Guess that turned the place into a bar.  Who knows. 
• The other night in Szentendre, the hotel manager said something in German while flapping his arms like a bird. I heard the words for "closed" and "flying" so I stupidly thought he was saying the airport was closed. I told him, Keine Problem.  Wir haben ein Auto (No problem. We have a car.) After that, he looked a bit frustrated and got the guy on the desk who did speak English. Turns out what I thought was airport (Flughafen) was actually window (Fenster) and he was telling us to close our windows because of the bugs flying around outside.  He must have thought I was nuts!  
• Best of all, however, are the menu translations. I ask you if you would order cucumber with acid creme (apparently the Slavic words for sour and acid are the same), Mum's Pan Cakes with Smashed Chestnuts, the Caprese salad that had Mozzarella, Basil and Cherry Potatoes, Baby Poussin (whatever that is, it was the same word in Slovakian, German, French, and English!), Fallow-dear Steak, or Grilled Spicy Winglets (okay, maybe not so funny now but after some wine, it sounded amusing!). Then there was the "Specials" menu placed on every table in one restaurant. As it wasn't in English, we asked about it. We were told "Sorry. All finished."  Probably just finished for people who couldn't read it as the prices on it were better! 

 It isn't lost on us, however, that, for the most part, we are the problem. These people wouldn't expect us to speak German, Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian or Slovenian if they visited Canada.  So, we will continue to muddle along at times making fools of ourselves but always amazed by the almost perfect English spoken by so many!  Below is a picture with Trevor of the guy tending the bar where we watched the FA Cup game yesterday in Ljubljana and, oh yes, he spoke perfect English!