# What's the Dumbest Thing You Did During ED?



## adrian's bmw (Feb 14, 2003)

Tanning machine said:


> Not on this ED, but previous one--driving through East Germany to get to Berlin. It's one thing for border guards and the police to be confused by the concept of ED and the customs papers. It's another when they're holding machine guns and you're trying to explain to them in a communist country what ED is all about.


:rofl:


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## guppyflyer (Oct 26, 2006)

Tanning machine said:


> They should make the pilots sit in coach . . .


We do on most deadhead legs.....unless there are open seats in front (pretty rare these days). I do feel your pain.....really I do.

Erik


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## snohman (Feb 21, 2007)

Paying the tolls near Paris...
We figure, might as well pay the tolls w/ our credit card, so we jump in the credit card lane. As we get to the front...
it seems simple enough: put the toll ticket in, it tells you how much, slide credit card in. So first one gets rejected and as I sit there thinking to myself "there is no way I don't have 34.80 Euro worth on my card...", I stick in another one...
Nope... that doesn't work either...

Then my wife notices, "Hey, Visa and Mastercard are crossed out!"

Great....so we hit the S.O.S. button and wait. Meanwhile a long line of angry drivers are lined up behind us. all lines are flowing pretty smoothly, and then you see our line sticking out like a sore thumb.

Just as the lady comes out from 3 booths over having to cross the other toll lanes, I remember another 'fester posting that visa and M/C were not accepted at the French toll booths!! DOH! Oh well...I couldn't understand a thing the toll lady was saying so I just handed her a 50E note and then poor lady had to run over to her booth and get change and come back. Oops...

So we took off as fast as we could before any of the drivers behind us could catch us


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## CarSwami (Oct 2, 2005)

snohman, that is a funny story. Just out of curiosity, what type of credit cards are accepted? Can't be American Express because many places even in the USA won't take them!

CarSwami


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## mlieu (Jan 11, 2007)

We were taking a ferry to Herrienchiemsee to see Ludwig's castle. As the super slow fairy approaches, I figure I have time to run back to the car to get the guidebook. I was gone for maybe only 4 minutes! When I run back, I see that my boyfriend and everyone else is already boarded! I RUN down the ramp just as the guys are taking it from the ferry. I attempt to scream american jibba jabbah, and they see me, but still continue to take the ramp off. The boat is still docked, but they deny me boarding. OH GREAT! My boyfriend went down and was trying to explain to the guys that we're together and pleaded to let me on. They still said NO, and knowing that the next ferry didnt come for another 1.5 hours, Zach wanted to exit the ferry, but the guys physically held him back. So he jumped from the-moving ferry back onto the dock! I swear, everything happened in slow motion.

It was kind of a scene. I know everyone was thinkning "Those damn late Americans!".  In contrast, the water bus taking us to Venice was off shedule by 40 minutes, and no one seemed to care. lol.


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## snohman (Feb 21, 2007)

CarSwami said:


> snohman, that is a funny story. Just out of curiosity, what type of credit cards are accepted? Can't be American Express because many places even in the USA won't take them!
> 
> CarSwami


Funny as it may sound...for some reason I remember Amex being accepted. I didn't look after I hit the SOS button, my wife kept asking, did I bring my AMEX? Unfortunately I didn't... So she must've seen a reference to AMEX. Maybe someone else can confirm? I should have taken a picture of that sign for future reference. Either way, we both agreed to just go to the Cash line next time.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

mason said:


> :rofl::rofl::rofl:
> 
> J, you hear that.............


Ja, I know. He tried to go shopping but I guess they wouldn´t let him in.


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## johnc_22 (Sep 14, 2004)

Stupidest thing - only stayed 4 days . . .


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## a_big_kahuna (Sep 30, 2005)

came home


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

Driving on that autobahn at 135 mph and taking a picture of my speedometer at the same time. This was really dumb!!


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## X3 Skier (Aug 21, 2005)

*Dummy at the ATM*

Trying to get my wife out of hock from the Krankenhaus (Hospital) where she had been treated for Pneumonia, I tried several ATM's all over town to get 500 Euros. Every time it rejected me. I went back to the Krankenhaus to one very Kranky ex-Banker lady who explained to the Husband Dummy,"Try for 250, its probably has a limit".

Trip to two different ATM's of the same bank yielded 500 total and we escaped from the Krankenhaus to the hotel bar where the recovery proceeded nicely.:beerchug:

Cheers


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## sdsanta (Apr 13, 2007)

I'm loving this thread! I'm sure I'll have at least one post here after my ED later this year!


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## mlieu (Jan 11, 2007)

We stopped at a McDonald's in Bologna for a quick bite. Feeling cocky with speaking Italian, we opted to just go to the drive thru. How hard could it have been? Say hello, and order by the number. Right?

me: "numero tre e numero cinque per favore"
drive thru: "gradite niente.... wahh waahhh wahhh wahh wahhh..."
me: "eh?" (panic ensues) "Uh... parlate inglese?
drive thru: NO. wahh waahhh wahhh waaaahhh..."
me: (AW SHIET! WHAT WERE WE THINKING?????)

She kept on saying "prima finestra per favore" over and over... I was lost and panic struck. There were other cars behind us and I couldnt have felt more stupid. I took my best guess and said "Uhh.... Diet Coke". :rofl::rofl::rofl: My boyfriend had to burst into laughter. 

I told myself "f-it, just drive up to her at the window" As we did that, she was waving us "no" and was pointing to the first window. We reversed and got there to another girl laughing and crying in tears. Then she said in English, "OH MY GOSH.. you were driving my coworker CRAZY! *laughs* So a #1 and #5, and you want Diet Coke, right? " 

It was the hardest I've ever had to work for Mickey D's! :yumyum: And I know there were laughing WITH us (I hope). :rofl:


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## Lanc3r (Sep 5, 2004)

mlieu said:


> We stopped at a McDonald's in Bologna for a quick bite. Feeling cocky with speaking Italian, we opted to just go to the drive thru. How hard could it have been? Say hello, and order by the number. Right?
> 
> me: "numero tre e numero cinque per favore"
> drive thru: "gradite niente.... wahh waahhh wahhh wahh wahhh..."
> ...


And you got a pic! :rofl:


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## snohman (Feb 21, 2007)

mlieu said:


> We stopped at a McDonald's in Bologna for a quick bite. Feeling cocky with speaking Italian, we opted to just go to the drive thru. How hard could it have been? Say hello, and order by the number. Right?
> 
> me: "numero tre e numero cinque per favore"
> drive thru: "gradite niente.... wahh waahhh wahhh wahh wahhh..."
> ...


That's comedy!!!! I can't believe you got a picture of it!! :rofl:


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## Sabado Gigante (Jan 27, 2007)

I drank 11 different kinds of beers in Brussels - that 11 KINDS of beers, I can't tell you how many actual beers I drank- and stayed out to 5 AM the night before driving to Amsterdam.

I got about 4 hours of sleep and Amsterdam is a terrible place to drive, especially when hung over. There were no rooms in Amsterdam and I was super hung over. 

Luckily I bought the NAV and plugged in Haarlem, which was only about 15 minutes from the city center, had cheap hotel rooms near the train, and was equidistant from United Stevedores. Plus parking was less than half the cost of Amsterdam - 15e compared to 40+.


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## jkb (Mar 24, 2005)

not enough time (3 weeks)


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## rlinden128 (Feb 12, 2007)

*Cell phone ring*

This was an "almost" event...we went to Marienplatz shortly after arriving, and didn't realize how well cell phones work in Europe. Visiting a church, with a service going on, we saw the sign about turning off cell phones and quickly stepped. Then my 17 year olds phone goes off with her loud ring tone "Like a Virgin" !!!


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

#1 Used BMWNA's travel service in addition to flying on United. Got to the airport in KC, United flight cancelled (I had checked the day before BTW). They got us to Chicago on American. Went to Lufthansa gate, I have reservations, wife doe's not...she's in tears but a very nice Lufthansa agent worked four hours to get her on standby...still in tears and panicing for another 3 hours but we made it. Coming home...check in at CDG with United...agent says "oh no" and dissapears for 30 minutes. Wife goe's nuts again. Agent comes back, United flight from Chicago to KC cancelled, but we get direct flight from worlds worst airport (Dulles) to KC, get in 4 hours early and have no ride home. Postscript: The travel agency gave us a voucher for free travel anywhere in North America...so we decided to go to San Diego via United. Got to the airport and...you got it...flight cancelled. Once again American got us there.
#2 Wife is map challenged and we don't have nav. End up going south instead of north on Romantic Strasse on the way to Wuzburg (I knew what was going on, but she had to learn). After 100 kilometers she figured it out, we hopped on the Autobahn and actually got there earlier than planned. She is NOW one of the best navigators I've had the pleasure to ride with!


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## adc (Apr 1, 2003)

Choosing between two contenders:
1. Disregarding a sign that said "120km/h speed limit and photo-checked for the next 22km" between Stuttgart-Munich, being flashed by the 1st camera and continuing to drive at the same just-slightly-over-the-limit speed right up to the next camera.
2. Having way too much wine with dinner in Manarola while knowing I'll have to carry my son on my shoulders for the 2km very steep up the hill way home. Nah, this one was worth it .

No idea if we were flashed by the 2nd, but for the 1st I doubt we were more than 10km/h over - curious to see if the ticket will find me...


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## ss109 (Jul 1, 2006)

A month ago we were watching the ADAC 24h-Rennen at the Nuerburgring. It was 23:00 and we decided to go for another vantage point. Well there were tons of cars parked on the sides of the roads, so we though we would as well. We parked the car when a nice German came up and told us that somebody was just towed from that place and we should probably move the car. So I get in, start the car, and the passenger side moves. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but the ground collapsed under the passenger side of the car and half of my car was suspended above a 24" deep ditch.

We had to be recovered.


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## bimmernupe (May 11, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> This was an "almost" event...we went to Marienplatz shortly after arriving, and didn't realize how well cell phones work in Europe. Visiting a church, with a service going on, we saw the sign about turning off cell phones and quickly stepped. Then my 17 year olds phone goes off with her loud ring tone "Like a Virgin" !!!


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


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## gesoffen (Jun 18, 2004)

Tanning machine said:


> They should make the pilots sit in coach . . .


I've flown both LH and UA in coach... seats and personal space are the same. However, service and entertainment vary by plane and crew - LH usually wins.

Regardless - the one bit that always has me flying UA over any other carrier (LH to europe included) is Economy+ - at 6'2" that extra 4" of legroom is worth most other sacrifices. Of course you have to have access (payed or premier member).


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## letsin2b8 (Jul 19, 2006)

MY dumbest thing happened with my buddy driving the car in prague when he entered a road designated for trams only. THey have tram tracks and certain lanes are only for trams. There we were going uphill on this road with people just staring at us, im like this is more than the average looks we were getting earlier towards our ride. In the readview mirror i see this tram coming behind us, im like dude punch it, we are in a train lane.. Haha we finally fig out why people were so interested ins eeing the head to head of a new e92 vs a prague tram. We didnt make that same mistake again, as for one thing we only had 2 days there and driving is a pain in prague, so we left the car in the covered hotel parking area.


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## pilotcw (Mar 29, 2007)

This thread is hysterical. Can't wait to add to it!


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## Sky Keeper (May 12, 2006)

1) seattle aiport. I'm not a US citizen, so i need a schengen visa to enter EU. They see Munich as final destination, and ask me to show "visa to germany". I show them a "schengen visa" and get a very confused look "why do you show me a schengen visa when I ask you for a visa to germany?". Then I spent 15 minutes trying to find common world politics knowledge to explain that Geramany is a "schengen" country.... they had to call for thier supervisor who "looked it up on internet"!
2) driving in Paris historical center - GPS asked me to make a U-turn at intersection that was smaller than my car's length...
3) Crossing Switzerland-Italy border 5 times when driving from Zurich to Merano via San-Bernardino... borders there don't always match roads and mountain passes.... and they close at 6pm.
Most cool: Going to Nurburgring and taking a few laps there. Will do next ED just because of that experience.


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## chaslee (Dec 13, 2002)

I don't know if this qualifies as the dumbest, but it is definitely a story that made our friends gasp. On our stay in Nice, we went to St. Paul de Vence and to the Foundation Maeght Museum. This museum is known in the South of France because Maeght invited many modern artists such as Bonnard, Braque, Calder, Chagall, Giacometti, Léger, Miró to exhibit their art before they were famous. We arrived pretty early and very few people were there and as we entered there is a sculpture garden. We noticed that a woman was letting her daughter touch the sculptures in the garden. So, we thought this was an interactive museum. We walked across the lawn and had our kids interact with the sculptures. Another lady was doing the same thing. We eventually moved on to other areas. We then saw an attendant question the lady about her daughter touching the sculptures and noticed that she motioned that the lady at the entrance gave her permission. I then noticed that her daughter was blind...


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## CAPT1809 (Oct 28, 2006)

I think mine wins. My girlfriend meets me in Munich on day 2, the Sunday before we do the ED pickup. I'm hung over from Saturday night downtown with a Navy friend and UA pilot from various locations downtown. So I'm already in the doghouse. On Monday, we go to the ED and drive to Baden-Baden and she recalls....thanks to one of my "friends," that I had gone to Germany in 1997 on my 1st marriage (maybe the only one, now) honeymoon and spent days one and two in Baden-Baden.


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## cvb (May 10, 2006)

Time for a new GF?


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## Craigito (Sep 17, 2006)

Curbed my rim about 10 minutes after picking it up (not terribly). I went the wrong way down a one way street trying to find my hotel and in my haste to back it out so I could get out of the way of a very angry german looking bus driver I scraped it. They have very short curbs in Munich and it's hard to tell sometimes where the road stops and the curb line is. Very similar coloring. The PDC doesn't help you from avoid the curbs


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## emdreiSMG (Dec 10, 2003)

Craigito said:


> Curbed my rim about 10 minutes after picking it up (not terribly). I went the wrong way down a one way street trying to find my hotel and in my haste to back it out so I could get out of the way of a very angry german looking bus driver I scraped it. They have very short curbs in Munich and it's hard to tell sometimes where the road stops and the curb line is. Very similar coloring. The PDC doesn't help you from avoid the curbs


I feel your pain. I HATE situations like that. Why do we care about upsetting European drivers??? They are frequently self-serving, rude, dangerous and make their own rules of the road (in the cities).


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## insider30 (Feb 21, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> Driving from Bolzano to Mennagio - get off one Autstrada to get to the other and totally miss the exit - no sweat - NAV reroutes and end up going through this little alley and then along a river bank - we were saying wow! narrow road but gorgeous - after about 5 minutes see only people on bicycles and they are all looking funny - one of them is waving his finger at me saying no - I look at the signs facing the opposite direction and it seems I am on a bicycle lane along the river - NAV says make a left but there is no bridge and I am on a road I should not be on - not enough space to turn around we keep going until we see a clearing and barely turn around and drive back - NAV now says turn right on this imaginary bridge - somebody was sleeping on their job - took 25 minutes after we got out of there to figure out how to get back on the right Autostrada with no help from NAV - that was an experience.


Similar situation happened to me. Except in the English Gardens in Munich. People were looking at us very strangely. At first I told my GF that they were just admiring my new car. I told here I would look to, it is such a nice car. Then we realized that we were driving on the bike path. Pretty funny. Took us a good half hour driving around inside the English Gardens until we finally figured a way out.


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## BMWE9006 (Mar 25, 2006)

I cant recall how many times I went the wrong way in Munich. When we were at Marienplatz we wanted to drive around and went the wrong way a bunch of times. People were just looking at us funny. Note to self: learn the signs!!


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

Tanning machine said:


> They should make the pilots sit in coach . . .


Pilots would be just as happy to fly an all first class plane. They should make airline executives fly coach.

As for my dumbest, I didn't visit the Green Hell.


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## jagu (Nov 7, 2006)

I made the wrong turn on to the main grounds at Dachau camp. while looking for parking. I followed a car which happened to be an authorized vehicle and I just followed him till he got the driver got out and nicely directed me to the nosebleed parking spot.


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## dave_ee (Apr 2, 2007)

insider30 said:


> Similar situation happened to me. Except in the English Gardens in Munich. People were looking at us very strangely. At first I told my GF that they were just admiring my new car. I told here I would look to, it is such a nice car. Then we realized that we were driving on the bike path. Pretty funny. Took us a good half hour driving around inside the English Gardens until we finally figured a way out.


I love this one... I'm picturing a film of your adventure, sped up 2x with the Benny Hill theme music playing in the background. :rofl:


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## solidbmw (Mar 20, 2007)

Driving around the busy streets of Paris and circled Arc de Triomph a few times not knowing that your right side always takes presedence. They said that your a good driver if you manage to circle arc de triompth - I guess I'm better than good but just imagine my wifes reaction. :rofl:


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

Another one , from my more recent ED, is leaving a generous tip at several restaurants where "service included" did not appear on the menu.


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## smokeminside (Aug 5, 2004)

Great thread! So many stories, so little time.

I've got a doozy, but too tired to write it tonight...


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## shakes (Mar 15, 2007)

We arrived in Munich the night before our pickup and were staying in the Munich Marriott. As we were in a rush to leave the next morning to head to the delivery center we packed up and checked out in a rush. I arrived at the delivery center and our car was actually ready for us when we walked in (no wait necessary). Jenny, the young woman behind the desk asked for my passport and I realized that I left it at the hotel in the safe deposit box. 

Thankfully, Jenny called the hotel on my behalf and the passports were found. My wife had made copies of the passports so we were able to pick up the car without them. The total cost of my stupidity was only the lost time of having to drive back to the hotel to pick them up. However, I suppose this could have been a disaster!


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## Blackbird (Oct 13, 2009)

1) We get all ready to leave our hotel for the Welt when my wife asks
"Did you remember to take your Drivers License?" I have my DL always
in my wallet which I have with me all the time. So I am mildly annoyed
till we reach the Welt and I realize she was referring to the International
Drivers License book which I had kept safely in my suitcase at the hotel.
Was tempted to drive the section from the Welt to the hotel with just
my CA DL, but decided against it. Rolf was kind enough to take me to and fro.

2) We stayed at the northern end of Stelvio and left early to go to Lake Como
and then all the way to the Interlaken area where we had a hotel
reservation in Wengen. I key the address onto the GPS and it took us
off road till it put us literally at a dead end ending on a railway track.
Finally, I pulled to a different hotel and asked for directions. It was only
then I realized that Wengen is a car free town and the only way to
get there was to leave the new BMW in a parking lot at the train station
and go by train to our hotel. Realizing the next train was 10 minutes later,
I had to wake up our 5-year old (around 10.30 pm), made him drag his carry
on bag while wife and I furiously gathered necessary belongings and just made to the train.


3) My wife kept all our passports in her handbag. I kept most of our money
in a separate pouch. We cross the border from Switzerland into Germany.
I go fast (but not too fast) and I see a VW station wagon speeding towards
me. I move to the slower lane. The VW goes in front of me and flashes
something in German that I don't understand. The display then changes
to English "Follow Me" which I do. Out step 3 burly men in light green
uniform. They check our passports and ask what we bought. I say
"chocolates" and wife says "shoes". They are almost disdainful "shoes?".
They hand over a credit card size of
paper "Do you have more than E10,000 with you?" I say "no" and they
want my wife to answer. I say "She doesn't". But they show it to her
anyway. Where is your money? I say it is in my box in the trunk.
Officer asks to see it.  So, I open my trunk and cannot find my pouch.
I show them the chocolates, but they wanted to see the money which
I now showed from my wife's hand bag. Satisfied, they let us go.

4) Now, where is my pouch? I realized while rummaging through my
suitcase (with the officer looking over my shoulder) that I had left it in the
safe in my last hotel. So I call the hotel,
give them the combination to the safe. They verified my pouch and
money was there and fedexed it to my Munich hotel for about E120.


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## Wine-O (Feb 17, 2010)

Blackbird said:


> 1) We get all ready to leave our hotel for the Welt when my wife asks
> "Did you remember to take your Drivers License?" I have my DL always
> in my wallet which I have with me all the time. So I am mildly annoyed
> till we reach the Welt and I realize she was referring to the International
> ...


Since when was an International Drivers Permit required for ED? Drivers Lic & Passport should be all that is required.


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## Wraith. (Dec 7, 2009)

Yes, the IDL was a suggestion not a requirement as far as I know. Had one along just in case but never used it.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

Wraith. said:


> Having covered 1900Km, 5 countries over a period of 2 weeks...


This is not a dumb - this should be normal for a regular ED !


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## Wraith. (Dec 7, 2009)

No that was meant to emphasize the dumb curbing of the car after having driven so many miles.


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