Funniest Thing for May

This item appears on page 17 of the May 2008 issue.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) 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 DAVID W. LOWE of Long Beach, California:

My wife and I were visiting my brother and his wife in Barcelona and we decided to take a mini-tour of Spain. After viewing the wonders, we came back to our rooms, ready for dinner.

In the dining room we chose the menu of the day. I don’t remember the entrée, but the dessert was “Maise con Crème.” My brother and his wife, fluent in Spanish, interpreted this as “corn with cream” but could not describe it. We guessed “creamed corn pudding,” among other things, so we ordered it.

We could not hide our laughter when each of us was presented with a bowl of cornflakes.