Funniest Thing for March 2010

This item appears on page 53 of the March 2010 issue.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) The winner will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is ELLEN RADO of Hollis, NY:

It the autumn of 2007 it was very cold in our hotel room in St. Petersburg and no heat was coming from the radiator.

I went to the front desk to complain.

The stony-faced receptionist responded to me in her monotone: “Madam, this is Russia. It is cold.”