Aug 20, 2014

Signs of the Times with Annie West

One of the joys of travelling, I've discovered, is the sheer novelty of so many things we take for granted. Where in Australia, for instance, would you find a sign in the street like this? A crowned eagle and grape vines advertising a cosy place to drop in for a drink and something to eat. Our signs tend to be a bit more prosaic. As a result I spent some time on my recent trip to Europe smiling over the variety of signs we discovered - from the beautiful like this to the ones that that simply caught the eye of a travelling Aussie as something you don't find at home. I thought I'd share a couple of my favourites with you today.
Direct and functional, but this sailor made me smile. 'Boote' means 'boats' and given the fact that I was standing approximately 5 metres from a rather large Austrian lake I thought this one a tad unnecessary but charming anyway.
 
 
Just down the street I came across these two. The building is a boathouse turned restaurant and just in case you couldn't read the text, the picture on the right makes it pretty clear it's a fish restaurant. I particularly enjoyed the warning sign on the left - watch out for overloaded waiters dashing across the road to the kitchen!
 
 
And on a piscine theme, where else would you go to buy your fish but to a fischerei?
 
 
This sign for the butcher, though, is a bit misleading. Somehow I expect butcher Stefan doesn't let many little porkers get the better of him.
 

 
You know you're in Europe when the sign inside the cable car tells you your dog can go up the mountains too, so long as it's on the floor, not the seat.
 
 
Then there are road signs. You may have to peer a little to get this one. Both cattle and wild deer are likely to wander across the road in this area. I'm wondering if it was considered too confusing to put them both on the same pole.
 
 
My other favourite was a sign that said 'Attention, marmots!' with a drawing of a marmot standing to attention on its hind legs. I wasn't sure if the sign was meant for motorists or little furry animals. If it was for the marmots they weren't paying attention, as they were on all four legs when we saw them, including scampering across the road in front of us.
 
Finally, here's one of my favourite old fashioned direction signs.
 
Do you notice signs? Do you have favourites? What's the best one you've seen?
 
While I remember, I'll fit in a quick plug for my new book - out any day now. Look out for 'DAMASO CLAIMS HIS HEIR' in your favourite bookstore. I'm so chuffed that this story scored a 4 1/2 star Top Pick from Romantic Times. Perhaps it's a sign of things to come? Wouldn't that be nice. Here's a link if you want to browse the book.

18 comments:

  1. Annie, this is a great collection of signage! I've been smiling at them all but especially at the busy waiters crossing the road! Road trauma as an occupational hazard isn't something that immediately leaps to mind for a job waiting tables!

    I've seen some great signage on our travels around Australia - like the stretches of road in remote areas that double as Royal Flying Doctor Service landing strips! There's a tarmac "bulge" at the end so the plane can turn around. And then around Coober Pedy there's lots of mine shaft warning signs with little stick figures in the middle of a catastrophe.

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    1. Sharon, isn't the one with the waiter cute? I remember the first time I ate at a place where the kitchen was across the road from the dining tables - many years ago in Greece where the tables were one step from the beach. That waiter should have had danger money. Not that there was a lot of traffic, but the few vehicles didn't wait for pedestrians.

      Love the sound of the flying doctor signs and the warning signs at Coober Pedy. I've never been there. I wonder if that's an excuse to visit? There's a brilliant sign over the cliff at Coogee in Sydney warning with a stick figure tumbling over the edge. I wonder if it's the same?

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  2. LOL Annie, these signs are amazing! Here in NZ we tend to have pretty dull ones! One that we saw in India really made us laugh- it was at a temple where there was a large pool, the sign said: 'The depth of the pool is deep' which was good to know! I'm going to keep a look out for interesting signs from now on!
    Great job with your RT review! Hope the book sells squillions! xx

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    1. Louisa, thank you - squillions would be lovely! And congratulations to you on your recent Koru Award win! Yay!

      Love the sound of your pool warning sign. I wonder if people with shallow pools need to put up warnings too, so no-one dives in and hurts themselves?

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  3. What a lot of fun signs, Annie! Made me realise I don't pay much attention to signs (hey, I don't mean I don't stop at stop signs or the like…just I don't pay attention to their aesthetics, ;-) ). But I have to admit I was more in awe of the view in that last pic than anything else -- talk about glorious!

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  4. Michelle, isn't that last view great? It was very late in the day and the cloud had started to move in but the view was spectacular. What you can't see is the sheer drop of several hundred metres not far behind where I was standing. Not a good place to be on a windy day, I suspect.

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  5. I love the road signs in Australia that point to towns with gorgeous names. Best of all has to be the little town (?) on the Eyre Peninsula called Nowhere Else. Isn't that great?

    Apparently it's the most stolen road sign in South Australia.

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    1. Hi Claire. What an amazing name! I love the idea of a town called Nowhere Else. I can imagine a story set there. You definitely keep your ear to the ground. How do you know about its signs being stolen?

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    2. Lol, the story made the news. Must have been a slow news day. The local council was complaining about the cost of replacing it repeatedly.

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  6. Hi Annie

    Love thses signs and I am sure I have seen some good ones but I have a very bad memory LOL and often don't remember them these days now that phones have such great cameras I should take a photo when I see a good one :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Helen, what a great idea. I hope you share some of your finds once you photograph them! Glad you enjoyed these ones.

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  7. Love all your signs, Annie.

    We have sign in Byron Bay called Parkway Drive. It is where members of the band Parkway Drive grew up and it is the most stolen sign in our neck of the woods.

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    1. Jennifer, I'm learning a lot about stolen signs! I admit I wouldn't mind getting one of the European ones to get drivers to watch out for deers leaping across the road!

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  8. Hi Annie, I loved all the signs from your trip! The marmots standing to attention sound gorgeous. As Louise said, the signs in NZ are a little lame but we do have some nice "wildlife crossing" ones near my place including the image of a mother duck with her ducklings trailing behind and "Little Blue Penguins Crossing. We also have a signpost for Taumatawhakatangi hangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu - one of the longest placenames in the world :-)

    Congrats on your new release and your fab RT review!

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    1. Barbara - I'm trying to imagine that name on a signpost! I'm imagining it takes up several lines. Wow!

      Aren't the penguin signs lovely? I remember seeing them in the South Island. We've got a duck crossing sign just down the road from us - very cute. And we get mother ducks and their babies holding up the traffic in spring.

      Thanks on the congratulations. Same to you too, for your lovely Koru Award win. Such talented Love Cats we have in New Zealand!

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  9. Annie, I adore your signs and all your travel pictures. I might have to get your itinerary from this trip for my Bucket List because it all looks so wonderful.

    I was in a Sydney restaurant last year which had THE most specific "DO NOT" pictorial signs in their toilets I have ever seen. You know all the usuals, like do not stand on the seat, do not squat on the seat, and so on and so forth, but the one that really tickled me was the one indicating that you do not fish in the toilet. Someone was being real funny when they made that sign up.

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  10. Oh, Bronwyn, I'd love to see that sign. Did you take a photo? How cute.

    Actually, I wouldn't mind getting your itinerary from your recent trip to Italy. The little I saw of it looked fabulous!

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  11. Annie, I love those photos! I haven't paid particular attention to signs in the past, but I certainly will from now on. :)

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