These are public bathrooms, folks, but we still thought the site worth a friendly perusal. We really hate being stuck out and about and needing to g-o. Public bathrooms give us the willies. That's why we appreciate a listing like what we found at The Bathroom Diaries...
The site is a database of public bathrooms worldwide, which means you can even find bathrooms in cities you're visiting, when public bathrooms might be most necessary. Listings are eerily detailed, with a rating, hours of operation, gender, fee (if any), style of decor, and a written description.
They also have a "Best Bathroom in the World" contest, essays, and a shop (a shop??). An excerpt from a piece on public bathrooms in China: With squat toilets... westerners... may find the process grueling. But with a bit of practice, anyone can do it. The bigger outrage, by far, is the communal trough.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
"Public bathrooms give us the willies."
Isn't that what got George Michael in trouble?
I think that someone should alert the AARP about this bathroom site, because seriously, seniors who like to travel would really like to know these things. I know that my parents certainly would. Heck, I would too, and it's going to be another 5 years before my card gets sent to me!
Okay, I clicked over to The Bathroom Diaries. Why did I think this would be a site about cottaging?
shameless self promotion follows:
i am obsessed with toilets and bathrooms. as a kid we traveled a lot and the first thing i did whenever we went into a hotel room was check out the bathroom. i loved the heat lights and the mirrors that often allowed my lonely arm to become a chorus line.
i love bathrooms so much that a while back i wrote a column called Toilet Tuesdays for a culture/political blog...they have since moved on to a mostly political format and i was deemed too silly, but maybe some of you other toilet minded people may enjoy the backlog (tee-hee!):
Jan 13: http://www.1115.org/2004/01/13/toilet-tuesdays-part-2/