Relief comes in various environments

When traveling the range of accommodations, if there are any, are great. I have seen and had to use the Asian, squat for the hole in the ground and hidden behind a bush. That is one end of the spectrum, which also includes a number of filthy ones I refused to use.

Names also vary. Such as loos, water closet, happy room and the bathroom, the restroom, the ladies room, etc. Asking where the Happy room is always makes me smile, so I guess it is a happy room.

The strangest was in a classy restaurant (Belga Queen) in Brussels. One of my cousins left the table and returned giggling. She said we HAD to go check out the restroom behind the red velvet curtain. Naturally, all of us women had to go.  Since it was unisex we encouraged the men to see for themselves but they were reluctant to do so.

Once behind the velvet curtain you were in a large area with a central wash basin, oval in shape with a trough around it for the water to drain. There were several faucets. Probably enough for eight to be washing their hands at once.

On the periphery were glass doors enclosing individual stalls. The clear glass doors allowed for noting which was occupied.  I observed one person get up immediately after closing the door and sitting down only to run out. They had realized the door was transparent, they could see out and others could see in.

Curious me decided there must be a trick as some doors were opaque. So I entered, closed the door and looked around for some kind of switch. Nothing obvious.  A little patience. I then fiddled around with the door handle and pushed a button hidden beneath which locked the door. Voila! The door transformed and was opaque, providing me with what I consider essential privacy.

When I picked up some literature about the restaurant, the doors were mentioned. Nowhere else have I seen anything similar.

A corner of the
ladies room

Most recently I went to lunch with three friends at Cusp, in a Kimpton hotel in the La Jolla area. As we were leaving we asked the location of the ladies room.  The hostess eagerly directed us and informed us we were in for a surprise. That we were. Two modern sinks overlooked the view of La Jolla. There was a balcony you could walk out on. The décor was a muted beige. One stall had its own sink and view.

Absolutely the classiest public rooms I have ever seen. If there are others out there, tell me so I can check them out!