Courtyard

My guess is that the one sign indicates that you should park at least 15m away from the dumpster. The other sign might indicate a minimum distance to park from the two doors, though the doors look as if draft horses, rather than cars or trucks, are more likely to emerge.

The context is provided by the blue round sign with a red cross: "no parking or stopping". The same sign is used all over Europe. There are three dozen or so languages in Europe, therefore we use graphic signs that are independent of language.

I thought that the blue round sign referred to parking, but I wasn't sure I remembered correctly, from the (very) few times I've traveled in Europe.

Owl, you're not terribly wrong. There is a blue sign (which, long ago, used to be round), which says "park here". However, a sign with a red border, and especially with diagonal bars, says "do not". Thus, blue background, red border, and two red diagonals, says, "parking, do not, even stop".

@ Lassi and Juuro: After reading your replies, I think my (mis)interpretation may reflect a cultural difference. In the US, most of us are so car-obsessed (and dependent), that we look at signs to tell us where we can park, since we just assume that we should be able to do so.

i figured out the "don't park" sign, but wasn't sure about the 15m arrow sign, which of course, i found amusing since there was a dumpster at the end of that arrow.

draft horses, you say? hrm. i wish i'd seen THEM!

Grrl, I can just picture several stately draft horses emerging through those high, narrow doors, to be groomed and hitched to a wagon in the courtyard. I can hear the horseshoes on the stones (or are they bricks?).

A boring car or truck in the same scene would be an anathema. ;-)