7 Reasons

Tag: seasons

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Visit Romania

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Visit Romania

    For anyone looking for an adventurous and stimulating break from the daily grind, cheap flight tickets allow easy access to most parts of the world nowadays. One of my own favourites is Romania, as I still harbour fond memories of Dracula movies in the 1970s. I remember it came as something of a shock to discover that Transylvania really did exist, and from reading everything I could lay my hands on about the place that it was just as exotic and beautiful as I’d fantasised.

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Visit Romania

    The wild Romanian landscape of mountains, lakes and valleys is bestrewn with gorgeous medieval castles and dotted with quaint towns and villages, many of which have deep roots in the country’s often turbulent and bloody past. Ceausescu was removed before his plans for turning the whole of Romania into a tasteless concrete housing estate could get properly underway and now this magical country has plenty to offer its visitors.

    1.  Transylvania. Quite apart from its personal resonations for me, Transylvania is one of Europe’s most beautiful regions of unspoilt forests, mountains and shimmering lakes. The main cities of Cluj and Brasov are frozen in time and you’ll love wandering their cobbled streets lined with medieval German and Romanian architectural treats.

    2.  Danube Delta. The Danube Delta region is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the second largest river delta area in Europe, full of natural beauty and rare species of wildlife. The floating islands, lakes and waterways make it ideal for an adventure holiday exploring its many hidden treasures.

    3.  Folklore and Traditions. In rural Romania you’ll quickly discover that the traditions of the people have been preserved in a time capsule and are an intrinsic part of daily life in the towns and villages across the landscape here. Chickens and pigs are raised in farmyards as they have been for centuries, eggs are gaily coloured at Easter, and weaving and shepherding are very much in evidence. Villagers dress up in traditional costume – not for visitors but for themselves – and everywhere you’ll come across scenes of village life straight out of a book of fairy tales.

    4.  Parties. Parties are a Romanian speciality, and in the big cities like Bucharest there is a wide range of chic cafes, classy clubs, discos, restaurants and pubs, all packed and heaving with people enjoying a great time. The coastline and towns like Timisoara in the western part of Romania are also good spots to head for if you’re into some great nightlife.

    5.  Fabulous Cuisine. Romania has a vast and varied cuisine that reflects its position at the crossroads of Europe, with Russian, Austrian, Turkish, Hungarian and Polish influences, with fresh vegetables and pork forming the basis but also many great beef, lamb, chicken and fish dishes. Romanians just love to eat, as you’ll rapidly discover!

    6.  Four Great Seasons. Romania has a temperate climate and experiences three months of spring and three of autumn each year. This used to be standard of course before global warming came along, but here in Romania the seasons can be enjoyed in all their variety. In summer you can enjoy the Black Sea’s sandy beaches and in winter head for the excellent ski resorts.

    7.  Castles. Romania has some of the most beautiful castles in Europe, as splendid as any you can find in Germany. Commanding valleys and mountain passes, brooding over lakes and silhouetted on the horizon they’re the most fabulously romantic legacy of a great packed and eventful history. With names like Bran, Peles and Pelisor they seem to rightfully belong in fantasy novels, but here they are in magical Romania and you should try to see as many as you can when you visit.

    David Elliott is a freelance writer who loves to travel, especially in Europe and Turkey. He’s spent most of his adult life in a state of restless excitement but recently decided to settle in North London. He gets away whenever he can to immerse himself in foreign cultures and lap up the history of great cities.

  • 7 Reasons You Know it’s Autumn (in Yorkshire)

    7 Reasons You Know it’s Autumn (in Yorkshire)

    As I walked down the street yesterday, something suddenly hit me: It’s Autumn; here in Yorkshire.  Here’s how I can tell.

    The national flag of Yorkshire, the white rose symbol

    1.  Leaves.  The leaves turn brown and fall from the trees.  This, you may be thinking, is not unique to Yorkshire, and you would be correct.  But here, the leaves fall horizontally and, while I was walking down the street yesterday, a large wet leaf flew from a tree at incredible speed and slapped me in the face.  Aha, I thought, it must be autumn again.  And ouch.  And several minutes later, I developed the traditional Yorkshire ruddy complexion, which will probably last me until March.

    2.  Water.  You may also think that water isn’t unique to Yorkshire and once more, you would be correct.  But the fact is that wherever you live – unless you live in the sea – we probably have more of it than you.  Whenever there’s a drought in the UK we still have water, and it’s often transported to drier counties (usually Kent) via tanker.  And you can tell it’s autumn here because (incredibly) the daily rainfall increases from monsoon to biblical and our rivers get restless and start to explore the surrounding areas.  There’s one hanging around at the end of my street right now.

    3.  Mud.  You probably have mud in your gardens that you put your geraniums in, but that doesn’t really prepare you to see Yorkshire autumn mud.  I have no idea where it comes from, but our mud is epic.  All through the autumn, it’s bloody everywhere, just oozing from things:  From our riversides to our footpaths, it eventually covers our towns and cities in a sludgy goo.  In fact, Yorkshire is brown until the winter comes, and then it becomes brown and cold.

    4.  Darkness.  On some Autumn days in Yorkshire, it just doesn’t get light.  At all.  And, when you’re trying to do something in the kitchen at lunchtime (usually making lunch) and you have to switch the lights on, you know it’s autumn.  Or you’ve forgotten to open the blinds, but no one would blame you for that, as your view for this quarter of the year is mud, water, flying leaves and darkness.  If darkness is even a view.

    5.  Meanness. Yorkshire folk have quite a reputation for meanness.  Some of this is undeserved:  The rumour that branches of the Yorkshire Bank don’t have a safe but do, in fact, keep all of their money under a giant mattress is not true and was started by some horrible foreigner (or me, as I sometimes call myself).  But in the autumn, people in Yorkshire become chronically mean.  Only yesterday, as I walked through the wind and the rain, coat wrapped tightly around me, I saw a man being dragged along by a large umbrella step into a six-inch-deep puddle, soaking his leg.  And I laughed.  And that was when the leaf hit me. And he laughed back.  We’re mean in the autumn.

    6.  Millinery.  Now, it’s also a fanciful stereotype that Yorkshire men wear flat caps all the time.  This is not true.  Even Yorkshire men don’t wear flat caps in the summer.  How do you think many of them get their red, peeling scalps?  The flat cap is seldom donned until the autumn.  And then it’s worn pushed firmly onto the head to keep it from blowing away.  When you see flat caps you know it’s autumn in Yorkshire.  Or winter.  Or spring.

    7.  People.  Yorkshire is a beautiful place that rightly attracts a lot of tourists.  And in the summer, they’re everywhere.  Walking slowly and pointing.  In the autumn, however, they disappear.  I don’t know where they go: Perhaps they drown, perhaps they blow away, perhaps we just don’t see them in the darkness, but they do disappear.  Hopefully to somewhere nice as it’s bloody grim here right now.