7 Reasons

Tag: traditions

  • 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 That Shaking Hands Is Weird

    7 Reasons That Shaking Hands Is Weird

    Shaking hands is a well established custom.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit strange though.  Here are seven reasons why.

    The hands of two suited men engaged in a handshake (hand shake, shaking hands).

    1.  Movement. We all know that the handshake developed as a way of demonstrating that the participants were unarmed (that’s the hand part).  But what’s with the shake?  Why do we move our hands up and down?  Why don’t we move our hands from side to side or in a circular motion?  Why don’t we jump up and down or stand on one leg?  Why not dance the Hokey-Cokey or play the pat-a-cake pat-a-cake game – or am I thinking about Freemasons?  Anyway, the up-and-down thing is odd.

    2.  Spouse. I once congratulated my wife for something or other (forgetting what for is probably the reason I’ve never been nominated for Husband of the Year) by very formally, and firmly, shaking her hand and saying, “Well done, Darling” in a plummy accent.  Though funny, it was quite a strange experience.  We’d been together for ten years by then and had never shaken hands before.  She spontaneously erupted into giggles several times during the remainder of the day.  She still thinks it’s one of the funniest things ever.  If you want a weird experience, give your partner a firm handshake.

    3.  Women. Shaking hands with a woman is strange.  Kissing a woman is not strange. That’s why I’m a kisser, not a shaker.  Men – during their boyhood – are trained to shake hands:  Women – during their boyhood – are not trained to shake hands and, consequently, they don’t do it well.  I don’t know what women are being trained to do while they’re not being taught to shake hands.  Possibly they’re being taught to smell nice.

    4.  Hygiene. I’m sure we’ve all heard various statistics about the amount of urine found in bar snacks.  The urine gets there via contact with hands.  Unwashed hands.  The same hands that people want you to shake.  Shaking hands is an exchange of urine then.  Lovely.  (There are actually very good reasons not to wash your hands in the men’s toilets at bars – mostly to do with having to touch the taps and the hand dryer.  Here’s the rationale:  If I thought my hands were dirty, what’s the last part of my body that I would touch with them?  That’s right.  And I’m not so inept that I ever piss on my own hands, so they don’t need washing afterwards.  And I now realise that I’ve become distracted from writing about handshakes and am writing about my penis, which is not really how Jon or I envisaged 7 Reasons going:  It’s more how I imagined psychotherapy going.  So, anyway, back to handshaking…)

    5.  (…or not) Penises. While it’s on my mind:  Men spend a lot of time touching their penises.  Also, men shake hands a lot.  So, when men shake hands, they’re touching penises by proxy.  This is bad.  Heterosexual men do not want to do this.  In fact, direct penis-to-penis contact between two heterosexual men is the worst thing that can happen in the world:  worse than anything that can happen in the Large Hadron Collider; worse than being eaten by a horse; worse even, than a day-trip to Whitstable.  The proxy-penis-contact that comes about by the shaking of hands isn’t as bad as direct contact, but it’s definitely not a good thing.  I may never shake another hand again after that thought.

    6.  Left-handed-handshakes. The Italian word for left is sinistra, it’s where we get the word sinister from.  Obviously, in these enlightened times, we know that there’s nothing inherently evil about being left-handed.  Handshaking with your left hand is a thoroughly bad thing though.  The correct response to anyone who offers you their left hand is to take a step backwards, stare at their hand and think “git”.

    7.  Dogs. One of the first things most dog-owners train their dog to do is proffer its paw for a “hand” shake.  Why?  Why is this pointless exercise given priority over training them to use the toilet, teaching them not to chase cyclists or getting them not to stick their many-toothed-snouts into the crotches of terrified house-guests?  Who the hell wants to shake hands with a dog?