In a few day's time in Britain it will be Guy Fawkes Night AKA Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night, and it occurred to me that it might seem really weird to people from other countries. It is a celebration of the failed Catholic "Gunpowder Plot" in 1605 to blow up Parliament while the Protestant king James was visiting it.

It is usually marked by large public fireworks displays, often held in a public park. It's common to have food stalls, alcohol, and maybe carnival style games and rides for kids.

Something which used to be very common, but is becoming less so, is to have a huge public fire held in the same location, with an effigy of Guy Fawkes (a minor member of the Gunpowder Plot ) put on it to burn. Some towns on the south coast of England still compete with each other to see who can build the biggest fire.

Another old tradition which has almost died out is that kids would make a fake "Guy" i.e. a pretend person made out of old clothes, and then wheel them around to houses, knocking on doors and asking for "a penny for the Guy".

It is a bit weird I suppose, given how much effort goes in to marking a failed assassination attempt from over four centuries ago, especially as the vast majority probably know next to nothing about the historical context for what happened, and it is considered a fairly minor footnote in history.

How about other countries? Are there historical events still celebrated despite being a bit obscure? Or traditions which might seem odd at first glance?

Hi there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

• Do you dress up in a costume and ask for candy? (Trick-or-Treat)
• Do you eat any certain foods or give out certain foods?
• What traditions if any, do you have?
• Are there any famous scary stories in your country like Frankenstein or Dacula?

In france, it is dogs. Man's best friend, known for their loyalty and bravery, helping its owner in his works, while cats are sneaky bastards who were killed and seen as rats (tho helpful to catch mices)

Tomorrow we have bank holiday, most shops will be closed (but corner shops, food delivery and restaurants will be working). And because the shops will be closed for one day people act like they don't expect them to ever be open again.

There was a huge line to my favourite bakery early in the morning and people were buying a week's worth of bread, they run out of bread by noon although normally they're open till evening. People in supermarkets are queuing with their carts full to the brim. Everyone just went nuts.

And it's not like tomorrow's holiday is connected with some feast like xmas or easter.

So what is it like over in your country?

According to polls from America, it’s a candy we call Candy Corn. To describe it is a waxy candy that is divided into the colors of white orange and yellow. It has flavors of honey, sugar, butter and vanilla.

So what is your country’s candy corn?

I can't find any newspaper articles about it, but I was wondering whether travelling these countries still brings some restrictions with it, like limitted travel options or damaged towns in the valleys. Specifically, I would be interested in the region around Liberec / Krkonoše National Park / Krkonošský národní parkKrkonošský národní park. Thank you very much for your help!

.

.

I want to ask if it's normal or even legal for a bank, (or multiple banks) to refuse to change old 200 Euro bills (2002 edition) to recently issued bills? From what I've read, the Central European Bank states that the old bills are valid and hold value but will gradually be replaced via the banking system.

I have been refused by ING, Raiffeisen, and two more Romanian banks, which I find totally questionable, if not even illegal. I don't think that any bank that is part of the European banking system should be able to refuse such a demand. It's their job!

Anyway, I'm not gonna let them get away so easily, but I wanted to consult with my folks in Europe.

I'm grew up on them, being from Northern Europe, and I eat them with oatmeal for breakfast, or paired with desserts or appetisers.

Hi there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

Here in the UK it is Cricket followed closely by Rugby (Union and League).

While I am not suggestion anyone should refilm LotR by any stretch of the imagines, and New Zealand is forever immortalised in Peter Jackson's films, I was thinking about this recently as a thought experiment.

For me it's Alec Douglas-Home, PM from 1963-1964.

I couldn't tell you a single thing about his policies, what crises/major events in British politics he presided over, or any kind of weird factoid about him, at all. He is a total mystery to me.

Even for Jim Callaghan I think I have something - he presided over a whole load of strikes, I think? And then retired to be a pig farmer.

Edit: He wasn't even a pig farmer apparently! Who am I confusing him with?

Friendliness, food etc.

Do you receive any meaningful mail requiring your attention? Would your life change if letter deliveries were only twice a week?

Hi! I’m an italian - romanian dual citizen but sometimes I feel guilty because I only ever really feel at home in Romania (despite having an italian name, speaking the language and staying for long periods of time). I even got the opportunity to go back to Italy for an exchange year (which I already took!) but I don’t know, I can’t really call this country my home. I spent most of my time wishing I could go back. Maybe it’s because I was also born & raised & lived most of my life in Romania. Don’t get me wrong, I will forever be grateful for my parents giving me dual citizenship but I was wondering if other people feel the same way.

I dislike Russia and its government so please no hate comments. But yeah I’m wondering if it’s possible to travel outside of Germany with these documents. Thanks,

Am british and am always impressed by the amount of people who commute by bike in many countries across europe. I notice that the vast majority wear normal clothes rather than cycling gear. How do you deal with getting to hot and sweaty when you get to work? Do you just cycle slower or do people not care?

I want to cycle more, but moved buildings where there's no shower.

Edit: Thanks for all the responses. I can't answer all of them, but I get the overall message: cycle slower, wear fewer clothes and maybe change your top when you get to work.

I do have an e-bike as the commute is 15 km and I cruise at about 20 km/h.

Credit score, buying stocks, how to pay back your students loans or hospital bills... Not really a big thing over here. But also our financial education is not a big thing!

I always heard to live bellow your means so you can save money and to buy a house as soon as you can (of course this is not always doable in all European economies).

What do you think everyone should know?

I'm curious about the everyday habits, routines, or tiny traditions in Europe that might fly under the radar but would seem unique to someone outside of Europe.

any country that forces by law presidential candidates to publicly declare who their top money contributors are before the presidential elections, not after said presidential elections? Thank you

Hi there!

Welcome to our daily scheduled post, the Daily Slow Chat.

If you want to just chat about your day, if you have questions for the moderators (please mark these [Mod] so we can find them), or if you just want talk about oatmeal then this is the thread for you!

Enjoying the small talk? We have a Discord server too! We'd love to have more of you over there. Do both of us a favour and use this link to join the fun.

The mod-team wishes you a nice day!

I haven't had the opportunity to travel as much as I would like, and I often play video games to get a small sense of a different location. (Tomb Raider is great for this!)

Which video games feature your nation in the most interesting ways? That doesn't mean the most accurate ways, necessarily, or the most serious. I'm referring to games that make you smile because they pick up on aspects of your country that are appreciable and entertaining.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Hi all,

Almost all European republics either had a monarchial system of government at one point and the monarchy had been abolished since, or became independent from a foreign empire which often had a monarchy.

If your country went from being a monarchy to a republic (like France did), when did the movement supporting the monarchy be restored become politically irrelevant? I believe in France it took until WWII for the monarchists to become completely fringe/seen as eccentric politically, so it took more than 70 years for France between the last monarch abdicating, to the point that no one was seriously entertaining any thought of bringing the monarchy back.

Thanks.

I enjoy reading about them and wanted to know what you think.

I'm Spanish and here, kids usually go house by house asking for candies dressed up.

Apart from this, in schools, that day is like for watching movies and etc. At least until secondary school.

It is celebrated but not as in other countries.

Here in the US, Ring doorbell cameras are quite common, as are home security cameras, in general.

When I studied in France some 5 years ago, I don't recall having seen any Ring doorbell cameras on homes. In fact, I didn't see many cameras anywhere.

This is sort of related, but I stayed with a host family, and their one daughter explained that CCTV isn't allowed in most places, which is why you'll have a dedicated manager or employee following potential shoplifters around the store instead of having people man a bunch of cameras in the back. Furthermore, a German friend of mine also recently told me that dash cams in cars aren't legal, which is what further prompted me to write up this post. These examples have lead me to believe that some European countries have vastly different laws as it relates to privacy and filming the general public.

As a Brit, I am curious. Also I'm talking here where you go out to a pub or something or have a house party and just drink and drink until you throw up. I hear this is pretty common across the Irish Sea but I wondered if it was a thing elsewhere on the continent.