0 - Greenland, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan or even Kazakhstan aren't in Europe.
No, they aren't. Really. They aren't politically, demographically, geographically, culturally or religion-wise a part of Europe. This is a common misconception, how many of you believe that ostriches stick their heads in the sand or that fortune cookies are a Chinese tradition, raise your hands? There is no such thing as a European side as ONE country cannot be in two different continents. Even according to that logic, if Kazakhstan had 2% European territory, wouldn't the other 98% simply be in Central-Asia? Or, does it only work one way? Just think about it, how stupid that sounds. Anyway, this means I won't be mentioning things like the highest mountain, the biggest city of highest skyscraper in Russia or Turkey... simply because they aren't in Europe!
1 - European city names don't mean anything special, for the most part.
As a kid I always thought places like Hammerfest or Gothenburg stood for something absolutely really cool. Hammerfest must had something to do with the hammer of Thor while Gothenburg was the city of the Goths. I felt a bit disappointed when I found out that Hammerfest didn't even come close to anything related to Norse mythology but simply meant town built against a steep mountainside and Gothenburg was actually the international name for Göteborg in Swedish, where Burg means lit: castle and Göte is simply the river it's built on. Because that's the basic idea behind a lot of city names; river/area + castle/church/town. The Scottish town of Inverness always sounded incredible to me, that was until I learned that it literally meant mouth on the river Ness. Want to hear more examples? Well, for instance Dunkirk in Belgium means church in the dunes. Daugavpils in Latvia stands for Daugava river + Pils meaning church, The Austrian town of Innsbruck simply means bridge over the river Inn, Dusseldorf is a village located on a small right tributary of the river Rhine and the Dutch capital Amsterdam, how cool as it may sound, is nothing more trite than town on the Amstel river. There are of course many places named after religious people or historical persons such as Sankt Moritz or Charleroi, which literaly means king Charles (the II).. or want to hear an explanation for a town that could possibly ruin your fantasy about it? Here we go, ever heard of the little town on Svalbard called Longyearbyen? I always thought it was some sort of coincidence that the name sounded English..but it was probably pronounced Lon-gye-are-by-en. But I wasn't far off!!! It was actually named after a founder John Munro Longyear and it used to be called Longyear city until 1926. I'd say no way!
Well, as you can see, it is probably best NOT to know the meanings behind European cities. It can kill all the fantasy you once had in just one blow.
2 - Albania is the most unsafe country to live in, Malta the most safe
According to the world risk index, or simply WRI, Albania is prone to earthquakes due to it's location in a seismically-active zone, but there is also serious risk of floods and other multi hazards such as heat waves, as well as cold waves, that regularly claim the lives of unfortunate people. The most occurring natural disaster are floods by more that 50% with a mortality rate of 50%, which also results in high economic losses as understandably thousands have to leave their homes. Surprisingly, the Netherlands is second on that list. According to its disasters & risk records, the highest mortality rate by natural disasters are extreme heat and the biggest risk are storms, which I can partially understand, but I take it that they included the risk of a gargantuan dam burst that could potentially wipe out half the country, which I admit can happen but it's not very likely.
3 - The gateway to hell is in the Czech Republic, or so a historic tale says.
The early Gothic Houska castle shrouded in myths, located 47 kilometers north of Prague, has been build over a very deep crater in the ground. Legend has it that devils have escaped from this portal to hell and prisoners were granted their freedom if they explored this pit. According to the tale, prisoners always returned to the surface paralyzed with fear and looked as if they had aged thirty years within a matter of hours. I have never visited this castle, but this makes it sound more interesting than the more popular Karlstejn castle.
4 - Austria and Germany used to be much larger countries
After the first and second world war both empires lost a massive amount of their land mass. To name a couple of cities, Germany had to say farwell to Danzig (now Gdansk), Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Posen (now Poznan), Breslau (now Wroclaw), Stettin (Scszezin) and Krumau (what is now known as the immense popular Cesky Krumlov). Some name changes can still look similar and keep their ties with the past. The province of Poland that was once in Germany is still called Pomorskie, while the bordering state of Germany is also called Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I hope you see the connection.
Austria, or to be more precise the Austro-Hungarian empire, lost Krakau (now Cracow), Pressburg (now Bratislava), Brunn (now Brno), Bozen (now Bolzano), Marburg (now Maribor), Agram (now Zagreb), Laibach (now Ljubljana), Temeschwar (now Timisoara), Weißenburg (now Alba Iulia).
Now let me get one thing straight, it's not my aim to talk about tragic world wars here or colonization, of which it's debatable if some ancient German cities were predominately inhabited or even founded by Germans and Austrians. There is enough proof that Greater Germany existed. I once visited Adersbach (now Adrspach) in the Czech Republic and you can still find German engravings dating from the 16th century in the rock formations that will stay there for all eternity. Bonus fact: did you know that the town of Pilsen (now Plzen) is the place where pils or lager comes from? You do?! But did you also know that the Czech town of Ceske Budejovice, when it was in German hands, was called Budweis? Hey, doesn't that sound familiar, or what?!
5 - Normandy in France was once a Viking settlement
During the Viking age of 793–1066, Scandinavian Norsemen explored, traded, raided and conquered Europe. In the Viking empire their settlements stretched as far as Newfoundland, North Africa and Russia where they founded or simply conquered cities. Now without giving a lecture in Viking history and going straight to business here, did anyone ever had the sense telling you that Normandy, France sounds very Norsemen-like, as if the name has something to do with Viking settlements? Because that is actually true and it's confirmed!! Yes, Normandy was a Viking settlement during the peak of their European empire. The name derived from the old French Normanz or Nortmanni in Latin, which literally means Northmen or Norsemen. I have never been to Normandy, and that's a shame really, but perhaps any blonde people you'll see may have Viking heritage! Although, I did yet meet some blonde people from LeHavre. The Vikings eventually lost their mighty empire and Normandy as the settlers assimilated with local natives until the Bretons, Germans and people of Anjou took the area over from them.
6 - When Czechia and Slovakia broke up,
they also split the national anthem amongst themselves
When Czechoslovakia split up in 1993, the country wasn't the only thing that split, they divided the national anthem as well with the first verse going to the Czech Republic and the second going to Slovakia. Sounds almost like a realistic divorce to me.
7 - There is a German train station in Switzerland
In the Swiss town of Basel, there is a train station named Basel Baden which is operated by the German Railways and even actually looks like a German railway station, but it's on Swiss soil. Usually passport control is carried out on board by custom border officers before the train continues to Basel main station. If you decide to exit the station in Basel Baden on foot, you will have to clear customs control in the tunnel between the platforms and station hall.
8 - It isn't sunny and dry in the entire Iberian peninsula
The image that we all have of Portugal and Spain is that they have very mild winters and many dry days with lots of sunshine hours all year round. Yes, but not all of the Iberian peninsula. Many parts of northeastern Portugal, coastal Galicia, Basque country and the southern borders of the Pyrenees are heavily influenced by the Atlantic ocean which brings annual precipitation of over 1,500 mm. To give you an idea how much rain that is, that would boil down to at least 4mm of rain every day of the year or in other words daily medium showers! By contrast, in southeast Spain the annual precipitation is less than 300 mm. It can be very cloudy and wet in cities like Braga (1,252mm), Porto (1,267mm), La Coruna (1,008), Santiago the Compostela (1,886mm),Vigo (1,909mm), Santander (1,073mm), San Sebastian (1,738mm) and freezing in the Spanish Pyrenees, Northwestern Catalunya and central inland cities such as Zargoza. Also in comparison, a notorious rainy region of Europe; the Scottish Highlands receive annual precipitation amounts of 1,049 mm, so you can figure out for yourself how rainy the Northwest of Iberia is.
9 - The Bulgarian town Plovdiv is the most renamed city throughout history
Founded and known in ancient times as Kendros or alternatively written Kendrissos/Kendrisa, through the millennia it was renamed to Odryssa → Eumolpia → Philipopolis → Trimontium → Ulpia → Flavia → Julia → Paldin/Ploudin → Poulpoudeva → Filibe until they finally decide they'd stick with Plovdiv.
However, Bulgaria is said to be one of the oldest countries in Europe. Say that name changes happened as a fact of changing of regimes and borders, if we look at that and try to find more recent name changes, then the Polish town of Inowrocław would be the new champion with seven name changes. It was first known as Nowy Włodzisław until they decided they weren't happy with that name and renamed it to Junowłodzisław then Inowłodzisław to Inowłocław and to Inowrocław when they felt Hohensalza was a better name, renamed it to
Inowrocław back to Hohensalza until they decided it was best to keep the name of Inowrocław.
who knows they might rename the city any time soon
10 - the Dutch flag was once orange-white-light blue
The flag of the Netherlands to this day is red white cobalt blue. From 1579 till 1652 the colours were a bit different; orange, white accompanied with a lighter blue which was called 'ranje-blanje-bleu (the Prince's Flag). It's origin and why they changed it, I cannot explain. There are several theories such as a symbol for uprising and the forming of a new nation, but I've also heard that the orange colour was difficult to see by other ships at sea. Most Dutch people are familiar with the phrase "orange above all" which refers to the first orange colour of the triband, hoisting of the flag and the honouring of prince William of Orange. The flag is no longer in use, but there are still records in history that confirm the existence of the former tricolour. The historical Prince's Flag was also used as inspiration for the flags of Suidafrica and several colonies in the New World. The orange-white-blue flag of South-Africa has been replaced since 1994, but the flags of Albany and the Bronx still exist.
11 - London, UK: Piccadilly Circus don't have anything to do with clowns, wild animals or acrobats.
Nor does it have anything to do with gladiators. Oxford Circus. Cambridge Circus. Finsbury Circus. et cetera are named that way because they resemble a circle, an o shape. Which is also where the word circuit derives from, a track where the beginning is also the finish. And now that I'm talking about London, did you know that the busy King's Cross st Pancras station isn't just one name of a major London underground terminal but actually two, as it serves Kings Cross & St Pancras.
12 - There are almost no Alps in Bavaria, Germany
Germany is often seen as one of the Alpine states and Bavaria is on a regular basis associated with Alps, but you'd be disappointed how near the Austrian border you'll have to get to actually get a glimpse of them. Even though a southern region is called the Bavarian Alps, it may still take two hours from Munich before some Alps come within visibility range, on a clear day. The highest mountain in Germany is Zugspitze, but is so near the Austrian border that's it almost in Austria. If I would make some estimations, the Austrian border is only eighty meters away from the summit, but the Zugspitze is still technically in Germany. A few of Germany's Alp towns are Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgaden, but still are very near Austria. The Bavarian Alps are only a measly part of the Alp mountains, of which I cannot find official figures.
I cannot stress enough that if you want to see the Alps,.. just go to any of the other Alp countries.
BONUS: there are also almost no highlands and fjords in Sweden.
I always remember the stunning photographs of mountainous Sweden that I've seen since my childhood, but little did I know how ridiculously far you had to travel to see these parts that are nowhere near any major Swedish city you will most likely visit. The country consist mainly of flat or gently rolling lowlands and most of this are miles and miles away from any mountains. Technically there are high mountains in Jamtland and North Bothnia, but I was dumbstruck to realize how near the Norwegian border you had to get before the mountains get really "towering". The highest mountain range in Sweden are Kebnekaise and they are hard to see from Kiruna town. For better views you have no choice but to get to Abisko national park, which is almost over the median in distance between Kiruna and the Norwegian town of Narvik, making them so close to Norway that you're better off increasing your budget and crossing the border with their western neighbours. And as for fjords, you'll be completely disappointed that Sweden has virtually none.
13 - There are deserts in Iceland
Iceland the land of glaciers, geysers, volcanoes and.. deserts? Yup, you read that right. A typical desert is often associated with hilly dunes, buttes, blazing heat and seemingly endless drought, but they can be in colder climates too. It is believed that a sheer 80% of Iceland is currently infertile soil, which is primarily the result of the old Norsemen chopping down all woods for timber and livestock farming. Since 1992 there are ambitious, costly projects of around 1 million EUR to reverse the damage and slowly turn deserts back into fertile soil at the same magnitude of the plan to bring the freshwater back to the infamous dried-up Aral lake in Russia, and to date there are positive effects if you are optimistic. Unfortunately, statistics illustrate the arid areas are deteriorating over time by extreme erosion and Iceland simply not having the funds and manpower for these difficult revegetation projects. One of the most well-known deserts in Iceland, Holasandur (which means the Sand of the Hills, Hola=hills and Sandur=sand -again as in #1 no surprising translations of the name here) is a large desert area between Husavik and Myvatn lake which covers 130sq km of black sand. It is notorious for being seen as beautiful by droves of tourists that cross the country and then go home, but the Icelanders aren't too happy with compliments on a dangerous threat that could potentially doom their nation.
14 - Swiss German isn't exactly the same as standard German
Switzerland is a tremendously fascinating, beautiful country where they have been speaking more than four official languages for centuries within its borders. When you are spending a vacation in wonderful Switzerland, you most probably speak to them in English which is not official, but it's widely understood. But what if you are already able to speak German, and since the major regions of the nation is German-speaking, wouldn't that make it easier for you? I guess not. I was completely surprised by the first time I was in Switzerland, I could barely decipher what the Swiss were saying as they have different spelling, grammar, words and pronunciations of German words. "Schwyzerdütsch" as in one of the many ways you can write this is so different that even the Germans from Germany that speak Hochdeutsch can sometimes not understand them. Not trying to act like I know how things are classified, and don't quote me on this, but it is believed to be more of a dialect within a regional dialect that has become it's own standard German. How does that work for the other official languages in Switzerland? Since I don't speak Italian or French, I wouldn't know, but I have been told that Swiss French is very similar to standard French. I cannot confirm this though.
15 - Moldova the least visited, poorest and most unhappy country in Europe
The former communist state suffers from a rapid population decline and highests negative net migration rate (which is -9.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population), is one of the poorest and corrupt nations where the use of horse carriage and candle light sticks are not uncommon, the capital Chisinau is one of the most grey, depressing cities lacking architectural marvel or landmarks and the landlocked country barely has any natural beauty to offer. There are no beaches, cliffs, rocks, mountains or rolling hills and the landscape is sparsely forested. And if this didn't sound grim enough, with a self-proclaimed post-Soviet conflict zone known as Transnistria. Officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), the county's stability looks very bleak. I don't think anything will positively change anytime soon.
16 - Latvia is the most rapid declining nation, in the world
A complete exodus was triggered when Latvia joined the EU and one-fifth of the population, which are skilled and young people, left the nation in search of a better life in mainly Ireland, the UK and Germany. With already low birth rates, it is expected that by 2050 the country will barely exist. In 2000 the total population was 2.38 million. At the start of 2018, it plummeted to 1.95 million. Paired with neighbouring Lithuania, it has a precipitous fall in population, 18.2 percent according to U.N. statistics.
Gee, we didn't see this coming. Who thought open borders could have this huge impact?
17 - One of the four deepest metro stations in the world is in central Kiev, Ukraine
The Arsenelna station on the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska line is believed to be the deepest metro station located at 106 meters below the surface. I don't know how low that may be, but you need at least five minutes to take the two long escalators down. I did say believed, because rumour has it that there is an even deeper metro station in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and you never know if facts from North Korea are confirmed. Anyway, what I've heard, the reason why that metro station is so deep is not because they had to dig below a river amongst other things, but double functions as a bomb shelter. Now that sounds plausible.
18 - Italians only use 21 letters
Whereas many European countries with Latin Alphabets use more than the standard 26 letters, Italians only use 21, the letters J, K, W, X and Y don't exist. That's not to say they have the shortest Alphabet in the world, that record goes to Papua New Guinea where the Rotokas is used, consisting of only twelve letters. I am also very aware that regions like Sardinia, Sicily and South-Tyrol they don't all primarily speak Italian.
19 - Contrary to what everyone believes, only 9-10% of the population of Ireland has natural red hair.
Ever tired of these tacky souvenirs that depict Irish people as redheads? You'll be surprised to spot many different hair colours. Less than 2% of the world's population has red hair, and even though 1.10th of the Irish people are redheads, they are still second after Scotland with 13%. 40% of the population may carry the gene though.
20 - There are silly signs in Sopot and Zakopane, Poland.
Poland is a huge country. It is in fact the 8th largest country in Europe. Note that I excluded Russia here! Two major outdoor touristy cities are Sopot, a bustling beach town and Zakopane a traditional mountain town, but they are 710 kilometers apart from each other. Sopot is all the way up in the north facing the Baltic sea, whereas Zakopane is near the southern border with Slovakia on the High Tatra's. In both places, in the touristy main streets, you can find a meaningless signpost which reads Zakopane 710 km in Sopot, but in Zakopane there is the same sign pointing to Sopot, 710 km. This must be a joke that only a few travelers have noticed!!!
21 - France has the highest tourism numbers in the entire world
You probably knew that France is the most popular travel destination in the world, and as a result, the Louvre is the most visited museum in Europe. It annually receives 9M visitors and if the rumours are true, they recently even stepped over that record by 10M. And here is a thing: the world famous Mona Lisa painting by genius Leonardo da Vinci, (bonus fact: which literally means Lion-like from the town of Vinci) which estimated worth is at $2.67 billion in today's money, wasn't as famous today until it got stolen in 1911 and recovered two years later. Looking at the numbers and how they top the charts in the last decades, they will remain the #1 top tourist destination until my dying day.You gotta envy the French.
22 - Hungary has the highest Value-added Tax (VAT) in Europe
With 27% Hungary has a higher VAT than Sweden and Denmark. I couldn't believe it myself. It could be a funny pop quiz game that no one could ever guess the correct answer to.
23 - Sweden and Finland together have 1/3rd of all the forest in Europe, or at least of all the EU states. Finland is nearly 71% forest of the total land mass, whereas the Netherlands are only 8%. Slovenia's land area ratio is 64%, but for a small country it means there is much more forest anywhere near you. It is also believed that Slovenia is one of the few forested countries where batches of new trees are steadily increasing. It may be no surprise that the Netherlands and Denmark have the least amount of woods in their countries, but for Denmark the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions absorption by trees is so low, that the statistics go negative on the chart making Denmark hit rock bottom of the results. Well, if you are aim is to get fresh air on a holiday, then you know where to go.
24 - the Euro notes represent both Russia and Cyrillic
There is something eerie about the new Euro banknotes. It now includes a second translation which wasn't there before on the previous editions of the notes. Besides Greek, it also has Euro translated as "EBPO" in Cyrillic Alphabet, but other than EU member Bulgaria, who doesn't use the currency, no other country that has Cyrillic script is a member of the EU zone, and hasn't been since the implementation of Cyrillic on the notes since 2013, when they started to do this with the replacement of fivers. Montenegro and Kosovo use the Euro, yes, but unilaterally as they aren't member states. So, is the new translation on the notes simply there to please them or is that an omen? To poke Russia for possible membership? It might be the case if we take a closer look at the illustration on the back of the notes, Russia is clearly included. The illustration of Europe definitely represents the continent and not the member states, so why is Russia inked whereas Turkey and North-Africa obviously aren't? What gives!? Anyone else ever noticed that?
25 - Polish movies are dubbed into Polish...by one person only
This one of those you wouldn't believe it facts, until you saw it for real. Yes this ain't no joke, imagine watching a movie and it was entirely dubbed over by just one person translating everything into Polish. And in a robotic, emotionless way, one man just reading out loud the script, but in such a way that you can still hear but barely understand the original audio. It's like how profanity is nowadays sometimes censored by not entirely beeping out the cuss words but only do so that you can still hear "F#beep#CK", and that's exactly how you watch a Polish movie. It's a tradition, and therefore a part of Polish culture that we all have to respect, but how the h#beep#ell is anyone able to enjoy a movie like this??
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