ENGLISH CULTURE

ENGLISH CULTURE

English culture includes a lot of things like Halloween celebrations, everyday's habits, and many more. In this article, we are going to consider some of these topics. 

Halloween:

Halloween is an English celebration that is annually celebrated on October 31st. The main characters are ghosts, witches, zombies, frankensteins, fairies and many more. But do we really know about its history? 

The Halloween tradition comes from Ireland, Scotland and England during the 16th century, where people honoured the Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain was the Celtic day of New Year and they celebrated it on November 1st, because that was the end of summer, which also meant the end of life and the beginning of winter (death). People also thought that it was the time for ghosts to come to earth. The most known Halloween  customs of our days are: the Jack o' Lanterns, when people carve faces into pumpkins and the Trick or Treat when kids, who are dressed like ghosts, fairies or monsters, on knock people's doors and ask for a treat.

Food:

When we hear about English food, we think of the full English breakfast or Fish and chips. However, these are only two of British favourite plates. Here are some other dishes that they also prefer:

Sunday roast: the dish contains roast meet like beef, chicken or lamb, served with gravy and Yorkshire pudding.

Bangers and Mash: In this plate. bangers are sausages and mashed potato. It is served with onion gravy. There are also vegeterian alternatives. 

English curry: The Indian curry is very popular, that every British town has a curry house. The curries that are served in these restaurants are a combo of curry flavours of  south-east Asia.

Crumpets: Crumpets are made of dough. They are best eaten slathered in butter and served with toppings like jam, honey or eggs.

Trifles: They consist of sponge layers. They also contain fruit juice, jelly or jam, custard, whipped cream and fruit garnishes. Beef would be an alternative stuffing. 

Puddings: Finally, we have puddings which is one of the British  dishes. It can be made in various ways such as blood-based sausage or sponge cake covered in toffee sauce.

                        Tourist attractions:

 England is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world and offers almost endless possibilities for vacationers and top attractions to visit. These are some of the attractions, that tourists use to visit.

1. Stonehege, Wiltshire: Stonehege is Europe's best-known prehistoric monument. It is 10 miles north of the city of Salisbury on Salisbury Plain and it's so popular that visitors need to purchase a timed ticket, in order to guarantee entry.

2. Tower of London, City of London: It was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror. It was also used as a prison, an observatory, a treasure vault and a menagerie and now it is one of the top attractions in England.

3.  The Roman Baths and Georgian City of Bath, Somerset: The Roman baths is a 2.000-year-old monument, which is built around the city's hot springs.

4. The British Museum, Bloomsbury, London: It holds more than 13 million artifacts from Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, China, and Europe. Its most famous ancient artifacts are the Elgin marbles from Parthenon in Greece and the Rosetta Stone.

5. Lake district National park, Cumbria: It is covering 900 square miles and it is one of the country's largest lakes.

6. Liverpool and The Beatles, Merseyside: Liverpool is the city where The Beatles are celebrated the most. It takes about three hours by rail to get from London there. 

7. Eden Project, Cornwall:   Eden Project is a collection of unique artificial biomes containing an amazing collection of plants from around the world.

8. The Costwolds: The Cotswolds is perfect to discover on foot. One of the best routes is along the Cotswold Way, a 102-mile footpath with spectacular views of the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham.

9. Warwick Castle, Warwickshire: It is located in the city of Warwick on the river Avon and is a 900-year-old castle. 

10. Canterbury Cathedral, Kent: Canterbury Cathedral is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and the cradle of English Christianity.

https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions/england-eng.htm

http://projectbritain.com/Halloween.html

https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/magazine-zone/halloween

https://wildernessengland.com/english-culture/#english-food