#& Europe

[bastionofbibliophiles]

As a U.S.American who traveled to the U.K. for the first time last year, I had never seen the put-the-card-in-the-slot-inside-the-room thing before. It just isn't a thing in the U.S., at least not in the inexpensive hotels I usually stay in when traveling locally (I can't vouch for expensive hotels). Having the door card also control the lights and heating-and-air was a novel experience that caused a few minutes of confusion on the first night.

Also, I stayed in a different hotel pretty much every night because we were Seeing The Sights, and every single one had the exact same model of toilet. All the other fittings and fixtures differed, but the toilets were identical. That was a weird thing to notice, but hey.

On my first day in Germany I got to my hotel and I couldn't get the lights to turn on. And I was like "Eh, fuck it, I'll just take a shower in the dark." And then the shower wouldn't get hot. I waited and waited and it stayed ice cold.

So I go down to the front desk and I'm like "My lights won't turn on and my shower won't get hot" so they send this guy up with me. We get into the room and I flick the switch and nothing happens so I'm like "See?"

And he goes "You must put your card in the slot."

"I... what? I have to put my room card in the light switch?"

"Of course!"

Now I have been in many hotels in the US and never encountered this concept, but apparently it was something most of their guests already knew. So I'm looking like a fool at this point. I feel like an idiot. The dude is fully grinning at me. I put the card in the slot and voila, the light turns on.

Then he's like "Ok, let's see if the shower works. You know you must wait for the hot water?" and I just know he's thinking I'm an idiot who also can't use a shower. This stupid American can't wait for the hot water! She can't even use a light switch or a shower!

And I guess he was distracted by these thoughts of my stupidity, because this dude fully stepped into the shower. In his nice dress shirt and slacks. He just. Gets into the shower.

And turns it on.

Have you ever seen a playing field get leveled instantaneously

[allthingseurope]

Bologna, Italy (by Ekaterina Bogdan)

[mapsontheweb]

Does your country recognize the State of Palestine?

If so, when was the recognition? Four countries have recognized the state of in 2024 - and More than 20 countries have recognized Palestine over the last 30 years, most of them being located in Eastern Europe.

by geo.facts_/instagram

[herpsandbirds]

Ural Owl (Strix uralensis), family Strigidae, order Strigiformes, Slovenia

photograph by Gian Luca Tognon

[decentwinter]

And there's even more! In our days when we say cooking and cleaning we think of our current situation; buy groceries, get them from the fridge, cook something, keep the place tidy and that's it.

But no! Depending on which region you think of when you say "cook and clean", it means SO much more. It means taking care of the garden (which is a source of food: vegetables and fruits), of the cattle and animals. "Keeping the place clean" means washing the entire family's clothes by hand and patching up everything that was ripped, because there was no other option, it means making reparations on furniture by yourself. "Taking care of the children", depending on the century we're speaking of, was much more different from what we consider today. As long as the children were fed, had their head on the shoulders and body in one piece, it was fine. Those poor women didn't even have the time to spend "quality time" with their children besides during communal chores or maybe at bedtime. How lucky are we to have the luxury of focusing on parent-child quality time.

I agree with OP, we tend to associate fiberwork, making soap and candles, manufacturing, with men's work. But that's a view that has been poisoned and influenced by the western world, because you won't meet a Slavic child for example who hasn't been told stories (either by their parents or grandparents) about how the women in their family handled fiberwork, soap making, WOODWORK, animal care.

I will not be a hypocrite and say that women haven't been belittled or looked down upon, but we also must take into consideration the conditions our ancestors lived in. Many times, if you did not produce something, you wouldn't eat. Everyone had their own garden, entire fields, their own animals, their own responsibilities. Men would wake up early, go to work, and return only to go out in the field and work on their earth. Or on certain days, the entire family would gather— parents and their children too, no matter how young, and work in the gardens/fields.

The point is, we have it good. Households back then couldn't possibly function without someone staying home and handling SO much. Again, depending on the region and time period, things might vary greatly. But there were times where both a steady income and being self-sufficient was CRITICAL for survival. Who else to stay at home with those 3-5 children (or more, no one can negate that those numbers were not common) if not the mother? But she wasn't alone, she had her parents and community and friends. Things have changed since back then, and I'm not saying that many of the responsibilities placed upon women aren't dismissed nowadays.

Anyone who dares say that women always been weak is a fucking idiot. You know why? Not because I'm a feminist, but because I know one thing clearly. This world doesn't forgive, and we have it so good nowadays. No one was weak or useless or "only" doing some things because if they were they had a horrible life. Everyone had some sort of use and was appreciated in some way; it was a must, you either help yourself or hope your community sustains you.

a phrase that kinda bothers me when talking about women's historical roles in europe is "cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children." you hear it so often, those exact words in the same order even. and once you learn a little more you realize that the massive gaping hole in that list is fiberwork. im not an expert and have no hard numbers, but i wouldnt be surprised if fiberwork took up nearly as much time as the other three tasks combined, so it's not a trivial omission.

it's not a hot take to say that the mass amnesia about fiberwork is linked to the belittlement of women's work in geneal, but i do think there's a special kind of illusion that is cast by "cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children." you hear that and think "well i cook and clean and take care of children (or i know someone who does) and i have a sense of how much work that is" and you know of course that cooking and cleaning were more laborious before modern technology, but still, you have a ballpark estimate you think, when in fact you are drastically underestimating the work load.

i also think that this just micharacterizes the role of women's work in livelihoods? cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children are all sisyphean tasks that have to be repeated the next day. these are important, but not the whole picture. when we include all kinds of fiberwork—and other things, such as making candles or soap—women's work looks much more like manufacturing, a sphere we now associate more with men's work. i feel like women's connection to making and craftsmanship is often elided.

[gemsofgreece]

White day in the Acropolis of Athens by pastelidis_greece on Instagram.

[the-spirit-of-yore]

Porte fortifiée, Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin, Normandie, France

[luigicat117]

It's about fucking time the EU does something to restrict this guy. He's a danger to democracy and isn't even trying to hide it.

[iko66]

Czech Republic, Praha

[hopefulkidshark]

Veluwemeer Aqueduct, Harderwijk, Netherlands: Veluwemeer Aqueduct is a 25-metre long, 19 meter wide, navigable aqueduct located over Veluwemeer lake in Harderwijk, Netherlands. It was opened in 2002 and bypasses the N302 road. Where the aqueduct crosses the N302, the depth of water is three metres, which allows vessels to pass over the road safely, so long as their draft is less. There are also pedestrian crossings on both sides of the waterway. Wikipedia

[animentality]

[postcard-from-the-past]

100 years ago:

Grindelwald, Switzerland: Grindelwald is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Berne in Switzerland. In addition to the village of Grindelwald, the municipality also includes the settlements of Alpiglen, Burglauenen, Grund, Itramen, Mühlebach, Schwendi, Tschingelberg and Wargistal. Grindelwald village is located at 1,034 m (3,392 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps. Wikipedia.

[views-in-bloom]

Porto, Portugal (by roya ann miller)

[allthingseurope]

Porto, Portugal

[mapsontheweb]

Europe reconstructed with US counties