Today is Valentine’s Day, celebrated in one way or another throughout the world. I found this website listing how a few countries celebrate this day of love, a few of which I am sharing below using their photos:
Finland and Estonia
“While Valentine’s Day is celebrated with cards, candy, and flowers in North America, other places around the world put their spin on the holiday. They may celebrate a little differently now to ensure social distance, but people still find ways to show their love during this holiday.
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
In Finland and Estonia (both countries in Northern Europe), February 14th is less about romance and more about friendship. In fact, these countries celebrate Friend’s Day rather than Valentine’s Day. During this holiday, people exchange cards and small gifts with their friends.”
In 2019, we visited both of these beautiful, historic countries in our travels. While there, it was evident they are kind and friendly people, certainly impacting how they celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Wales
“Photo Public Domain by Jose-Manuel Benito
Wales, part of Great Britain, has its version of Valentine’s Day. On January 25th, the Welsh people celebrate St. Dwynwen’s Day. For centuries, men gave women a “love spoon” as a token of their affection. These wooden spoons were carved by the men and had elaborate designs on the handle. Today, love spoons remain a popular gift on St. Dwynwen’s Day and are even available in chocolate.”
We visited Wales in 2019, while in the UK as we will be again in only a few months. Their rich history, fascinating ruins, and points of interest made our two weeks there memorable and special. Of course, we’ve spent Valentine’s Day in nine countries over the years.
Following is a list of each of the countries where we spent Valentine’s Day over the past nine years of world travel:
2013: Placencia, Belize
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| Valentine’s Day sunrise photo of the Caribbean Sea taken by Tom this morning while standing less than 10 feet from our veranda. See the link here. |
2014: Marloth Park, South Africa
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| Honey, if I can’t make your favorite butterscotch pie for Valentine’s Day to celebrate. Instead, I present you with this photo of one that I had made many moons ago in the days when we ate sugar and flour and ingredients were available. See the link here. |
2015: Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii
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| This parent and chick sit close to one another until the chick becomes more confident, and the parents feel more at ease. In time, the chick will be left behind on its own, most likely in June or July. Although Cathy explained that on occasion, a fledgling won’t leave the nest until August, at which time, she can go on her vacation. She won’t leave until they have all left the area and her job of overseeing them for the years is over until next November, when many will return to the area. See the post here. |
2016: New Plymouth, New Zealand
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| It was fun to be out to dinner. See the post here. |
2017: Huon Valley, Tamania, Australia
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| Statue in Franklin commemorating World War I soldiers. See the post here. |
2018: Marloth Park, South Africa
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| There she was yesterday, a pretty kudu, standing by the watering hole in the yard of our holiday home. She nibbled on pellets and hung around for some time. Female kudus usually weigh 463 pounds (210 kg), while male bulls may be well over 661 pounds (300 kg). Only the males have long spiral horns. We’ll share male kudus we spotted while out on our nightly drive tomorrow. See the post here. |
2019: Nelspruit, South Africa
There was no post on this date. I was in the hospital in Nelspruit, having had open-heart surgery two days earlier.
2020: Amritsar, India
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| Town after the town became a picturesque view as we wound our way down the mountains from Shimla to Amritsar in India. See the post here. |
2021: Marloth Park, South Africa
Due to WiFi issues, there were no photos posted on this date. See the post here.
That’s the list, folks. We left Minnesota in October 2012 but didn’t celebrate our first Valentine’s Day on our journey until February 2013. We hope all of our family, friends, and reader/friends, have a lovely Valentine’s Day celebrating those you love, near and afar.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, February 14, 2021:
As mentioned above, there was no photo on this date in 2021.