Crazy European Sports To Try This Summer

Europeans are considered to be the best educated, most sophisticated people on the planet. They also like diving into bogs, throwing tomatoes at one another, and chasing cheese.

I sometimes think that the British are an unusual breed when it comes to sport, but when you look around Europe you start to realise that quite possibly we don’t have the monopoly we thought we did.

If you’re thinking of a trip to Europe where you can get involved with some local sports, consider these.

Here’s a selection of videos showing some of the things Europeans do for fun:

Cheese Rolling (England)

Take cheese, a round one.  Go to a steep hill.  Find a group of like minded maniacs.  And then chase the cheese down the hill only to be greeted by a group of similarly crazy catchers waiting to ‘rescue’ you at the bottom.  That’s England’s annual cheese rolling contest.  Many people will be hurt and this is proof that the insurance companies and inept Health & Safety consultants haven’t yet managed to stop people risking their own lives for no sound reason whatsoever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM

Wife Carrying (Finland)

The Scandinavians are about the most equitable people you can imagine, yet it’s the men that have to do the carrying in this sport.  Wife Carrying is a sport that involves running a 253.5m course, with your wife on your back.  I personally find the Estonian wife-lift the easiest, but there are a number of styles.

If you’ve been to Finland, you’ll know that they’re not the most svelte of peoples.  If you want to take part and have a typically skinny French wife you stand a good chance…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIB9UcA5iQU

La Tomatina (Spain)

La Tomatina - Public domain image from Wikipedia, by Aaron Corey
La Tomatina – Public domain image from Wikipedia, by Aaron Corey

The Spanish grow an awful lot of tomatoes.  This needs celebrating.  What better way than to throw them at each other?  Every year, in Buñol, Valencia, the Spanish enjoy nothing more than to throw tomatoes at La Tomatina And why not?  Beats throwing donkeys off churches.  My family happens to live in the Valencia region, and I fully intend to attend though it’s worth noting – I’ve been to a few Spanish festivals and I know that alcohol and chaos feature strongly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPQCH1b_LgE

Bog Snorkelling (Wales)

You might think of snorkelling as something to do at a Caribbean beach.  Not the Welsh.  They like nothing better than to get into fancy dress, head to a bog and get swimming in the annual Bog Snorkelling competition.  There are prizes for speed, but many people enter the contest to raise money for charity and, consequently, the efforts that get the most attention are likely to raise the most money – hence the fancy dress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAh7e9d45_Y

Wordcamp UK 2009 to be in Cardiff

20090224-mp54k2h4uu7ada1jtkycce81qiIf you’re following the various WordCamp lists, you’ll already know about this event.  But many won’t.

If you use WordPress professionally, or with a great deal of enthusiasm, WordCamps are a great way to meet with other users, developers and designers who really understand the system.  There are useful presentations, social events and activities based around the event.

I was there last year at the Birmingham WordCamp, with James, and our company Interconnect IT was one of the sponsors.  This year we’re waiting to see how finances work out before throwing in sponsorship money, but I’ll definitely be there again and I’m likely to be presenting on the issues surrounding bringing WordPress to the enterprise space.  Because corporates love WordPress too…

This year’s event will take place on the 18th to the 19th of July at the Future Inn Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales.

For more information, you can visit the official WordCamp UK Site.