12 strangest traditions from around the world that will puzzle every tourist

It seems that the difference between customs used to be greater because people moved and traveled much less than they do now. However, if you look closely at the details, the inhabitants of each country will have their own peculiarities and traditions that only they understand.

And this can cause a very mixed reaction from visitors. OBOZREVATEL decided to find out what are the most unusual and even strange behavioral features in different countries.

1. In France, everyone kisses during a meeting instead of shaking hands or giving a light hug. Moreover, it is customary to kiss both men, women, and children. When new people come to the company, they are sure to make a kind of circle of honor to kiss everyone present.

2. In London, on the subway or trolleybus, you may come across a woman "cleaning her feathers". And this can be not only an innocent tinting of the lips with moisturizing lipstick but also a full-fledged manicure with cutting the cuticles and applying strongly smelling nail polish.

3. In Italy, it is customary to give children a pacifier and allow them to drink from a baby bottle until school age. Local mothers save their time on laundry in this way, and the environment does not consider sucking on a pacifier at the age of 6 to be something indecent.

4. The Spaniards have a special idea of age. For example, a person under 20 is "too young." A 20-35 – year-old person is just "young." 35-55 years old – "still young." 55-65 years old – "an adult." People older than 65 can be called "of age." In addition, in Spain, it is customary to take a shower before leaving the house.

5. Also, in Spain, every citizen has two surnames at once: one from the father and the other from the mother. It is important that after the wedding, women do not take their husband's surname, but keep their own.

6. In Mexico, however, people may not know their friend's real name and surname because it is customary in the country to give each other nicknames related to a person's physical characteristics: height, hair type, etc. And it is this nickname that is used in communication.

7. In Ireland, if you go to a friend's house and her mother invites you to the table, you have to refuse several times, even if you came to eat a specially prepared pie. And when she starts to insist, then you can agree and sit down at the table.

8. In Germany, it is not customary to hang curtains and drapes on the windows, although, at the same time, they are quite scrupulous in matters of an intimate and personal nature.

9. Germans also have a special love for pets. Thus, you can go to shopping centers with large dogs, and take cats with you to work in the office.

10. Some Mexicans put water bottles around trees near their house or gardens so that dogs do not defecate there when they pass by.

11. In the UK, the most important rule for everyone is to be polite. And it is not surprising if any question here will begin with the words "please" or "kindly."

12. In Germany, traffic rules are taken very seriously. Even the smallest violation on the road will lead to an exam, locals call it the idiot test. It contains tricky questions, for example: "How many animals did Moses take with him in the ark?" or "How many times a year does the average person celebrate his birthday?"