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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Luck 'O the Irish, and Everyone Else

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought it would be fun to check out some signs of good fortune from around the world.

In Germany, touching a chimney sweep's brush is considered good luck. 
I wonder what the chances are of seeing any chimney sweeps when we're in Germany this spring?

In Italy, among other places, a bird pooping on you is good luck. 
I actually had that happen to me in Italy... not so lucky, though, since I was waiting for an overnight train when it happened, and wouldn't get to shower for close to 24 hours. There's only so clean hair can get in a train station restroom. Yuck!

In England, brides consider it good luck to find a spider in their wedding dress.
Not sure if I'd prefer that, or the "lucky" rain of a Hindu wedding. Hmmm. (See a few more international lucky wedding traditions here.)

There are also about a buzzillion statues around the world whose toes, noses, tummies, or -ahem- other parts, get rubbed for good luck.


Et vous? 
Have you stumbled across any good luck signs, statues, or traditions in your travels? 


These luck symbols are an excerpt from National Geographic Kids Magazine, pg. 12, March 2013.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! I didn't realize these were all considered good luck? Somehow, I think I would rather find a lucky 4-leaf clover than find bird poop.
    Laura
    Oh, How Pintearesting!

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    Replies
    1. I know! You just gotta wonder, how on earth did bird poop ever become a symbol of luck? Must have been some tough times when people decided that animal excrement was better than whatever else was going on.

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