No sooner we are out of Christmas and New Year’s sales, than the shops fill out with another type of red: Valentine’s day cards, red roses and everything turns to heart shaped objects.
A trip to Thailand over the New Year holidays, has reminded me exactly how all commercialised this is: in Bangkok the shops do not even bother to wait for the fake Christmas trees and giant Father Christmas to be put away: the heart shape stuff comes out and it is all a bit of a strange mismatched of celebrations. So what side of the fence are you on? Do you go all out for Valentine’s day or do you wish it would not exist?
I have however decided that it was time to find out a little bit more about it all so I have read a bit of the history of Valentine’s day and it seems that it is something else that the Romans did for us: Valentine’s day started its life as a three day fertility festival called Lupercalia which took place in mid-February. The Church then choose the same date to Christianise the celebrations: it is thought that a Christian cleric named Valentine was sentenced to death on the 14th February for carrying out marriages in secret after they were barred by Emperor Claudius who thought that single men made better soldiers. Valentine’s Day was first mentioned in literature in a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382: in the Parliament of Birds, written to celebrate the engagement of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia, Chaucer wrote “For this was on St Valentine’s Day/When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate”. And so the stage was set…
The oldest surviving Valentine letter is a poem by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife written in 1415 whilst he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
By the 17th Century people in the UK had begun to exchange Valentine’s day cards or letters and the first ever commercial card was produced in the US in the 1870s. It has now celebrated all over the world.
Whether you join in with the celebrations or want to escape them, here are some ideas on how you can make this day special.
Luckily this year it falls on a Sunday so you can definitely make a full day of it:
1. A beautiful winter walk at Panshanger Park where you can follow the Oak Trail that takes you past one of the oldest Oak trees in the country. If the weather is nice, you can wrap up well and do an early walk: it is beautiful there when mist is low and around is all frosty. Alternatively you could take a walk from Hertford to Ware (or vice versa) along the River.
2. Lunch in a nice local pub, and both Hertford and Ware have a few you can choose from, where you can sit by the fire and warm up after a lovely walk.
3. Fancy getting a gift? I would recommend Lance James the Jewellers for beautiful handcrafted jewellery and Jane DeVera Lee for that special beauty treatment in the comfort of your own home. And you if do want to push the boat out, literally, Karen Ward can find you the perfect spot to do that from.
4. Or pop into the Oak Room to get something quirky, and a nice card to go with a beautiful bunch of flowers… no, they do not have to be red roses.
So how do you escape it?
1. Stay in bed (or at least indoors): it is winter after all there is nothing wrong with wanting to hibernate for 24 hours.
2. A trip to the movies: how about a thriller or a slasher movie?
3. Arrange a mixed night out with your friends: a night out bowling, a night in with booze and nibbles.
4. How about spending the day visiting that exhibition you have promised yourself you would go to: London is not too far away from Hertford and whether you are into art, science, transport or sport there are plenty of museums where you could spend the afternoon or the whole day.
What will I be doing? A mixture of both: trying to avoid it but, being a Sunday I am sure it will involve a nice walk with the dog, lunch in a cosy country inn and I will make sure to sample the special edition Edinburgh Valentine’s Gin I managed to procure myself as I am always up for trying a new gin.
Have a good day everyone, whatever side of the fence you sit on.
Written by Lia Parkinson.
