Halloween - Hungary Style

There is no Halloween in Hungary, but we brought costumes for the kids just in case we found some festivities. Chelsea wanted to be Sleeping Beauty again, and we had a cute little lion for Cade. We found out about a kids Halloween party in Szentendre, a nearby town, via an English magazine published every month in Budapest. Sponsored by an English language school, it advertised crafts, costume contests, pumpkin carving, a parade, and trick or treating. Perfect!

We picked Larry up from work and headed the 30 minutes to Szentendre. The GPS brought us to an empty field down a dirt road. I looked at the address and realized that, once again, I had forgotten that the zip code comes first in Hungarian addresses. I took responsibility for our mishap and we tried again. By this time, Chelsea was getting antsy about trick or treating. We promised her candy was coming quickly. Finally, we arrived at the correct location. Our friends from the hotel, the McLendon's, also came to check out the party. We met up with them and were ready to go.

We looked around and realized that all the signs were in Hungarian, everyone was speaking Hungarian, and there was no trick or treating to be found. Hmmm. Isn't this the English school? Where, oh where, is the English? We roamed around, feeling lost, until everyone formed a line. We decided to jump in and follow. We walked down a cobblestone street and, lo and behold, there were two people handing out candy. Yea! Chelsea got her two pieces and it appeared that was the extent of the trick or treating. We were a bit disappointed, but she was satisfied.

We hadn't eaten, so we set out to find a restaurant. It was only about 6 o'clock, but everything appeared closed. We finally walked up to one restaurant and opened the door. The lady spoke a little English and said she was open, so we went in to eat. This was the scene in the restaurant. Totally empty. It was so odd, but we stayed and ate anyway.

The whole night was super strange, so it was only fitting that the restaurant was strange, too! The food was good and the lady was very nice, so all in all it turned out okay. Next year, we will have our own festivities!