Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! The holiday is finally here (or somehow already here depending on how you look at it)! What plans do you have for the weekend? Any dressing up?! We sure hope so!

In the spirit of creepy Halloween things, I thought I’d share a few teasers from Greg and I’s recent Eastern/Central European trip! More to come but these are quite macabre so it is the perfect occasion to share these.

In Budapest we visited Vajdahunyad Castle at night which gave off a bit of an eerie vibe. Surprisingly the castle is actually not very old but was built between 1896 and 1908 to celebrate 1000 (!) years of Hungary. The best part of the castle grounds is this:

A little bit scary at first huh? It is actually a statue of Anonymus- an unknown writer from the 12th century who chronicled the history of the arrival of Hungarians as a notary and writer of a Hungarian King.

And the spookiest of all- Dracula’s prison! On Castle Hill in Budapest we visited the labyrinth of Buda Castle. I must admit I got way more scared than I probably should have but it was dark and tight and so creepy! They even had some really unnerving music playing and wax figures throughout so it doubled as a wax museum. I won’t even share you those pictures- the wax figurines were too disturbing.

But did you know that Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes aka DRACULA) was held as a prisoner in that labyrinth?!

Sorry for the poor picture quality but this at least gives you an idea of the space. Also, the music was extra eerie here and Greg kept letting go of my hand at inopportune moments. Seriously you should see me in a haunted house! But I was the one who begged that we see this and I’m still glad we did.

Ok so back to some background of the place. Dracula was captured by Matthias I inside Wallachian state in 1462 and brought back to Hungary. The length of his stay in the underground labyrinth is unclear- and whether not not he was tortured is as well. He was held in captivity for about 12 years but after a few years or so he was transferred to Buda itself under detention. Or so that is what the signs in the labyrinth said- I tried to find a really good article to link to but I couldn’t find on that looked super reputable. Another interesting fact – Vlad was also imprisoned when he was younger by the Ottomans, likely in Turkey.

Now to leave on a happy (and definitely less creepy) note, here is one more picture of Stella in her costume: