Farsang in Hungary 2026: Dates & Traditions
Masks, Doughnuts, and Making Noise Farsang is one of those seasons Andrew and I have slipped into over time rather than consciously adopted. Over the years, we’ve attended everything from elaborate masked balls to much simpler gatherings where the only real rule was...
Winter’s Noisy Farewell
As I write this, Hungary is wrapped in fog. Thick, lingering fog that refuses to lift. It has been an unusually heavy winter here. The kind that makes you understand why some cultures don’t simply wait for spring to arrive. At the same time, the eastern seaboard of...
Feeling Safer on Budapest Transport
Budapest is in a proper deep freeze right now. The kind where the temperature doesn’t flirt with zero all week and everyone looks slightly annoyed before they even get on the tram. It’s giving me very Canadian vibes, and not in a charming, snow-globe way. I have a...
Hungary’s 2026 Election Has a Date.
Yesterday, Hungary officially confirmed the date of Hungary’s Parliamentary Elections 2026. While most of us are still slipping on icy pavements and wondering why winter feels personal this year, April has suddenly become very real. And, almost on cue, the questions...
The Problem with Facebook Immigration Advice
It’s Thursday, 8 January, and Hungary has disappeared under the heaviest snowfall most of us can remember in well over a decade. Roads are treacherous. Pavements are polished ice. Even routine errands suddenly require planning, patience, and a healthy respect for...
Hungary Bottle Deposit Return System: Charity Donations
Snow’s begun falling in the far southwest, blanketing fields in a way that reminds me of crisp Canadian winters - quite different from our usual damp Budapest January. With cold weather settling in, it’s the perfect time to tackle those holiday empties through...
New Year’s Eve in Hungary: Szilveszter in 2025
New Year’s Eve in Hungary always sounds simpler than it is. But after eight of them here, Andrew and I have learned that Szilveszter rarely follows a script. We’ve done it all. Properly dressed-up nights out. Quiet evenings at home. Loud Karaoke nights. Plans changed...
Hungary Property Market: What 2025 Really Told Us
It’s 19 December, and Budapest has slipped into that familiar pre-Christmas state where everyone seems to be doing three errands at once. Andrew and I are trying to wrap things up before the pace slows. Christmas Eve will be at my mother’s, as it always is, and...
New employment rules in Hungary: Family Reunification Update
A few days ago, I posted a short video on social media about the new employment rules in Hungary. It was filmed quickly, between meetings, after reading the announcement and trying to interpret what it meant for families already here. I promised I would follow up with...
2026 Hungarian Motorway Vignettes: Prices, Changes and Savings
Last weekend’s XpatLoop Charity Gala had that unmistakable community energy I’ve grown to love here. Andrew was DJing, so we arrived early, and by the time the room filled, it felt as if everyone had brought half their village with them. We saw friends who had driven...
No Santa in Hungary? How I Swapped Santa for Mikulás
No Santa in Hungary? That line still makes people blink when they visit in December. Technically it is true for Christmas Eve, but the story is much better than that. Growing up in Canada, I managed to get both Mikulás on December 6 and Santa on the 25th, which meant...
Hungarian Public Holidays 2026 Guide
It’s the first week of December and Budapest is slipping into Christmas-party mode. Between the Irish-Hungarian Business Circle’s glittering celebration and XpatLoop’s big charity event this weekend, my calendar already looks like it’s had a confetti cannon fired at...
I’m Anikó Woods, a Canadian-Hungarian who’s been knee-deep in life here since 2017 - bureaucracy, culture, and everything in between.
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