Halloween in Europe

Halloween is a European holiday at core. It basically drags it´s roots from the Celtic festival of Samhain which celebrated summer's end. Halloween was taken to US by the Irish immigrants. Though nowadays Halloween is thoroughly celebrated all over US and is one of the most important US holidays, Europe celebrates Halloween too. Wearing costumes and attending costume parties, dining in Halloween decorated restaurants, ghost tours, watching horror movies and telling scary stories are common Halloween activities in Europe. Trick or treating is not as common but is not unheard of in some counties.

In Valencia, where I live now, the heraldic symbol of the city is the bat. A bit spooky and Halloweenish, isn´t it? The bat is represented all over the city and supposedly has its origins in a winged dragon. There is a legend that says that thanks to the humble intervention of a bat, king James I of Aragon was able to win a crucial battle against the Saracens that allowed him to win Valencia for his kingdom. Go Baty!

See the bat on top of the Valencian Town Hall

And on top of "La Puerta del Mar" (Sea Door) from Valencia

I love Valencia by night as the streets are inundated by this pumpkin like light color. Last night everybody was there: The Kitties, The Nurses, The Wiches, The Devils, The Vampires who don´t show of in pictures because they are, well, vampires, even characters from Alice in Wonderland. It was a hell of a Halloween party!