When someone thinks of Easter, they think of candlelight, flowers, music, and, of course, the Easter bunny. It’s a festival of fun and happiness and a treasure for kids to hunt for their chocolate eggs. The multi-colored Easter eggs are probably the most recognized aspect of the festival. However, it’s not the only tradition followed during this Holiday. World-over, many places have different and quirky traditions associated with Easter. From witches to crime shows, here are five Easter traditions that you’ve probably never heard of.

It’s the Time to Splash in Hungary

The Hungarians have a different albeit fun tradition that they follow at Easter. During Easter Sunday, the women dress up in traditional attire and are splashed with water by the men. Sometimes, they even have entire buckets dunked in their heads! This tradition has its roots in cleansing and fertility rituals.

The Red Eggs of Greece

We’ve all seen chocolate eggs, multi-color jeweled eggs, and hand-painted eggs, but it seems people in Greece only go for red-colored eggs. This is because the red color is also the color of life. Since The Greeks keep their eggs red to symbolize the renewal of life.

The Bunny Hunt in New Zealand

Easter might bring to mind kids and music and Easter egg hunts in the gardens, but the folks in Otago, New Zealand take it to a whole new and darker level. The Great Easter Bunny Hunt is organized every year with the idea of ridding farmlands of invasive rabbits. Around 500 hunters vie every year for the prize and over 10,000 bunnies celebrate their last Easter every holiday.

The Criminal Underbelly of Norway

It might sound ominous but is actually anything but. It’s actually a thrilling tradition where crime shows and books take center stage. New detective novels and reruns of old favorite crime shows are all the rage. Even the milk cartons have short detective stories published on the side!

The Whips in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

This tradition is understandably under much scrutiny and in hot water now as it involves the local men and boys, lightly swiping at girls with willow switches on the road. Apparently, this tradition is apparently meant to encourage good health and beauty, but it might be best to skip these regions if you’re a woman traveling during the holidays.

A young couple from Budapest wanted a holiday home on Lake Tisza, and investing in a houseboat was the logical next step. As exciting as it may sound, things are about to elevate as this is not just a regular boat with a bedroom in it. It’s a legit floating summer home that was specifically designed to fit in Lake Tisza’s natural surroundings.

The Lake Requires a Certain Type of Design

Designing a home and meeting specific interior requirements is a hard job on its own, but a true professional thinks about the exterior in a way that complements its surroundings. When the surroundings, however, are a 7,000-hectare artificial reservoir and nature reserve that is home to a menagerie of wildlife including more than 100 different bird species, things get a bit more tricky.

However, Hungarian architect Tamás Bene accepted the challenge, and according to local fishermen, there is no reflection about the houseboat design and they’ve only expressed that it has a ‘good ambiance.’ The architect believes this is a good sign, proving that he managed to create “an unimposing object that fits in with the natural environment and is in harmony with its surroundings.”

The Smart Decisions on the Houseboat

Mr. Bene researched houseboats and fishing boats to discover that there is not an established particular design over the years. He concluded that each owner develops their boat according to their ideas and needs.

The goal was spilling as much nature into the interior as possible, which was achieved by a large panoramic window, gracing the bow of the houseboat while sliding doors ensure to create a seamless transition onto the rear deck. The rest of the interior is paneled in a mixture of thermowood and redwood, including a small kitchen and dining setup with two benches and a table.

Here’s when practicality meets small spaces as the tabletop can be lowered to the height of the benches and unfolded to create a double bed with the cushions doubling up as a mattress. To solve the electricity problem, the architect decided to install two solar panels on the roof.