Easter around the world

Easter has come to our homes. For me it's a symbol of wonderul, warm and sunny spring. For Christians it's the most important holiday of the year. On Easter Sunday they celebrate Jesus's resurrection. Because I'm usually curious about different nations' customs and traditions I tried to find out more about the way Easter is celebrated in different countries. 

In Poland, where I come from, people pay a huge attention to this spring holiday. A week before Easter, on Palm Sunday, Poles march to church carrying their palms which represent the palm branches that the crowd in Jerusalem scattered in front of Jesus. In some regions there are even competitions for the tallest palm.

The following week is extremely busy especially for women who aim to clean and tidy up their homes very thoroughly (as if Easter and Christmas were the only occasions to do it) :P So they clean all windows, polish floors and flat their carpets (if they have any), tidy up cupboards and many other. But first of all they cook and bake. Prepare traditional Easter dishes like: żurek (soup made of sourdough form rye flour, garnished with boiled white sausage and boiled egg halves),white sausage and stuffed eggs and cakes like: cheesecake, poppy-seed cake and the most characteristic cake for Easter - mazurek.

On Holy Saturday children decorate eggs, put them into a basket together with bits of other Easter dishes and go to church to consecrate foods. On Sunday morning families gather together and have Easter breakfast during which share food from the basket. Easter breakfast is the most important and ceremonial meal during all Easter. 

The most interesting celebration takes place on Easter Monday which is called Wet Monday, and in Polish language: śmigus - dyngus. Wet Monday is traditionally celebrated by boys throwing water over girls. It's a folk festival originating probably from 16th century, started by Slavic people to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. What's interesting it's practiced to this day with the desire especially by young boys. It might be dangerous to leave home on that day if you're a girl ;)

In the UK Easter means a huge amount of chocolate eggs and bunnies. On Easter Sunday children are given chocolate eggs or they need to find them as their parents hide them in gardens or homes. Searching for Easter eggs in called an egg hunt. Another popular game organised mainly for children is rolling eggs down a hill without it breaking. 

Easter for the British is time to relax, visit their families and friends or go on holiday.

Typical cakes that are made for Easter in UK are cross buns. They are like spiced bread rolls with raisins and they always have a cross shape on top. I heard that they are delicious served hot with butter (I've never eaten them yet so I wrote'I heard').

Americans celebrate only on Sunday. They don't prepare baskets with foods but believe that eggs boiled on Friday and eaten on Easter Sunday bring them happiness. Traditions loved especially by children are: looking for a treasure - an egg hunt, and rolling eggs down a hill - so two customs popular in the UK and becoming more and more popular in other European countries. Although Americans often have Easter dinner in a restaurant, they don't forget to decorate their houses. One of American spring traditions are Easter parades, the most famous takes place in New York.

In Germany and Austria the main symbol of Easter is an Easter bunny which brings presents. An egg hunt is also known in those countries and participants of this game are both children and adults. People decorate their homes with trees on which they hang colourful eggs. Tradition that is becoming less and less popular is setting fire around which people gather and say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. What is interesting, in Austria on Easter tables appear unusual dishes : pancakes, cookies and delicate anise dessert with strawberry sauce ;)

In Italy Easter is a great time to go away for a couple of days and relax with their families or friends. For Easter dinner, which is the most important moment, Italians serve roast mutton or lamb for a main meal and salami and boiled eggs for a  starter. A lamb is an important symbol of this wonderful spring festival. Their special cake prepared or bought for Easter is colomba.

Where do you live or come from? What are your Easter traditions? Let us know about the most interesting ones in your country or region in comments:) And Happy Easter!

Ciao!