Easter in Prague is pretty interesting! Communism kinda put a major damper on religion here in the Czech Republic. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Czech has the second least religious population in all of Europe (right behind Estonia). This aside, Easter is huuuuuuuge here! Czechs may not be religious but they will take any excuse they can to celebrate a holiday.
For several weeks before Easter Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square were transformed into the Easter Markets. These markets had a stage with entertainment (mainly local children and senior citizen groups doing some sort of dance or musical act) as well as food and vendor booths. I thought it was just the best thing EVER! I passed thru the markets at least once everyday. Easter is one of my favorite holidays I just couldn't get enough. I especially loved bartering at the souvenir stands. I got very very good at it! : )
This is the fried dough that I got with nutella!You could also get it with some sort of garlic stuff with ketchup and cheese on top...it almost looked like a pizza. I was tempted to try it since it seemed to be pretty popular with all the tourist however I just couldn't bring myself to want ketchup piled on my fried dough. That seems to be the general consensus with all the Americans that I've talked to about it. It's funny since ketchup isn't as big here as it is in the US.
Some stands! This blacksmith was doing work right in frount of his stand. Notice the little tip jar "for beer money". Czechs love their beer and of course he was drinking while working.
Animals in Old Town Square. Gotta love the Easter Markets!
The interesting part of these Easter Markets was the lack of ANY religious reference at all. Some of the jewelry stands had necklaces with crosses. I think you would see this at a jewelry stand anytime of year.
Since Easter is such an important holiday they make it into a long weekend, apparently Easter is actually Monday (forget about Good Friday). I guess I've been confused with the importance of Easter Sunday all these years. Even though it was a long weekend I stuck around in Prague. The weather was AMAZING!
This is a view from Petrin Hill on our walk to town. It is right near my dorm and makes an easy/quick/enjoyable walk downtown. We are lucky to live where we do! I have a picture with me in it here buts it really bad! I'll have to see if my friends have a better one. : )
We went paddle boating on the River! This was a ton of fun and only about $10 for 4 people for the hour!!! This means about $2.50 a person. If your ever in Prague, don't miss out!Dancin House from the river!
View from the Charles Bridge! The weather was super super nice so I ended up going for a long evening walk!
View from the Charles with a very pretty moon! The moon was even pretty in person. It's a shame i don't have a tripod here to take more cool night pictures. I'm always trying to balance my camera on the stone surfaces! I'm always jealous when I see people taking pictures with them however I quickly change my mind as I see them lugging it around after.Easter day itself was interesting. I went to Easter mass at an English speaking Catholic Church that I go to sometimes here. I missed the week before Easter because I was out of town however I read to get there 15 minutes early for mass so I did. This 15 minutes early was one of the most chaotic/interesting church events of my life. Sooo many people were crowded in (lots of tourist) and the church was filled with smoke from the incense. I was trying to figure out and see what was going on when a procession came down to the back of the church people waved and pushed us to fall into line as they sang and played symbols and other instruments of that type. We then followed to an outside enclosed courtyard area. At one point we stopped but I couldn't really see what was going on, too many people and pure chaos. The entire time I was racking my brain trying to remember if this was anything like an Easter tradition at home however I was pretty sure I would remember something like this happening even if it was just once a year. When we moved back into the church half of the people left. I think I figured out that this type of procession is more of a tradition from Spain. Half of the people left after it because it was held between the Spanish speaking mass and the English speaking mass. A normal Easter mass was held afterwards. Interesting times here in Prague!
Easter was pretty laid back after that. I went to the mall but didn't find anything good. Some friends and I then went out for an exciting Easter dinner of pizza!
Easter Monday is the real holiday here. Men go out with these whipping sticks made out of pussy whillows to slap girls on the legs. Once upon a time this was to wish them good health and girls would give the guys eggs in return. It's developed into girls just giving guys shots of alcohol now. The Czechs will take any excuse to drink! Apparently its still huuuge in the small towns but not as popular here in Prague. Everyone had the sticks however I stuck to the touristy areas that day and didn't see too many people getting hit. I don't think many tourists really knew what they were meant for.
Life is totally different with the nice weather! : )
