Easter in Praha

So easter is quite a strange holiday in prague. But, i guess you could say that about the states as well. I mean, we’re supposed to be celebrating the resurrection of christ, like probably the biggest story in all of christian mythology, like the one that proves, heyo! he really IS the son of god!!! but somehow its celebrated with a giant bunny that lays eggs? that little kids then have to go looking for? and then there’s candy inside? really? REALLY?

pretty creepy, no?

it would actually sound a little scary if it weren’t so FUN and i didn’t have so many great easter memories as a little girl. waking up easter morning to a sweet little basket with a chocolate bunny and other treats and goodies inside. and knowing that later in the day you would be going hunting…hunting for EASTER EGGS! AND, oh my, in the weeks leading up to easter the DYING of the easter eggs. that was probably my favorite part. those little kits! all the different colored dyes! and the clear crayons to customize your design! oh man, those were the days…

ok, ok, here's a nicer easter bunny :)

but maybe the best part of easter, the very best, was the NEW EASTER OUTFIT!!!!!!!! i know all my girls out there know what i’m talking about. you got a new spring timey, flowery dress, probably some new white shoes, some little white gloves, and if you’re lucky, an easter hat! that’s right, EASTER HAT! and when you were little you didn’t even mind having to go to church as long as you got to wear your new little easter outfit. and the hat! don’t forget about that hat. i don’t think we wear enough hats these days…

(i wish i had an old picture of myself to insert here, but alas, i do not…)

and hm, food on easter. i’m usually pretty good at knowing what kind of food we eat during whichever holidays, but i can’t for the life of me remember what it’s supposed to be?!?!! who can tell me? what do we eat for easter??? lamb? with mint jelly? (ugh def my fam didn’t do that one…maybe the greeks do…) maybe ham?? that sounds about right. we’ll go with ham. evs, as you might can tell, easter was always pretty laid back in my house. just the way i like it!

This year in praha my easter was also quite laid back. Celebrations started on saturday night when we went to cross club! a super cool club in the newest hip part of town full of mostly locals. and thank god it was reggae night. which trust me, is much better than the usual psychedelic trance/techno mess they usually play. good lord, i cannot stand that mess! the best part about cross club has got to be the super cool decor.

i mean just look at all that awesome mess all over the walls! and bus seats!

they also have awesome swirly whirly lights going on

here's a shot of the entrance during the day (not taken by me...actually none of these were...)

As you can see, this is a very cool, very fun place. Great atmosphere, cool people, sometimes awful music, but sometimes great! Oh! and very cheap drinks, esp for a “club.” Ok, so what was i talking about?? ah yes, easter! SO, needless to say, easter morning this year started for me around 1230PM. It took a couple more hours for me to even out, but by 6PM i was feeling brand new again! which is good because we were having easter dinner at frankie’s place just around that time. we didn’t really go for any sort of traditional easter dinner (which is good, bc obviously i don’t know what that is), but more of a hodgepodge of american delights: frank made pork ragu, hamburgers (YES! HAMBURGERS!), and colcannon (which is new to me, but an irish mix of mashed taters, cabbage, bacon, and butter – all around deeeeelicious). And i brought, drumroll pleeeeease… HAM BISCUITS! yes, that’s right, i had to add a little bit of southern flare to the meal. but there was one problem. no where in the entirety of the czech republic do the sell BISCUITS! a dang tragedy. i mean there is nothing even remotely close to resembling a biscuit. so, to my great frustration and disappointment i just used a baguette. i don’t think it came out too bad, but the bread in CZ might be the worst anywhere. it’s like illegal or something to make bread without rye, so that was a little over powering to my “biscuits.” everyone said they still liked them, so i would call it a success. here’s the recipe for my mom’s delicious ham biscuits:

1/2 lb margerine

3 tablespoons poppy seeds

3 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 lb VA ham

3/4 lb sliced swiss cheese

4 pans pepperidge farm party rolls

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a mixer (or if you are as BA as me, by hand). Cut pan of rolls in half and spread mixture on both sides. Put ham and cheese on rolls and put together. Freeze if desired (this recipe does make a lot of rolls, like 80). Cut individual rolls and bake at 400 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes wrapped in tin foil. Voila! Dobrou chut!

and they should look a little something like this!

Ok, so that was our easter FEAST. and it was a feast for realsies. i went into a major food coma afterwards. And not to mention the pivo, vino, and vodka that was also consumed throughout the mail. mmmm mmmm good!

Ok, on to the traditional czech traditions of easter. once again my brain (and google!) is failing me in what people in CZ typically eat on easter. ham? lamb? or perhaps rabbit?? gah i dunno, but i’m gonna go with the pig on this one. because who doesn’t love a good easter ham. but i do know the deserts they have! a special sort of yeast cake with almonds and raisins and an edible lamb cake!

wowzers! just look at that bad boy!

maybe it’s this little sugary lamb that’s making me think people eat lamb for easter? could be! who knows. anyhow, in that picture above you can also see some very elaborately decorated eggs that are very traditional in the czech republic. they kinda put our lil dyed easter eggs to shame! so easter sunday in CZ is reserved for church (for the very few czechs that actually go to church) family easter dinner and the painting of the eggs by the girls. it’s czech easter eggs that are probably the most recognizable sign of easter in CZ. and they are quite beautiful and sold throughout the city, especially at the easter stands in stare mesto and vaclavske namesti:

Czech Easter Eggs

it’s easter monday (yes, these czechs give themselves the friday before AND the monday after easter off. AND HOW! we do already know that they luuuurve their holidays) that the real party gets started. as i said before, easter sunday is basically a day of preparations for easter monday, which seems to me is just one big party! on sunday while the ladies are painting their easter eggs, the boys are making their pomlazkas! a pomlazka is basically a fancy lil switch:

get ready for some whippin!

so here’s what goes down on easter monday: there is definitely some drinking involved, of course, it’s a celebration! and then the boys (or men) run around town trying to whip the ladies right on their behind with their pomlazkas! and ladies, if you get got, then you’re supposed to present the man with your painted easter egg. seems a little lopsided to me, but hey! this is central europe! anything goes! (not really…well, kind of…) i am reading more about it now: this tradition dates back to pagan times (that’s right, PAGAN!) and the girls are whipped to ward off bad and evil spirits (huh?) and then the girl can give the boy a real or candy egg and then ties a colorful ribbon to the pomlazka. as the boy goes through the village he collects more and more eggs and ribbons! it seems today most of the romanticism has left the tradition and it’s mainly an excuses for guys to get cheeky with the girls and not get in trouble. heyo! central europe! gotta love it!