This is definitely going to be an Easter for the record books for all the wrong reasons. But before this, there have been many other Easters celebrated. And with this in mind, I would like to share some photos of the amazing Easter markets in Poland. So colorful, so pretty, so hopeful. They usually start a couple weeks before Palm Sunday so people can buy their palms in addition to other things for baskets. But because palms are moderately rare in Poland, pussy willows are a popular alternative.
An additional tradition is Smingus Dyngus (Wet Monday). This is when boys throw water over girls and spank them with pussy willows. The tradition is that the boys like the girls and if you got wet, this boy was going to be your husband. While I was in Krakow I rarely saw the water throwing (sometimes it was a squirt gun instead of a bucket of water) and never saw the pussy willow spanking. Just to be safe, any woman usually carried an umbrella if outside on Wet Monday. And no, I never experienced this tradition.
Easter baskets in Poland are a little different compared to the US. Usually a basket is lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan). The baskets contain a sampling of Easter foods: pisanki (colored eggs), a piece of sausage or ham, salt and pepper, bread, a piece of cake and an Easter Lamb made of sugar or even plastic. They are brought to church to be blessed. Sometimes the Easter Lamb is made of bread.
Adventures in pictures 