CzechEaster

Happy Easter from Julie and Lonnie. We wanted to share some of the local color of our town Plzen (Pilsen). Every window has lace curtains, and most have Easter decorations. The colorful switches are for Easter Monday when the men switch the legs of attractive ladies. You see the women buying the vines and taking them home to weave, so the tradition is alive. It could be worse – in Slovakia the men throw water and the women reward them with sweets!

On the crafts market around the main church square they were selling colorfully shaped marzipan candies, the traditional breads, the decorated twisted vines, and we bought some of the famous Czech decorated Easter eggs. Inside the church Good Friday services were going on with a bishop and 3 priests, lots of liturgical singing in Czech and a full church.. Watched eggs being painted with wax or razor-incised in Prague Castle, along with all of Europe on holiday Saturday! Easter Monday found us surprised by young neighbors shouting a poem outside our door, and they were rewarded with treats when we finally realized what was expected.

Pilsen is a small town compared to Prague, but has the old architecture and the green fields and close small villages. Lonnie walks to work through a flowered field and Julie loves the electric trams/trolleys . Lots of live music & concerts nightly. Learned to read a Czech menu and get lots of red and white sauerkraut in all shapes, as well as the famous potato & bread dumplings. Hope we do not turn into one ! Miss our contra and folk dance friends and families.

Julie & Lonnie