9 Strange Easter Traditions from Around the World

In Association with First Choice

Easter Traditions in Other Countries

happy easter

I’ve been living in the UK for 15 years now, originally from Canada and for the most part Easter and the traditions around it are fairly similar; people giving up things for Lent, attending church, decorating Easter Eggs, a visit from the Easter Bunny, overindulging in chocolate, making Easter Bonnets and of course you can’t forget the Hot Cross Buns.

For us as a family it’s more about the celebration of the beginning of spring.  We enjoy decorating Easter Eggs and we always have a small Easter Egg Hunt at home and on occasion join in more organised Easter Egg Trails elsewhere. I think it’s the only day of the year she’s allowed to eat chocolate before breakfast.

I always thought the Brits were a bit odd!

However, I have discovered one rather strange Easter Tradition here in the UK and that is the annual Pancake Race on Shrove Tuesday.  Pancake Day wasn’t new to me, as historically people had pancakes to use up all of the rich ingredients such as butter, eggs and sugar that they were giving up for Lent, but competitively racing through the streets with a frying pan definitely was.

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Apparently, this tradition originated when a housewife was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time and when she heard the church bells she ran out of the house still carrying the frying pan.

This got me thinking about other slightly bizarre Easter Traditions around the world.

Luckilly in this day and age it has been easier than ever to reach other countries for Easter, for example First Choice or Thompsons offer flights to countries like Portugal, Spain and Greece, all of which celebrate Easter too.

 

9 Strange Easter Traditions from Around the World

eggrolling

1) In parts of North East England and Scotland they roll decorated Easter Eggs down a hill to see which one cracks first.

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2) In Poland, they have a tradition of using a mold to create Butter Lamb Sculptures which are presented in decorative bowls or baskets and symbolize the ‘Lamb of God’.

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3) In many places in Greece, including Crete, the children spend the day collecting materials for a bonfire and then after Midnight Mass on the Saturday the light an effigy of Judas.

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4) I don’t fancy being a female in Slovakia.  The girls are chased through the streets while the males whip them with sticks made from willow branches.  Apparently this ensures fertility and beauty.  Sounds a tad barbaric to me.

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5) You won’t find the Easter Bunny in Australia, where bunnies are deemed to be pests, instead you will find Chocolate Bilbies.  Australians use this as an opportunity to build awareness for this endangered species.

6) In Hungary, they are partial to a giant water fight where the men throw water on women dressed in traditional clothes.

7) Easter in Finland, look a lot like Halloween in other parts of the world.  The children scour the streets looking for treats while dressed as witches with brooms.

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8) The Germans take the opportunity to mark the end of winter and beginning of spring by burning their Christmas trees!

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9) And I always thought New Zealanders were gentle easy going people, but instead of an Easter Egg Hunt they partake in The Great Easter Bunny Hunt where hunters join together in teams and shoot as many bunnies as they can.

Some of these look like great fun and others slightly cruel.  I think we’ll stick to eating chocolate and wishing for Spring.

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Butterfly World

If you haven’t been to Butterfly World, near St. Albans, in awhile you may be surprised at some of the improvements.  When it first opened it was a bit of a disaster; very overpriced, including the café and it was pretty much a building site.

It was nice to see all the improvements yesterday, they’ve obviously listened.  The gardens are in full bloom and are absolutely stunning.  Madame and her pals had a whale of a time climbing on, over and through all of the sculptures.  If you go, do seek out the playground, it’s a bit tucked away behind the café.  My photos don’t do it justice.

To save a few pennies you could take a picnic as there is a dedicated picnic area.  I wasn’t organised enough so purchased lunch for us and it wasn’t too expensive (£7).

Do bear in mind though that it is still a work in progress and the large dome isn’t finished yet.

I’d love to know what you think.

If you’re struggling for ideas of what to do with your kids this summer these posts may also be of interest.

Kite Flying Dunstable Downs

Free things to do with kids near St Albans

Havilland Mosquito Museum

 

 

 

Kids will eat just about anything?

I believe that a ‘little dirt never hurt’ and am a strong advocate of the ‘6 second rule’, if something hits the floor I will still give it to Madame, don’t worry I usually pick the cat hairs off first!  I also believe that a lot of allergies today are a result of our hyper-sensitivity to germs.

In the last 2.5 years I’ve ferreted some interesting things out of her mouth; especially, when she went through the stage of exploring the world through her mouth.

To date I have extracted (I don’t have eyes in the back of my head):

  • Loose change
  • Sand
  • Crayons
  • Tea light (metal container and all)
  • Broken Glass
  • Pebbles
  • Fag butts
  • Beads
  • Bottle tops

But the corker has to be…….

A mouse’s stomach, courtesy of our two lovely cats that eat everything and leave the stomach behind!  Blech!

What’s the worst thing you’ve had to pry from the jaws of your little ones?