Poland Travel 2023: Easter Monday traditions in Poland!

Travel Date: 2023/03/24 ~ 04/12

Today is Easter Monday, so once again, a tradition that my husband and son know nothing about - Śmigus-dyngus. Śmigus-dyngus is a formerly pagan and now Roman Catholic celebration held on Easter Monday across Central Europe and in small parts of Eastern and Southern Europe.

Traditionally, boys throw water over girls on this day. In some regions, they strike them with pussy willow branches. The origins of the celebration are uncertain, but it may date back to pagan times before 1000 AD.

Nowadays, it seems more symbolic than when I was a child. In the past, we would be soaking wet. Uncles and cousins would visit nearby family members on this day with baskets of water, lol. I remember always running away and locking myself wherever I could, but they would be there waiting, and in the end, everyone would keep asking me to come out.

It's important to get up early on this day. Why? You can end up soaking wet in your bed!

I was the first one to get up this morning. While walking to the bathroom, I met my uncle. He laughed, and nothing happened at first, but after a while, he prepared his bottle filled with water. I was the first one to get wet, but only a little bit. I think nobody wanted to clean up. But after a while, my niece was woken up by water. She ran out of the room screaming, waking up others. Soon after, Adrian ran to me with his Easter egg sprinkler to fill it, and he ran around making everything wet. Two boys fell down on the wet ground that morning. My aunt couldn't finish cleaning before the ground became wet again.

We ate breakfast and went to the backyard, and then the water fight started!

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Poland Travel 2023: Celebrating Easter Day in Poland

Travel Date: 2023/03/24 ~ 04/12

For my husband and son, it was the first time they celebrated Easter on April 9, 2023. The preparation for Easter started a few days earlier. We prepared plenty of different dishes, some more traditional than others. We also baked three huge cakes, each weighing 2-3 kilograms. Well, for me, those are normal sizes, but in Taiwan, people even complain about 6-inch cakes (about 500 grams) being too big, so...

Since we were staying at my aunt's place, I helped her with all the food preparation. My cousin also made some non-traditional dishes, as we were expecting several guests on the day. Her kids made painted Easter eggs (pisanki) at their place, so sadly Adrian couldn't join the process. We also didn't go to church to see the ceremony on Saturday before Easter.

The most important meal is breakfast, but the preparation took a little longer, so we started eating at 10 AM. It's customary to have a white tablecloth and white plates on the Easter table. We traditionally eat Żurek (sour rye soup), potato salad, Greek-style fish (Ryba po Grecku, which is not actually a Greek dish, just named that way), a variety of ham and other meats, pate, and more. Popular cakes during this time are cheesecake, babka wielkanocna (Easter yeast cake), and Mazurek, a short pastry flat cake filled with icing or caramel. Mazurek cakes are very sweet and decorated with Easter symbols such as pussy willows, eggs, sheep, chicks, bunnies, etc.

My cousin also organized an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. Her daughter didn't participate this year (she's already 13), but she helped us hide the eggs in the bushes. It was very easy this year, so my 5-year-old son could find them. I could easily see that my cousin's almost 10-year-old boy was bored, lol.

Today was also our son's birthday. We didn't prepare anything special since we were already busy organizing the holiday. My cousin had some candles, so she put them in the Mazurek cake and asked him to blow them out. I think he cared more about searching for eggs in the bushes than his birthday.

This year's mood is not as joyful because three days earlier, my aunt passed away. I'm glad that I could still see her in her last days. We knew her condition was very bad, and I was worried that it might be too late when we fly back. Unfortunately, we won't be attending her funeral since everything has to wait due to the holidays. We're flying back on April 12, which is the same date as the funeral. I also missed the chance to see many family members who live 4-5 hours away but will be coming that day.

Anyway, tomorrow is Easter Monday, and in Poland, we have a special activity on that day. If you want to know more, check out my next post!

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