Since its beginnings, Easter has always been a time of celebration and feasting. Like many Christian holidays, the festivities have grown beyond the church pews to include everything from elaborate hunts and egg dying to the traditional ham dinner and even marshmallow Peeps. In addition to the bonnets and baskets, there are many customs around the world that reveal how both the faithful and the non-believers chose to celebrate this springtime holiday.
Throughout Western and Eastern Europe there are many common traditions associated with Easter but you’ll also discover some highly unusual ways of marking the occasion. For example, in the Czech Republic there is a tradition of “spanking” young women with a hand-made whip known as a “pomlazka.” While the tradition seems a bit barbaric, it is actually more of a harmless flirtation. In fact, unvisited women can feel as slighted as the girl who didn’t receive a Valentine. The women reciprocate the gentlemen’s taunts by giving out colored eggs and exacting their revenge the following day by pouring cold buckets of water on them. Continue reading
See what it’s like to have enough money to build a “summer cottage” that others call a palatial mansion! On Newport tours, experience the “Gilded Age” – the rise of the modern industrial economy – where the opulence of the Newport Mansions reflect the time. These were the summer homes of the nineteenth century American industrialists, who built empires from railroads, steamships, and coal. On a Northeast tour, a visit to these fabulous mansions is time well spent.
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