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The Sunday a week before Easter is called Palm Sunday and Polish people bring colourful specially made 'palms' to church to be consecrated. Some of them are enormous and in some villages competitions for the most beautiful palm are held every year. In traditional country households the palm is later placed behind a holy picture in the living-room. It is supposed to bring the family good health in the coming year.
On the Saturday before Easter Sunday all the Catholics in Poland take a basket of food to their church to be consecrated. The basket contains one or more eggs, often dyed, which mean new life, a small piece of bread, some salt, and sometimes also a piece of sausage. The basket is beautifully decorated with cranberry leaves, catkins and also little chicks or lambs and often brought to church by children. The food is then shared at the Easter table when all the family wish one another all the best.
The cake in the picture is the traditional mazurek (or mazurka, it's the same word as the dance), prepared only for Easter and beautifully decorated. Ours is from a city bakery so a little simplified but I hope it will be just as yummy. Mazurkas are baked some time before Easter as they keep fresh for a long time
For more Easter customs see my Chalupy page and a warning tip on this page will tell you about another Easter custom that has gone beyond control in many places in Poland. Leave a Comment
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Traditionally, Polish people, with the exception of those of other denominations than Catholic, have always celebrated namedays, i.e. the day of their patron saint. They have held parties and got presents then. Interestingly enough, even declared atheists have never had anything against celebrating their own namedays. Some namedays are particularly popular, e.g. Anna's - on 26 July, Andrzej's (Andrew's)- on 30 November, Adam's and Ewa's (Eva's) - on Christmas Eve (very unfortunate as they often get a joint Christmas and nameday present and don't hold a special party). To complicate things, there have been a few saints bearing the same name so that e.g. Maria's namedays can be celebrated nearly every month. Then you should simply ask your friend which of them he or she celebrates. The least you should do on a person's nameday is to phone them conveying your best wishes.
The people of the older generation still celebrate mostly their namedays, but more and more people now celebrate both namedays and birthdays - a reason for celebration twice a year, not just once. If you don't want to arrive at somebody's nameday party empty-handed, better check in a Polish calendar if it is not their nameday by any chance. Leave a Comment
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 All Saints' Day, grave of
soldiers 1939, Pruszkow by evaanna,
4 more photos
1 November is an official holiday, so expect most shops, except florists, banks and many attractions to be closed on that day. Leave a Comment
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Vodka is one of the most popular drinks in Poland. There is no party without vodka. The most popular are Polish brands of course :-) Some people drink vodka mixed with juice, some can drink it pure.
Here are some brands you can see in Polish bars ( and not only ):
Zubrowka - that's my favourite one. It tastes very good with apple juice. It contains bison grass which grows only in Bialowieza Primaeval Forest. This makes the vodka taste very special ( there is grass blade in the bottle). You can't find such a things anywhere else.
Absolwent- crystal-clear vodka, very popular in Poland
Chopin - it is said to be a Masterpiece :-)
Sobieski - another brand that is popular in Poland.
Bols - Pure Polish Vodka, very popular ;-)
Soplica - one of the oldest Polish brands ( produced since 1891). For some drinks recipes click here Leave a Comment
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 Krakow Nativity Crib in a
postcard by evaannaLeave a Comment
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'When in Rome do as the Romans do' says an old English proverb, but you don't necessarily have to follow all the practices that all superstitious Poles believe in. To begin with, they fear a black cat crossing their way - it is bound to bring bad luck. To drive it away from them, they might turn around a number of times before going on.
Like the English, they touch wood or rather knock on unpainted wood when an unfortunate prediction has slipped someone's tongue.
In some parts of the country the first person encountered on New Year's day absolutely must be male. Women begone! On the everyday basis the most desirable person to meet is the chimneysweep - just hold on to one of your buttons then till you spot a person wearing glasses for the luck to come your way.
If you and your interlocutor say the same in chorus, this also means good luck. Well, perfect understanding of each other is so rare that it cannot be called anything else.
Breaking a mirror is an omen of seven years of misfortunes, but breaking a wine glass at a wedding reception is very fortunate. This I don't believe - I did once but the couple split up pretty soon. On their way from the altar or the registry office the bride should follow her husband. I didn't - he went down the wrong staircase, yet we have been happily married for many years. And I am really glad no one showered us with coins when we left the building, even if we should be a little poorer for this. I was once really sorry for a rather plump bride as she sweated picking the masses of coins to the merriment of the practical jokers. Leave a Comment
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 Carol Singers at Raba Wyzna,
Poland (a postcard) by evaannaLeave a Comment
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 by Ekaterinburg
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 by Ekaterinburg
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Polish people don't have Pancake Day but they celebrate Shrove Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent. The more doughnuts you eat on that day the better and people actually compete who can eat more. Our doughnuts are wonderful: made with yeast, with a drop of marmalade or eggnog inside and orange rind on the surface. I think rose hip marmalade is best in doughnuts but now extremely rare. We can get them all the year round but it is on Fatty Thursday as the day is popularly called that they come into their own. In distant past they were not sweet at all and were served with meat but not any longer.
Another kind of cake that Polish people eat on that day is 'faworek' (pronounced 'fa:voreck, usu. plural faworki). Faworki are thin layers of pretty hard dough cut into rectangles with a cut in the middle and specially twisted before frying. They are sprinkled with caster sugar and must be addictive as you can eat a stack of them and never have enough. If you have a Polish bakery in your town, and I have heard of a few in Britain for instance, ask them about faworki. Perhaps they will make some specially for you? Leave a Comment
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