We visited Prague in the week before Easter. Temporary market stalls were set up in the main Old Town square to sell food, crafts and various Easter treats. The square was jammed with people eating, drinking and catching some of the live entertainment on a nearby stage.
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For most Czechs, though, traditional Easter festivities have less in common with the Bible than with the older pagan traditions that the Christian celebration absorbed. The two most obvious symbols of Easter in the Czech Republic are the kraslice(decorated egg) and the pomlázka, a whip made from willow rods.
On Easter Monday, in a none-too-subtle fertility rite, men traditionally whip women they find attractive with their pomlázkas; in return, the woman offers the man a decorated egg. Historically, on Easter Sunday, men would make their own whips while the women decorated their eggs. This Easter I am going to spend in Prague and my friend and me booked a room in one of the Prague hotels right in the center of the Old Town - wanting to be close to everything Easter customs.
These days, though, busy Praguers are more likely to buy their Easter accessories ready made, either from a shop or from one of the city's Easter markets.
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