Good Friday

Today is Good Friday or as they call it in Iceland Long Friday. The flags fly at half-mast and almost everything is closed. I heard that several years ago the law was stricter – not only the stores were closed but also movie theatres, bars and the national pride of Iceland, swimming pools, as well; people were not supposed to have fun on the day that commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Nowadays the rules are more relaxed – some movie theatres, swimming pools remain opened and there are some functioning cafes and stores in the center of Reykjavik. (Tourism plays a major role here and they have to accommodate unfortunate soles who happened to be in the country during the Holy Week). It is interesting that the bars will be opened at midnight too, not sure till what hours though.

Russian Orthodox Church will celebrate Easter on the 27th of April; maybe we will do traditional eggs painting with beets or onions peels on that day. I think the last time I did this type of colouring was when my grandmother was alive. We never went to church of course but she liked to do all tradition Easter cooking including special pastries in the shapes of the birds, and kulich, special Easter cake.

For the Western Holy Week I don’t think we will do much, the boys are too big for the egg hunt and the Easter bunny doesn’t appeal to them. So, it will be just some chocolate eggs this time.