Easter Monday

Happy Easter Monday in Poland

Dyngus Day or Wet Monday 

There is an old pagan-turned-Christian custom in Poland that on the Monday after Easter, young boys and men douse others with water...especially young ladies.  Girls are often chased and splashed from head to toe. 

Originally the custom was for a person to be cleaned before the spring season...but now it is just to bring good luck for a whole year....and a fun day for many!  (Does it seem like there are lots of goofy traditions around the world that are carried out in the name of good luck?)

Several weeks before Easter, grocery ads and stores and feature all kinds of water guns and water bottles used for soaking others.  Though Mark and I did not see any water splashings on girls or ladies...it was a great extra holiday with beautiful weather, and time together once again. 

Mark is leaving for Houston at the end of the week so he spent a good part of his "extra" day packing and working on Marathon business.  But we did make time for a few hours together...we had heard about a Mexican restaurant near our home...the Blue Cactus...so we found it using GPS, hoping it would be open on this holiday....

....and we were in luck!

In the U.S. chips and salsa usually come with the meal, but here in Poland you have to pay for both the chips and the salsa.  They were both quite tasty, especially the salsa, which was very fresh!

Here I am eating my first tortilla chip since having my braces off. I only had chips once in 2 1/2 years while wearing braces...so this was quite a treat for me! 

Mark and I shared our Mexican feast...ribs, enchilada, a soft taco, coleslaw, a tiny cup of beans, and a bit of salad. It was all very delicious!

One of the hostesses took our picture as we were exiting the restaurant.
We will return...hopefully with our children when they come for a visit in May!

The restaurant is on the edge of the Morskie Oko park.  It is a small, charming park and after eating we enjoyed a quiet, nice walk around the area.

We walked up to the main street Puławska, which also passes near our home, and saw that we could  easily take a tram from near our home to the park and down to the restaurant. 

The park was filled with people, children, dogs...and it was starting to get green!

There are nice walkways and a couple of large ponds also.

We came across what we thought was a small monument to the Warsaw Uprising.  I Google-translated the inscription on this monument....

"Here, at this time, the Warsaw Uprising

occurred from 1 August to 5 October 1944.

To the hundreds of innocent victims, eternal honor and glory.

Residents of Mokotów"

Mokotów is a region of Warsaw.  The Warsaw Uprising was an effort by its citizens to free themselves from German occupation during WWII.  They fought valiantly but not only were they defeated, but in retaliation the German army blew up nearly every building and home in Warsaw.

Another spring sight...an esplanade filled with pansies!   What beautiful sights to see now are beds and planters that are beginning to be filled in with spring flowers.

Our spring Easter Monday afternoon was filled with chilly air, but lots of sunshine and blue sky!

I love days like this....and what a nice bonus to enjoy it with Mark!