Easter Monday

We've come a long way since our 1st Easter Monday in the Czech Republic. Oh, how naive we were to take a weekend trip to Germany that fateful spring of 2005. Only to be savagely initiated into the ritual that Europeans call "Easter Monday". How were we to know this holiday would be observed with the same dedication as Christmas? And that we would arrive in Dresden, Germany only to discover nothing is open on Easter Monday... not even (gasp) Wal-Mart?!?!? Normally, we could roll with the punches. But when you have a 1-year old to feed, things get desperate pretty quickly. So Lydia's dinner, bedtime snack and breakfast that year were purchased from the Dresden train station.

Having been indoctrinated early on, we wouldn't dream of such a silly plan these days. We have come to really enjoy the Easter Monday holiday and now embrace the forced relaxation. This year, we invited some friends over for a brunch/lunch/play outside in the sun day. And although my pre-party planning was thrown into panic mode when the 24-hour grocery store's shelves offered no pastries or bratwurst rolls AND closed early the night before (I could understand enough of the announcement over the P.A. system to know I was under being given a 30 minute shopping deadline. Hooray for comprehending some Czech after 2 years. Boo, because now my pulse was racing).

I am happy to say that 2-1/2 years in Prague has made me quite good at embracing Plan B. This wasn't the first time (and won't be the last time) the grocery store's inventory was depleted to bare shelves. So grab the frozen knedlicky* and lets have a party!!!


*Knedlicky - Czech dumplings filled with any variety of ingredients. Our breakfast variety had blueberries or strawberries or apricots. Quite tasty in a unique, I-had-no-other-options, Czech sort of way....