Oh how we love Austria for the holidays….any holidays really. Easter is coming up, so when we wrapped up skiing, we tacked on an extra day to loop through Berchtesgaden and Salzburg (because how could we be so close and not go?). I was disappointed to find that Salzburg didn’t really do Easter markets, like the ones you find in the Freyung in Vienna – I thought for sure we’d find them – although we did find an opera festival instead.
Still, when Palm Sunday rolled around, the traditions were – as always – beautiful to observe. Instead of palms, Salzburgers come to church with large bunches of pussy willow, olive branches and local greenery, festooned with plenty of ribbons, and even some additional decorations. At church, I saw several people have full on pretzels hanging from their fronds but didn’t get to snap a picture. You can adorn them further with curls of thin, wooden ribbons dyed bright colors which you buy in big bunches.
We of course joined in and carried around one of these bunches ourselves. Denmark is serious about Easter as a holiday and family time, but it doesn’t seem to be necessarily a religious time, so it was nice to add some ceremony to the holiday week before we headed home. Alas the fronds didn’t make it into our suitcase to come home with us, but we’ll certainly remember the colors!
These are great shots! I can't believe they hang pretzels–that's pretty funny.
These are gorgeous – I love how colorful they are!