One of our Ecuadorian friends asked us about Easter traditions in the US. We all had a good laugh as we told about Easter bunnies and Easter eggs. Neither are traditional here. Our friend thought the traditions were 'strange', but 'interesting'. Dyeing chicken eggs? A rabbit filling Easter baskets with brightly colored eggs? ''Fascinating', he said.
We got online and found this site to share:
http://www.examiner.com/food-in-dayton/easter-traditions-america
We were surprised one day to see chocolate bunnies for sale! These were at the old pharmacy off the Square, our first sighting of gold foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies in Ecuador.
We have blogged about Easter and Holy Week in previous years, but this year we experienced
Good Friday in more detail. Last year we caught the end of a parade with no camera. So, we recharged the camera batteries and ventured out early for a walk to town.
The streets were almost empty, even more empty than a typical Sunday. The sun was shining!
As we walked down Gran Colombia, we were delighted to come across a parade staging area outside a church.
Later, we watched the parade go by while we ate breakfast at one of the restaurants on the Square.
The Square was packed with families enjoying the morning sunshine.
After breakfast, we went into the New Cathedral. Several nuns were leading the Stations of the Cross. It is traditional to cover some of the figures and decorations with red and purple fabric on Good Friday (to be removed on Easter Sunday.)
The alter is draped in purple at the San Francisco Church near the flower market.
From there, we walked down to San Blas. You can see the church at the center of this picture (and not much traffic).
Stopped for ice cream at the plaza, sat on a bench and enjoyed the water display.
This was the first time we got to really see the insides of this church. Usually it's closed when we're there and we end up trying to take pics through the gates and windows.
Ceiling shot.
That purple balloon belongs to a sweet little girl.
It is traditonal here to visit several churches on Good Friday. We visited several... all lovely.
Another church at San Blas. A
ll locked up, but pretty from the outside.
(You can see the sun disappeared and another storm is brewing.)
No, we didn't have fanesca this year. Fanesca is the traditional Holy Week soup.
On Good Friday, we passed this sign at a little cafe.
We really thought about having some, but we were just too full from breakfast and we were trying to beat the storm. Next year.
More pictures at the Square.
Some entertainment outside the New Cathedral. These little kids were dancing their hearts out for the audience. They were good!
A display of paper cranes celebrating peace, at the Flower Market.
We'll be headed out for our Sunday Walk tomorrow bright and early, missing Nancy and Chuck, and hoping it doesn't rain too much. Who knows what we'll see this Easter Sunday! We're sure we'll see something cool to report on later, we always seem to.
Happy Easter!
--------------
For our past Easter celebrations, you can re-read these blogs:
Easter 2010:
http://richandnancy.blogspot.com/2010/04/holy-week-our-easter-in-cuenca.html
Easter, 2009 (just after we arrived):
