WEBLINKS
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 |  | Report by Christiaan van Lierop
If you're one of those people who always opt for the 'eat as much as you want' menu in restaurants, then you'll love the traditional Polish Easter breakfast.
听| 听 |  | The hot cross bun, humble in comparison to the Polish breakfast feast
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A gargantuan feast of smoked meats, ham, salads, freshly baked breads and cakes, this Desperate Dan dream-come-true will have you bursting at the seams and wondering what you ever saw in the humble British fry-up.
As long as you like your eggs, that is.
Boiled, stuffed, fried or swimming in mayo, there's no getting away from them come Easter Sunday in Poland.
 Famous for their hospitality, Poles take pride in ensuring that their guests leave the table feeling as uncomfortable as possible.
 | 听 | Christiaan van Lierop
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But eggs or no eggs - overeating, is an almost inevitable side-effect of spending Easter here.
Famous for their hospitality, Poles take pride in ensuring their guests leave the table feeling as uncomfortable as possible.
Yet, to say that Easter in Poland was no more than a matter of eat, eat, eat would however be something of a gross eggs-aggeration.
听The most solemn day of the year
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| 听 |  | Candles, like those caried in the re-enactment
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A day of fasting, Good Friday is probably the most solemn day of the year for many Poles and, according to the teachings of the Catholic church, only one full meal should be partaken of during the whole day.
In the evening, many people attend a Stations of the Cross procession organised by their local church.
Each year, tens of thousands of people walk the narrow cobbled streets of Warsaw's old town, holding candles, re-enacting Christ's final road to crucifixion.
To walk the streets on this night is to catch a glimpse of the strength of the Catholic faith in Poland and to experience first-hand what Easter means to millions of Poles.
听Preparations really reach full steam on Easter Saturday, with the whole family helping to bake cakes, bread and other traditional delicacies. Many take a break mid-morning for a short visit to church.
Families take with them a special basket of food, called a swi锚conka, which the priest blesses with holy water.
Each item in the basket has its own symbolic meaning - sausage, for instance, represents God's generosity - and a certain friendly
rivalry exists between families as to whose basket is the prettiest.
听Traditional hand-painted Easter eggs
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| 听 |  | A basket containing decorated Easter eggs
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A common feature of the 锟絯i锚conka are the pisanki - hand-painted Easter eggs. Many traditional patterns exist and each region has its own distinctive style.
If you want to try making your own pisanki at home, remove the skins from three or four large onions and place them in a pan of water.
Boil the skins and water for 30-45 minutes, the longer the water boils for, the darker the yellow - brown colour becomes.
Then pop the eggs into the boiling coloured water for the normal amount of time (5-10 minutes). The The longer the eggs boil for, the more intensively they'll pick up the colour.
Once the eggs have cooled, use a knife or other sharp instrument to etch out designs on the surface of the egg. Alternatively, simply paint designs straight onto the eggs themselves - do, however, remember to boil your eggs first, otherwise it can become a pretty messy business!
听| 听 |  | Eggs will appear in many forms throughout Easter
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Easter Sunday begins with a visit to church in the morning. Only once the family has returned home from mass does the Easter breakfast begin.
Before sitting down at the table, the eggs from the 锟絯i锚conka are cut into small slices and shared among the members of the family, who wish each other all the best for the year ahead.
听| 听 |  | Vodka, sometimes used to help the celebrations
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As at Christmas Eve, this is a time of reconciliation and many a family quarrel is ended through the sharing of the Easter egg.
The Easter breakfast is really more of a brunch, and the rest of the day is often spent sitting around the table, en famille, catching up on what's new in the family.
Come mid-afternoon it's not unusual for an uncle or brother-in-law to pull out a bottle of vodka to make the meal more lively.
Perhaps understandably though, Advocaat rarely, if ever, appears on such occasions. After all, there's only so many ways you can have your eggs!
听Girls become likely prey
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| 听 |  | Boys preparing for the water fight, taken from Christiaan's flat in Warsaw
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Easter Monday, or 锟絤ingus-Dy帽gus, is the day that all little boys in Poland look forward to with relish - especially those who have younger sisters.
Walk past any street corner in any Polish town on Easter Monday and you will see hordes of lads armed with buckets and water pistols, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their sisters, sister's girl-friends or, for that matter, any woman brave enough to venture out on this day!
Since time immemorial, men have been soaking women with buckets of water on Easter Monday in what is surely one of the country's most curious ancient customs.
Originally it was the custom that a young man would only soak a girl to whom he wished to make advances, now it seems to be the case that any girl is likely prey.
It is not unusual for women to be pounced on by large groups of boys who have never so much as laid eyes on them before.
Needless to say, those women who do go outdoors on Easter Monday leave their houses safely wrapped up in raincoats and hats as the tradition is still going strong, even in the big cities.
Indeed, given that it allows little boys to legitimately get away with drenching their big sisters and friends, it's hard to believe that it will ever die out.
听| 听 |  | The Warsaw skyline
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And so as the dust settles, and the last girl is caught in the frenzied cross-fire of a straggling band of teenage water-snipers, so another Polish Easter draws to a close.
This will truly have been a plentiful time for many Poles. Plenty of food, plenty of water, plenty of eggs and plenty of family.
Not that anybody minds in Poland. And that even goes for the few who don't keep up close ties with their relatives. After all, if it wasn't for family, what would happen to all that food?
听Polish connections in Coventry
| | 听 Read about the Polish community in Coventry by following the link on the left to our Coventry Polish history page.
Coventry Poles are also celebrated every Sunday on 大象传媒 WM in the Poles Apart programme. You can hear Poles Apart on Sundays at 7-8pm on 94.8, 104 and 103.7 FM.
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