It is not limited to just Romanians, you can also participate, some of these activities are fun to do and also involve community building, faith and family time. Each part of Romania has different traditions so there is a high chance I missed some interesting customs.
1.Painted eggs – Knocking eggs
Honestly, the most exciting part for me as a kid was to compete with the neighborhood kids and having the most prolific egg, one that doesn’t crack . You go to another person with an egg and you say ‘Jesus has risen’, the other person says ‘Indeed He has’ and afterwards you knock the two eggs together. One is the champion and you move forward. All of the eggs are cooked and if one person is cheating with a wooden egg that kid looses all respect. Usually on Easter day the family gathers up together and knocks 1 or 2 eggs to eat them but kids can go crazy with many eggs.
2.Decorated eggs / Painted Eggs
There are two main methods of getting beautifully decorated eggs: consecutive dips in paint, decorating them with wax and decorating them with beads. It requires a steady hand and not many can do it. But if you feel adventurous there are a couple places that organize workshops:
Bucharest: Casa cu Rost – individual workshops for beads decorated eggs, for kids and adults.
Location: Google Maps
Pietroșani, Argeș county, 2 hours drive from Bucharest, Brasov and Sibiu: Decorated eggs workshop – workshops for kids
Location: Google Maps
Vama, Suceava: Muzeul Oualor Vama (The Egg Museum) – It is a museum that has decorated eggs from all around the world and most importantly, all the styles from the region of Bucovina. Also,o they organize workshops for large groups of people to paint/decorate eggs.
Location: Google Maps
3.Eat a lot of food
You fill up the table with a lot of food and start eating. Your grandma will tell you that you are too skinny and you need to try everything a couple times. The head of the table will offer some strong alcohol and if you are a man it will be viewed as impolite to refuse. And a lot of the food is not easy on the stomach, so all you can do is take some Colebil and suffer/enjoy yourself.
Some traditional food that we enjoy for Easter:
Pască: What is it?
Drob: What is it?
Ciorba de miel (Lamb soup): Receipe
4.Greeting each other with ‘Jesus has Risen’ (Resurrected)
If you are in the country side people will greet each other with Jesus has Resurrected and the answer will be ‘Indeed He has’. You might not see this in a big multinational company but in my hometown people will greet each other this way up to 40 days after Easter.
5.Witness a resurrection ceremony at one of the painted monasteries of Bucovina
Suceava (historical Bucovina) is in essence the spiritual capital of Romania, having some of the most important UNESCO heritage sites in the form of painted monasteries (Voroneț, Humor, Moldoviţa, Suceviţa, Arbore, Pătrăuţi, „Sfântul Ioan cel nou” Suceava şi Probota). Best place to go to witness a resurrection is at one of the monasteries. Priests tell you the story of the resurrection and then you circle the church 3 times. After the religious procession you greet each other with “Hristos a înviat” (Jesus has risen).


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