Πάσχα, Paskha

We know this holiday as Easter. In the U.S., the celebration is going to be this weekend. However, we are traveling to Greece this week and the celebration is not until April 15.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are etymologically related.
 Easter is the most sacred observance in the Greek Orthodox faith. Preparations and customs remain some of the most traditional in modern Greek life.
Much of the celebration is centered around the food. We will be taking some traditionally red dyed eggs and decorating them with gold.We will also play a traditional Greek game with the eggs. You can see at the end of that video how the game is played. Although, the eggs are supposed to be hit head on head or bottom on bottom, not sideways like one of them. I wonder whose egg will last the longest?
Iconography is very important in the Orthodox church. We will be making replicas of icons. Members of the Orthodox church are highly protective of these images and their importance, so we are doing them for purposes of looking at the style of the images and how they would be presented, not for worship purposes. You will notice when you click on the link to the Icons, that all of them are in a very similar style called Byzantine. It is highly stylized with the intention of taking you to another, higher place.