Dear Reader,

How are you celebrating the Easter holiday this weekend? Do you have any special Easter traditions? Bermudans build colorful kites with sticks and tissue paper to fly on Easter morning. They also mark the special day by eating hot cross buns, Easter eggs, and fish cakes.

In France, The Netherlands, and Belgium, church bells are silent between Good Friday and Easter Sunday morning. Many parents tell their kids that the bells flew to Rome to see the Pope. And instead of an Easter Bunny, tales are told of a big, winged Easter Bell that drops eggs and chocolates to the kids below as it flies back from Rome. (Kids nibble on chocolate bells rather than chocolate bunnies.)

Norwegians look forward to solving mysteries as part of their Easter traditions. In Norway, television stations and magazines run crime and murder mysteries in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Even the sides of milk cartons are printed with short mysteries.

Australians typically celebrate Easter with images of an Easter Bunny. However, due to widespread crop damage caused by feral rabbits, some Australians are pushing for an Easter Bilby instead of an Easter Bunny. The Bilby is an endangered creature native to Australia with long ears and a pointy nose. It has started to catch on, and now, families can buy chocolate bilbies instead of bunnies.

With a homemade whip, men in the Czech Republic and Slovakia playfully spank women on Easter morning. A spanking is said to bring the woman health and beauty for the rest of the year. So to thank a man for spanking her, a woman gives him a colored egg or some money. And in certain regions, women will pour buckets of cold water on men the next day to get revenge.

If you’re traveling abroad this Easter, look around to see if you notice celebrations and traditions that are different from those back home. Snap a few photos and write up a story on what you see. You might be able to sell it to a travel, culture, or religious magazine before next year’s holiday.

And even if you’re staying home with friends and family this weekend, get out the camera and take some pictures. If you missed Thursday’s teleconference on how to turn your hobbies and special interests into spare-time photo income, you’ll find the recording, here.

Have a great weekend and Happy Easter!

-- Lori

Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division

P.S. Here in the Travel Division, we celebrate Easter with chocolate, of course... and a big sale! Order anything from our catalog between today and Monday at midnight for 20% off and FREE shipping on this special Easter Sale page only.

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