Here in Northern Bavaria, we have a few special Easter traditions. One is that on Good Friday, the church bells fall silent. Instead, we have groups of boys (and girls, in these modern times) who walk around town to call people to church - at 6 am, at 11 am, at 4 pm and at 6 pm. It's loud and meant to be - those boys have a lot of fun stirring people up before the crack of dawn!

Another Easter tradition -- that isn't actually native to this region but has been picked up from Upper Franconia in the past twenty years or so -- is to decorate the village water fountains with Easter eggs. Those Easter eggs are hand-painted and lovingly strung on long wires and attached to the fountains (and, I have to add, made of plastic). My Mom is a major player in the decoration of the fountain with the yellow ribbons. Aren't they lovely? Ignore the grey skies, please. I went out today on purpose because tomorrow... well, tomorrow we have snow forecast. Happy Easter!