Vastlapäev

March 4th, 2008 by timbotron

Late February/Early March – it’s that time of year again for the spectacular Estonian holiday Vastlapäev (VAS-tlah-paav).

The activities of this holiday:
•Sled down a hill (the farther your sled goes, the longer your flax will grow).
•Eat pea soup.
•Eat cream-filled pastries.

Here is a video I made a few years ago (while living in Estonia) which explains the basics of Vastlapäev:

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Tags: culture, food, funny as hell, holidays, jackassery, outdoors, travel, video
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 2:41 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Vastlapäev”

1. Isabel Says:
   March 4th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

   Hay! Is that the same helmet cam you used at the Big Wheel Race in SF? Rockin skills on the sled, btw.

   Talk about WEIRD holidays/traditions. In High School, during Homecoming, we had what was called “Grab Day”. (Sounds naughty, I know.) The Student Council would get on the roof of our canteen and throw various items to the entire student body – candy, soda cans (very dangerous), sundries (since we were a boarding school), chips, etc. For a long time, I thought EVERY school did this every fall. Turns out, it’s some weird government-funded indian boarding school tradition.

   Isabel to fellow Stanford freshman: “What?!?! Your school didn’t have GRAB DAY!?!? That’s just crazy talk.”

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