|
Easter week at Raba 500 In Podhale, the week leading up to Easter is a very important time. From Palm Sunday to Easter Monday the churches are full several times a day for mass. We take our own palms to church on the Palm Sunday to be blessed by the priests, and in many villages, the children make palms at school the week before. Palms can be 6 to 7 metres tall, real works of art. At the wooden church museum in Rabka, the palms made by the local children are on display for most of the year. Every day of the week heralds special services, marking Christ's progress to His Rise on Easter Monday. On Good Friday and Easter Saturday, the churches are open day and night with the local fireman, and many ordinary people holding vigil over the representation of His Tomb. On Easter Saturday morning, everybody takes baskets of traditional foods to the church for blessing. the priest wields and enormous broomstick, dipped regularly into a bucket of Holy Water, and showers the entire congregation and their baskets of food. Easter Monday is the day when, traditionally, the celebrations begin with local men tipping buckets of water all over their womenfolk. |
|
|
|
|
Christmas at Raba 500 Bring the family, bring your friends and relax for real, family Christmas. All the cooking is done for you, the drinks are in and the fire is lit. The decorations are up all round the house including two huge real Christmas trees, and it usually snows on Christmas Eve if not before. You can celebrate Polish Wigilia if you wish: when the first evening star shows in the sky on the 24th (usually about 16.00), you sit down to a traditional Polish Wigilia of up to 12 vegetarian and fish dishes, prepared specially for Christmas. You can attend Midnight Mass at the local church, and then hang your stockings on the fireplace ready for an English Christmas Day on the 25th. Santa comes during the night (if you help him out a bit…) and you can pile your presents around the Christmas Tree in the dining room or in the hall as you wish. Snow ball fights out in the garden then Christmas Dinner will be as traditional as you can get it with turkey and all the trimmings, although please! Post some crackers to me well before you arrive as we can’t get them here, and you can’t bring them on the plane! www.TripAdvisor.co.uk (Raba 500, Poland: “White Christmas”) has a recommendation from a family who spent Christmas with us: probably best to read that, then come and enjoy the Christmas you have always dreamed of. Wigilia and Christmas Dinner cost 60zl per person each: you don’t need to have both celebration meals but you can if you want. We accept groups of 8 to 18 people over the Christmas period: if you book with us, you get the whole house. |
|
|
New Year at Raba 500 Happy New Year! Our guests come back year after year for New Year at Raba 500: we really see the year in stylishly. A group of 8 to 18 is welcome over the New Year break: the house will still be decorated in full Christmas spirit, and as we usually have snow over Christmas and New Year, you’ll be able to get some skiing or sledging in whilst you are here. For New Year’s Eve, you can either ask me to book you into one of the many restaurants that offer an all night ‘Sylwester’ dinner dance (from 400zl to 600zl per person) or you can stay home and join in the Raba 500 party from 21.00 until you drop, which costs 150zl per person, and includes hot and cold foods all night, hot drinks, soft drinks, beer and vodka, fireworks at midnight followed by bubbly and dancing. This year, our 21 guests elected to hire 4 horse and carts (350zl per cart) and go off to the forest for a BBQ pre-party, bonfire and snow fights. And it looks like it’s on the cards for this year too. We had our fireworks at 11.00pm so we could then fully enjoy all the neighbours fireworks at midnight. On New Year’s Day, we can either book you all into our local restaurant for a late afternoon/early evening dinner, or we can prepare a late afternoon Christmas Dinner for you all including turkey and all the trimmings. The cost is 60zl per person for this festive meal. Three rooms are already booked but we have space for another 10 people over 5 triple rooms, more if children share. Call or email me if you are interested. All good fun! |
|
|
 |
Birthdays and anniversaries at Raba 500 Book yourselves a long weekend or a week and come out and enjoy yourselves. We can accommodate groups of up to 18 people so whilst the flights are cheap, make the most of it! Surprise parties, surprise presents, surprise cakes: just let me know by email what you require and it will all remain a secret until the Birthday/Anniversary party begins. We’ll organise your celebration the way you want it: we can even arrange a 3 person live Goral band for you: they’ll come and play local folk music for you in our bar. |
|
|
Stag parties and hen nights We are sorry but we are unable to accommodate stag/hen parties.
|
 |
|
