The celebrations of Easter, or Paska, are some of the most important of the year in Greece and for anyone on the island of Crete for a break during early April, the events will add a dash of local colour to their stay.

The Easter celebrations in Greece often fall on different dates to the celebrations in the rest of western Europe, but in 2010 (and unusually 2011) they coincided exactly.

The Greek Easter is a much longer affair that the Easter many are used to and started on the Monday before the main Easter weekend, when regular church services celebrated different aspects. Having fasted during Lent, you can imagine that food plays an important part of the celebrations. Traditional Easter biscuits, or Koulouraki, are eaten, eggs are dyed red and Tsoureki, or Easter bread, is also popular. As well as being symbolic, the red dyed eggs are used in the traditional game of Tsougrisma, where the eggs are used like chestnuts are in the traditionally British game of conkers. Holding the eggs in their fists, players take it in turns to tap the end of their opponent's egg with their own. The winner is the player who cracks his opponent's egg first. Lamb is another traditional Easter treat and in places like Crete, the Easter weather is usually kind enough to make roasting the Easter lamb an outdoor activity, with spit-roasted meats being common in many village festivals.

In Crete, the Easter celebrations took place all over the island, but the towns of Chania and Heraklion were places where the festivities were most easily found. On Good Friday, the procession of the Epitaphs in Heraklion was worth experiencing as processions from four different churches met up in the town's main square. Chania's impressive cathedral was built in the 13th century and, together with a number of monasteries that can be found in the surrounding area, made a nice location to enjoy a traditional Greek Easter.