Before we got to Barcelona on Saturday April 21st, we heard from our hosts Alan and Mercer that the weekend we were there would be full of festivity but we had no idea what we were in for!
First of all, there was the Barcelona vs Madrid fútbol match on Saturday night. Alan and Mercer reserved a table at a nearby pub where we began to get acquainted and watched the match. Excitement was high as Barcelona would have a chance at the finals if they won the match but, unfortunately, Madrid claimed the spot with a 1-0 win. Alan and Mercer lived in a suburban community about 20 minutes away from the city center called Hospitalet Llobregat. There was a Spring Festival in progress all weekend with lots of activities including parades, carnival rides, arts, crafts, food vendors and, to our amazement, at least two hundred woman making lace. These ladies sat at long tables that stretched for nearly two city blocks. There was one woman who had to be in her eighties (see photo below, the lady in the red sweater) and one we saw who might have been 13 or so, learning the art of lace making.
The spring festival in Hospitalet Llobregat ended on Sunday evening with a parade of drumming battalions and a 2-1/2 hour long non-stop fireworks show with people dancing under a spray of continuous spinning spark canopies followed by what seemed like at least five "grand finales" each more elaborate and grander than the next.
The fireworks display that evening was the grandest we've ever seen. We thought Spain was undergoing some financial difficulties but the fireworks display that evening alone must have cost millions!
On Monday, although an official workday, the residents of Barcelona were still celebrating. February 23rd is the Catalonian equivalent of our Valentines Day known by Northern Spaniards as "La Diadi de Sant Jordi" or (less formally) the "day of books and roses". Apparently the origin of the day has something to do with a legend of the Patron Saint of Catalonia, Saint George, who allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful princess. From the dragon's blood sprouted a rosebush from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess - hence the beginning of the traditional annual rose festival to honor chivalry and romantic love. In 1923, the lover's fest merged with International Book Day which marks the simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Now, they celebrate the "day of books and roses." On this day, all men give roses to their lovely ladies and all women give a book to their man so you can imagine that there were book and rose vendors all over the city capitalizing on the day just like American Vendors do for Valentines day. There was one major exception - the Rambla (pathway from city center to the coast) became a mecca of booksellers, authors, florists and thousands of people strolling the Rambla to take it all in.
Our host, Alan, an author himself, had a booth along the Rambla promoting some of his literary works about the Spanish Civil War. Even in Spain, the guys have it easier than the women since all that's required of them is to give a rose but women are challenged with the task of selecting a book that their man would enjoy from thousands of options.
So basically, we've come to the conclusion that Spaniards will find just about any reason to celebrate just about anything and may even invent a story or merge a couple of events to justify their celebrations.
First of all, there was the Barcelona vs Madrid fútbol match on Saturday night. Alan and Mercer reserved a table at a nearby pub where we began to get acquainted and watched the match. Excitement was high as Barcelona would have a chance at the finals if they won the match but, unfortunately, Madrid claimed the spot with a 1-0 win. Alan and Mercer lived in a suburban community about 20 minutes away from the city center called Hospitalet Llobregat. There was a Spring Festival in progress all weekend with lots of activities including parades, carnival rides, arts, crafts, food vendors and, to our amazement, at least two hundred woman making lace. These ladies sat at long tables that stretched for nearly two city blocks. There was one woman who had to be in her eighties (see photo below, the lady in the red sweater) and one we saw who might have been 13 or so, learning the art of lace making.
The spring festival in Hospitalet Llobregat ended on Sunday evening with a parade of drumming battalions and a 2-1/2 hour long non-stop fireworks show with people dancing under a spray of continuous spinning spark canopies followed by what seemed like at least five "grand finales" each more elaborate and grander than the next.
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| Proud Father of Son who had just danced under the Fireworks |
The fireworks display that evening was the grandest we've ever seen. We thought Spain was undergoing some financial difficulties but the fireworks display that evening alone must have cost millions!
On Monday, although an official workday, the residents of Barcelona were still celebrating. February 23rd is the Catalonian equivalent of our Valentines Day known by Northern Spaniards as "La Diadi de Sant Jordi" or (less formally) the "day of books and roses". Apparently the origin of the day has something to do with a legend of the Patron Saint of Catalonia, Saint George, who allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful princess. From the dragon's blood sprouted a rosebush from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess - hence the beginning of the traditional annual rose festival to honor chivalry and romantic love. In 1923, the lover's fest merged with International Book Day which marks the simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Now, they celebrate the "day of books and roses." On this day, all men give roses to their lovely ladies and all women give a book to their man so you can imagine that there were book and rose vendors all over the city capitalizing on the day just like American Vendors do for Valentines day. There was one major exception - the Rambla (pathway from city center to the coast) became a mecca of booksellers, authors, florists and thousands of people strolling the Rambla to take it all in.
Our host, Alan, an author himself, had a booth along the Rambla promoting some of his literary works about the Spanish Civil War. Even in Spain, the guys have it easier than the women since all that's required of them is to give a rose but women are challenged with the task of selecting a book that their man would enjoy from thousands of options.
So basically, we've come to the conclusion that Spaniards will find just about any reason to celebrate just about anything and may even invent a story or merge a couple of events to justify their celebrations.
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| Us at the Rambla in Barcelona celebrating the Day of Books and Roses |
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