el dia de sant jordi

In addition to being Easter, this weekend also featured El Dia de Sant Jordi in Barcelona, which is a bit like the Catalan Valentine's Day, but much nicer and much less mushy (I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day). Sant Jordi, or Saint George, is the patron saint of several places, Catalonia among them. A clever bookseller one year also realized that April 23rd was also the day that both Cervantes and Shakespeare died, and it was restyled as the day of the book. Traditionally, men buy a rose for the women in their life and women buy a book for the men (Albert generally buys me a book as well as a rose though). : ) Rambla Catalunya is transformed into a book stall extravaganza, and people typically skip out of work for a bit to enjoy the atmosphere and wander the streets. There are also rose sellers on every corner.

Two years ago we had our own little Sant Jordi's day in Vancouver, but it was fun to engage with the crowd this time. We also got some books signed, caught up with some friends, and went to open day at the Palace of the Catalan Government, which was all good fun. I tried to dress in red and yellow, which are the colours of the Catalan flag, and sort of succeeded. I bought this little black and yellow vintage eyelet dress a year ago, but somehow it hasn't appeared on the blog yet. The back is the cutest part so I'll have to wear it again soon!