Corpus Christi
If you are lucky enough to be in Sitges in 2 weeks, you will enjoy the floral festivities. The whole city is covered with living carpets made of hundreds of thousands flowers. This year, it will be on the 6th and 7th of June. Don’t miss it!
Corpus Christi
The Corpus Christi celebrations in Sitges, last Sunday. over 160.000 carnations used to transform the narrow streets into lush carpets.
And here is how they did it.
Marvels
After an hour or more on the beach, you just need some shade. There are marvels in the shade, just off the beach in Poblenou…
Flowers for everybody!
Specially for all the mamas, mothers, mums, mamacitas, as it is mother’s day in Spain today.
Books, dragons and roses: la diada de Sant Jordi
La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalan pronunciation: [É«É™ ðiˈaðə ðə ˈsaɲ ˈʒɔrði], Saint George’s Day), also known as El dia de la Rosa (The Day of the Rose) or El dia del Llibre (The Day of the Book) is a Catalan holiday held on 23 April, with similarities to Valentine’s Day and some unique twists that reflect the antiquity of the celebrations. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and colleagues. Historically, men gave women roses, and women gave men a book to celebrate the occasion—”a rose for love and a book forever.” In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is also customary. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition originating in 1923, when a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to commemorate the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on 23 April 1616. Barcelona is the publishing capital of both Catalan and Spanish languages and the combination of love and literacy was quickly adopted.
In Barcelona’s most visited street, La Rambla, and all over Catalonia, thousands of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 800,000 books will have been purchased. Most women will carry a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.
The sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, is performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona. Many book stores and cafes host readings by authors (including 24-hour marathon readings of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”). Street performers and musicians in public squares add to the day’s atmosphere.
23 April is also the only day of the year when the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona’s principal government building, is open to the public. The interior is decorated with roses to honour Saint George.
Catalonia exported its tradition of the book and the rose to the rest of the world. In 1995, the UNESCO adopted 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day.
 And yes, Mandy had her magnificent rose, and I got a sumptuous (cook)book.
Walking down the Ramblas…
… is always a great pleasure, watching people, street entertainers, animals, flowers… Haven’t done it much lately, too cold, too tired, too busy… Any reason. Got a foot problem right now, quite painful, so I’m not going out much lately, just to work. Anyway, now that the nice spring days are coming back, will try doing it a bit more.
Oh yeah: got a thing for cacti!
Chinese new year part 2
Lots of kids singing and dancing on a big stages. We do to believe in flower power!
As there are so many Chinese citizens in Barcelona, this is dedicated to them!
Our World Tuesday, here.
Weekend Reflections
A bit of explanation… This is a flower box in a restaurant, just next to a pool at Barcelona’s Casino, and what you see is the water reflected on the wooden box on a very sunny day (last weekend).
This is for James’s Weekend Reflections meme. Check it out, right here!
Some colors for a rainy day. AKA post 665.
Sunday evening. The weekend is almost over (…). We had a relatively sunny day, after the wettest Saturday in ages. The forecast for the coming week is very bleak. So, what will I post for tomorrow??? Something colorful, something nice to brighten up the coming week. Here it is, spotted on the Ramblas, with the help of a bit of LDR.
Oh yes, we had a little sunshine… Welcome to Lori from District Daily Photo, our 405th follower!
Shouting at oranges
El Señor Iniesta, famous football player from the Barça, seen shouting at oranges on the Ramblas. Why would you shout at oranges?
It’s Christmas!
So, well: merry Christmas to all of you celebrating it, happy holidays to others, and, finally, have a good day at work to some others! You know who you are.
Incidentally, it’s my sister’s birthday today as well. Bon anniversaire, vieille branche!
Tomorrow, we’ll start talking about some very serious, very extreme sailing…
Lady in red
Saw this lady in red, with dog, in a fashion shop near the cathedral. Wouldn’t you ladies want a dress made of roses?
Gardens in the city
Some have small gardens, some have big gardens.
 I found all of them in the old town, the Born area.
Stages
We have some sunflowers growing on our terrace, and it has been fascinating to observe the different stages of the growth.
Some flowers for you all
Went on a tentative stroll through Gracia today, with a camera, to check the limits of my momentary strength. Doing good!
And we found this lil’ old lady selling a couple of flowers (back of the 2nd photo, hiding in the bar, white top, pink bottom).
A prize house
People love flowers. Most people anyway.
So, some people put some flowers in their houses. Some people put LOTS of flowers in their houses. Some even put giganormous lots of flowers in their houses, around their houses, on top of their houses.
And you know what happens then??? They win prizes! And then, they get some signs tu put on the walls of their houses, saying ‘this is a most flowered house’. Or so. I don’t know if they win anything else than the admiring glances of their neighbors or passerbys. Or occasional tourists like us.
This said, this is a photo of one of these most flowered houses, in Sitges, in the city center. This house won many prizes, for many years. They were about twice more of these signs, but I somehow had to frame this photo, and I still wanted the signs to be recognizable.
One small thing though… It was winter, 2 months ago. Not a single flower to be seen, anywhere… So… I’ll be back!
Do they do the same where you are? Do they win prizes?
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