h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The 23rd of April, as all we Brits know, is St. George's Day! Unfortunately, it really isn't celebrated as much in Britain as I think it should be.

Now in Barcelona, Spain it's another matter....

The 23rd of April is remembered for two reasons: Saint George's Day and the death of Miguel de Cervantes (23.04.1616), the greatest Spanish writer of all time - he was the one that wrote Don Quijote (co-incidentally William Shakespeare also died on the same day, but that's another story...).

The Catalonian people have managed to bring together these events and celebrate them by having what is known as a "Rose and book" day!

Magically, on the 23rd of April each year, the city of Barcelona is transformed overnight and by the time most people are on their way to work in the morning, the streets are filled with book stalls and flower sellers. Some of the main streets in the city like Paseo de Gracia, are lined with book stalls from one end to the other but in the other parts of the cities, each bookshop has its own stall in the street in front of the shop. Books are sold at a discount price on this day.

Likewise, the florists in the city put up stalls in front of their shops to sell their roses and some enterprising citizens just walk around with buckets full of red roses, trying to sell them. The individual roses are cellophane-wrapped and red is always the predominant colour.

This celebration came about in the Middle Ages, when the aristocracy used to hold tournaments on horseback and each lady present was given a red rose. The custom nowadays is to give one's loved one, be it wife, mother, girlfriend etc. a single red rose and in turn, men are given a book.

It's quite a sight to see men of all ages sheepishly (doesn't go with the Spanish macho" image) walking through the streets clutching a single red rose.

But it's also a very nice way of keeping St. George's Day alive!

I've marched every first Sunday after St. Georges' day through the town since I was 12. Now the pavillion (the place where we would march to) has just been bulldozed, so the parade has been cancelled. You're right, St. George's day isn't celebrated much here anymore. Nice to know that it's still celebrated somewhere .

hi there,it sounds lovely,and its time we celebrated things that are important to our heritage.i am sorry to say that history wasnt important to me when i went to schol,but i appreciate the importance of things like this now.i saw part of a progrmme on t.v a while ago about it,and it was very interesting,i'll have to learn more about history i think!!!!!chat soon,love sal

Hello, St. George's day really is a very special day here and luckily we had fantastic weather so the streets were full of people from early morning to late night. It really seems that the good weather is here to stay now, but I'm still hesitant about getting out summer clothes just in case... It's funny to see all the tourists here in shorts, sleeveless tops and sandals when most of the people who live here are still in jackets and shoes. What the tourists don't realise is that by June/July it gets much hotter than it is now so if we take off all our clothes now, what will we take off when it really does get hot? >biggrin>

I hope you are also enjoying some sunshine.

Take care,
Suz

Nice that's you're having some nice weather as well, it was really hot and sunny today. It was raining for a couple of days before that, but still warm. I got to use my new umbrella. Had some snow a couple of weeks ago, between two high pressures.... Oh dear, must stop talking about the weather before I start going on about Rossby waves and cloud formation.

Enjoy the sun!

hello suz,hope youre well,nice to hear from you.i want to come and live in spain!!!!!it is absolutely pouring down today here,and yesterday the sun was shining ,but it wasnt warm.last week it was quite nice,and i thought the warm weather was with us for a while,but ,as usual,no sunshine again!!!!!of course,it saves going outside with the watering can for the flowers that are takig a bashing ,but we cant have everything ,can we????the children have gone back to school today after the easter hols,but they are at home again thursday,friday,and monday,so the silence in my house will be short lived!!!!!!!i must admit i love the grandchildren been here though.well,i should go and get some breakfast,chat soon i hope.take care,love sal.xx