sant jordi

Sant Jordi

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

The Valentines Day of Catalunya!   Saint George’s Day and Shakespeares birthday too.
I just had a look at last years post and saw that it was cloudy and wet then too.
Roses and Books all around and as it is Monday the celebrations began at the weekend.
But today is the day.
Happy Saints Day to all Jordis – those who I know are both healers – one creates Reiki in the woods and the other practises Ito Thermie, the Japanese art of moxa massage.

Roses come in all colours!  But here they rarely have a smell which is sad.
For me the scent is a vital part of their identity

Instead we have a book with a smell – Olor de Colònia  by Sílvia Alcàntara.

We can start it now as I am in my week of Catalan!

El Clåssic

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Today was quite intense.
The streets are full of Catalan flags and stalls selling books and roses for Sant Jordi.
Actually it isn’t really Sant Jordi (Saint George) until Monday but as it falls on a Monday they have decided to spread the celebrations over three days

This gives us more time to chose our book which this year will be another one in Catalan, this time by a woman, and if possible not about the Civil War or Medieval Barcelona.
We will read it together, mostly out loud, as we have been doing for the past two years.
It really helps with learning the language.
Duna came to help  and almost came to blows in the bookshop with another dog who was also doing his book shopping

Then there was also the football match between Barça and Madrid. At 8pm the streets were almost empty even though the shops were still open. We went to the Toy Bar which was full of people but were still able to get a small table although the extremely large man in front of us kept standing up in his excitement and blocking all view of the game

My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

So it’s Sant Jordi again – the year has turned full cycle since the last time when the streets of Granollers were filled with stalls selling red roses and books. By the afternoon the sun had broken through the clouds and so we didn’t have to walk under umbrellas or worry about the rain spoiling the whole event.
This year is a little strange as Sant Jordi is the day before Easter. I wonder how often that happens? Or if it ever falls on Easter Sunday?
There were all the stalls selling books in the Porxada and surrounding streets. This year I woke up to the fact that most places had exactly the same books – hardbacks especially published to coincide with this day.  So it was hard to find the right book – for the right price. The Catalan version of the one we wanted was 21 euros. I wonder why books are so much cheaper in the UK?

Then we looked at the roses – 5 euros each and all wrapped in what seemed identical plastic  covers. They looked nice but I did begin to wonder why some enterprising seller doesn’t start to do it in a different way? Perhaps with a pretty paper wrapping?

We had our usual conversation about the commercialism of most of the main festes here and I do begin to see what he means. Everything ends up being marketed and sold at an inflated price and without much creative imagination. Oh dear – I am feeling a bit jaded perhaps.
The sardanes in front of the Ajuntament were good to watch and I even saw a couple of young men – 17 years old? – dancing with spiky hair and smiley faces. The average age of dancers is around 65 I would say. The music lets you know when to raise and drop the arms! Everyone does little tiny pointy steps without moving very far and then suddenly it all gets faster – but still tiny – and then it slows down. It’s very subtle and because it was banned during times of repression of Catalan culture it is full of more emotion and significance than is obvious on the surface. Something further away from a flamenco you cannot imagine!

The shops are full of Mones de Pasqua – the cakes that are traditionally eaten on Easter Monday and which symbolise the end of the abstinence of Lent

On the way home we got some take-away orxata – the drink that when I first tasted it in Barcelona seemed like nectar from heaven. By this time the clouds were returning and it was too chilly to drink it on the street.

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 9 Comments
 It’s not the day for sitting out on a terrace watching the world go by. It’s a bit cold actually!
So let’s drink our Vermut inside while I tell you what’s going on for me. I hope to hear your news too – in your own virtual vermut post or here in the comments.
Let’s start with the weather – it is what I call a Cornish day. Grey sky, rain threatening but never getting on with it. Perfect for our run this morning although the chilly wind made the outbound trip hard going.  When I started running I had to overcome my belief that running is for tall lanky people. But just a little each day and suddenly I can do 20 minutes without falling in a panting heap at the end. There is something very satisfying about the sound of your feet as they hit the ground and the way your body finds its own rhythm.
Fear of more kidney stones means I always carry water which is a nuisance as it sloshes around in the bottle. Also any part of my body which can wobble – does, and that feels uncomfortable at first. But like many things which are hard to start – after you get going, the going gets better. There were some lovely flowers down by the river as well as the swallows swooping low over the little allotments.
Then I had a short introductory session of Trapeze. Again, not something you expect of me but this getting older thing is beginning to worry me so I am trying to do more new things.   I did a headstand and then some swinging by my arms on a trapeze. Finally kicking my legs up and hooking them around the bar and, before I could think too much about it, I let go with my hands and ended up head down to the floor. All the recent abdominal exercises must be helping as you need those to get yourself back up again!
Of course I was helped and held by Pep so it wasn’t so hard. Sorry no photos as I couldn’t spare him to take one at the vital moments so you will have to believe me.
My Vermut is finished now – perhaps another little one?
The reason the weather is concerning me is that tomorrow is Sant Jordi and the streets will be full of stalls selling books and roses. It could easily be a disaster if it rains all day. It is a sort of Catalan St Valentine and so much nicer.  Roses and books – perfect presents of love.
Which reminds me – I have almost finished reading The Cathedral by the Sea in Catalan and I am now actively enjoying it. It feels like a huge achievement to have got through it and I can see how much more I know now than I did at the beginning. Also as the action happens in the streets in Barcelona Old Town it is interesting to imagine the events – the building of the church, the merchants working in Canvis Nous, the Jewish quarter in the Call where terrible things happened, the big houses in Montcada where the rich people lived.

But what else can I tell you?

After the run we came home to the usual loud music in the living room which sometimes drives me to find quiet corners of retreat. Common tunes are Love is a Gamble, I am a Bitch, I Want You to Take Over Control and Tonight I will Fuck You. When I am in better humour I just relax and dance to the beat! I think of my mother and how she kept up interest in our music. But wasn’t it easier with Del Shannon, The Beach Boys and David Bowie?
After lunch a troupe of young men arrived to play music out in the back. I was looking forward to seeing them sidle spottily though the lounge looking embarrassed and reminding me of Kevin in the TV series. But the Resident Adolescent scuppered that plan by greeting them at the front door and sending them round to the back entrance.  You have to be tactically very skilled to win a battle in this war!

Well, time has flown by and I must start my Catalan homework.
Hope to see you next week if we both can make it!

A Rose for Love and a Book Forever

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalunya…….as well as of England and Palestine and many other places. He is also called Saint George!.. April 23rd is the second most important Feast day in Catalunya and is called El Diada de Sant Jordi or El Dia de la Rose or El Dia del Llibre.
It is the Catalan day for lovers and it is traditional for men to give women a rose and for women to buy books for the menChildren also give roses to their mothers and some mothers give books to their childrenSo it is book, rose and love day!
Several different celebrations have joined together to create this fiesta and it felt a very happy mix.

In Granollers the central streets were full of stalls selling books or roses. Everyone seemed to be on the streets choosing their books, holding their roses or waiting to meet someone special.As it is a national day there were lots of Catalan flags hung from windows and walls and on the stalls. It is four red stripes on a golden background and is called the Senyera.In one small square there was a poetry reading with a large audience and several poets and in the main square a band playing traditional music for people to dance sardanas.
The association of roses with this day goes back beyond medieval times and there are records of a festival of roses but the book tradition seems to have started in 1923 when a bookseller promoted the holiday as a way to commemorate the deaths of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Half the yearly total book sales in Catalunya take place on this day.

I went twice to the central square to browse the stalls and mill around with hundreds of other people, most of them holding roses or books or both. It felt much nicer than Valentines Day which for me was always a disappointment – the feeling of failure if a card didn’t come, the imposed coupledom of the restaurants in the evening, a sense of isolation whether alone or in a pair. Sant Jordi however was a social event – like so many things here in Catalunya. People were out in the streets, talking to friends, meeting neighbours, watching the band playing sardanas, dancing sardanas, buying books and roses, sitting not in couples but in large groups in the cafes.Of course it is also nice to get a book as well as a rose!