Up the mountain

  Barcelona, Spain
Saturday, April 26, 2008

The weather has been lovely and sunny this week and people were especially happy. I found out by accident that April 23 was a very special day in Barcelona and throughout Catalonia as it was like a second Valentines day. It is called Sant Jordi, (Saint George in English). He is the patron saint of Catalonia so the day is very important here. It isn't a bank holiday but it seems like a lot of people ditched the office in favour of strolling down Rambla Catalunya. The pedestrian mall was filled with book sellers and florists selling roses. The tradition goes that women buy their boyfriend a book and men buy their girlfriend a rose. The rose stems from a legend of dragons and princesses and the books stem from the deaths of Cervantes and Shakespeare that also occurred on April 23. As a bit of conversation practice, I asked the students in one of my English classes to tell me the legend of Sant Jordi and it was very interesting. I was lucky enough to get two roses - one from my honey and one from my bosses, so that was a nice introduction to the occasion. If you are intrigued enough, you can read more...

Montjuic teleferic

So on the weekend after Sant Jordi, Andy and I spent a day exploring the park of Montjuic. It is a big hill/mountain overlooking the city and the ports. You can take the funicular tram or cable cars (teleferic) or just walk up. We took the funicular as it was included in our metro pass.

The cable cars cost a bit more but look really fun. We will have to go when we have guests to show around.

Andy making music at Montjuic

So as we explored the park we stopped in the botanical gardens, Andy made music on some squeaky boxes, we had a coffee at a cafe, looked down at the cruise ships in the port and then explored the old castle at the top. Pretty interesting place.

The castle apparently dates from the 17th century, with 18th century additions. It served as a prison and its patio was the site of numerous executions. Creepy. We began our descent down the mountain later in the evening and ended up at Plaza Espana which is a beautiful area in and of itself. Each place we go to in Barcelona is so rich in history and architecture. I love exploring this city!

So that is our first month in Barcelona almost finished. I'll continue to post photos as we continue our weekend tourism. The week days are busy but good - I'm still liking my jobs and there seem to be some long weekends coming up which will be great!