I would liken this day to Valentine’s Day in the United States.
Just about every corner of a simple street has stalls to buy these items. The tables are dressed with yellow and red cloths that are the colors of the Catalan flag.
Flower stall
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
An urban legend surrounds the BANNER and if you're interested you might want to search its history.
Today we walked down la Rambla Catalunya. At the tip of la Rambla and the Avenida de Diagonal there is a famous statue and today he was dressed to the nines for the festa.
Giraffe
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
As we began to stroll down la Rambla there was a band playing the traditional Catalan music called the Sardanas.
Sardanas band
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
To understand the unusual instruments you see in the photo and the Sardanas music you obviously cannot hear, click on the highlighted word in this sentence.
The sounds of the music are very different from what I’ve ever heard and I feel very bad that I had not taken my video cam so that you could hear. Next time.
In the center of a little area, I saw 2 couples talking and when the music began they held each others hands and formed a circle.
Sardanas Dance #1
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
They began to dance and as time went on the circle got bigger
Sardanas Dance #2
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
and bigger.
Sardanas Dance #3
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
In the center of the circle, they put their pocketbooks, strollers, jackets and whatever.
How wonderful they looked.
Adjacent to where the people were dancing, flowers were arranged.
Flower arranger
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
I particularly was interested in the men purchasing these beautiful arrangements and the patience they showed waiting for their beautiful gift to be made. So dapper they looked, too.
Rose for a lucky lady
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Everywhere we went we saw women walking proud and happy with a beautiful flower in their hand.
Rose
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Flowers and books are nice and the tradition sentimental and the colors and smells of the florals indescribable.
But the fascinating part of any festivity is the people.
Preciosa
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Young and old, female, male all seemed to be having a good time.
Well, this post was a long one and I'm done.
