Dia de Sant Jordi

Friday marks the day of the patron Saint of Barcelona, and is therefore a holiday of sorts throughout Catalonia. I don't think people officially have the day off, but it seemed that everyone was walking around Old Town on la Rambla de la Llibertat looking at the displays (primarily consisting of temporary shops selling either books or roses (and rarely both). Most of the roses were cut (they even had blue), but we found a stand selling potted flowers.
There were a few handicraft (artesania) shops, and a lot of clubs out as well. Chee Sing compared it to "that day at OSU when they try to get you to join all of the clubs." We got some swag from the bike club when I bought a guide to hikes starting from Girona. The naturalist club was out, the voting crew was at it again (on the 25th there's a vote to gauge opinion on Catalonian independence), and even some highschoolers were fundraising by selling cake.
Dia de Sant Jordi is the closest holiday here to Valentine's day. Women are presented with roses, and men with books. My idea, instead of a book in Catalan was to buy Chee Sing (and myself) a new board game with an "instruction book." So, he bought me a rose in the morning, we walked around browsing, we came home for lunch (since by then the game store had closed), we left for the game store, revisited the shops (with a camera in tow), and bought a few little things like a milkshake and the hiking book.

Our new game is Mr. Jack. It's a 2-player game with a serious instruction booklet (it really is like a book). I'm a big fan of my new rose. It wasn't huge and showy (as seemed to be the fashion) but adorable and potted!
The Catalonian flags are still out in many places, decorating the city in streaks of yellow and red. Chee Sing re-told an origin story of the flag (the Senyera) - there are a number - where the king of France painted his blood on the count of Barcelona's shield (which was yellow) after being mortally wounded (= 4 bloodly finger streaks) as a thank you to the count. I would rather just have a "thank you," but maybe that's just me :)

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing