Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sant Jordi

Hello, dears!!


Do these ring a bell? ;)
My cousin and I bought the same ones in different colours...

How was your week? :) I was lucky enough to go to Madrid last weekend, and I just wanted to do a quick post before I show you all the cool places I got to see. I'm still going through all the pics, and I think I'm going to have to divide it into a couple or 3 posts for them to be of a reasonable length... ;)

So anyway! I know it's kind of late for that, but I just wanted to show you how I spent my Sant Jordi... (St George's day, the 23rd of April) It's in fact a very celebrated holiday here in Catalunya, and there's actually a story, a legend to it. There are of course thousands of versions and variations, but it goes more or less like this:

There was once a kingdom that lived frightened by the greediness of a dragon, who enjoyed eating their cattle, and every once in a while, a couple of citizens too. After some time, the King declared that a young virgin should be given to the dragon once a month in order to appease the beast's hunger and keep it occupied and away from their livestock... But the King had a daughter, and when they drew lots to determine which lady was to go first, the Princess' name was the one elected. Everyone was saddened by it, for she was loved by all, but the Princess submitted to this sacrifice with grave determination. 
She was left by herself at the entrance of the dragon's cave, awaiting the beast's arrival at nightfall. But with the last rays of sunshine arrived a handsome Knight on a white horse. St George was his name, and he'd come to save her from such terrible fate. He fought well, and won the dragon. A pool of blood stained the earth, and from it came out a beautiful red rose. St George picked it carefully, and gave it to the Princess, whom in return, and to thank him for his troubles, offered him a book.

What do you think? Did you like it? ;) We're told this story at school or at home since we're little kids, everyone knows it here... The tradition says that girls should be given roses (any colour!), and guys books (any kind!), not necessarily by lovers. For example, every year, I get a beautiful rose from my dad:


But being a bookworm, I always end up getting (by other people or by myself) plenty of books as well! :)

So anyway, it was a fun day, because being a Saturday, we walked around the city, and got to see all the street stands with books, and roses, and all the people out and about doing the same... I was with my beloved little cousin (isn't she just beautiful?), and we had a great time.


By the harbour, to have lunch







We also went to Rambla Catalunya, where most of the people in Barcelona go to buy their books and roses.








We reached les Rambles, where you can find older books & stranger people... ;)




This year, I treated myself with a book from the wonderful Music Emporium (piano sheet music to learn blues and improvisation... been wanting it for a while!):


... and this beautiful rose:


To walk around the city, I decided to go for a comfy and colourful look that I didn't have to think much about. What do you think?


[photo by dear mom :)]
Bimba & Lola off-white shirt
Bimba & Lola pants
H&M customized blue cardigan (why customized? I promise to post about it soon! :D)
Bimba & Lola gray leather bag
Camila's beaded sandals

For dinner, we went to this beautiful spot, called Fragments Café (Plaça de la Concòrdia, 12)... *-*


They have like a secret garden inside, and the food is just delicious, such a smart mix of influences.


So anyway, happy belated Sant Jordi everyone, and have a great beginning of the week!! :) I'll try to have all my Madrid boutique reviews ready as soon as I can... ;)




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[All photos are by me unless specified otherwise. I'm happy if you decide to copy and keep them in your computer as reference, or post them in your blog or anywhere you want. But you MUST put my name or a link to the blog somewhere, saying where you took them from. Not putting anything is in my opinion almost as bad as saying you took them yourself.]

14 comments:

  1. Lovely photographs and so interesting to hear about Saint Jordi! Thank you for sharing :)

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  2. beautiful stories and post! again, thanks so, so much for your email! i can't wait to visit your country :)

    www.cashmereandcandy.com

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  3. this is so stunning, I've been looking around on you're blog for a while now, and i really love the vibe of it!
    kisses.

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  4. Fabulous pictures! :D I love Barcelona and I back on July!! :D

    xx

    www.sickbytrend.com

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  5. It does seem like you had a very fun day! And those books look mouth watering :)


    Fashezine

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  6. Thank you so much, everyone!! Your lovely comments put a huge smile on my face!! :)

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  7. Hola, Laura! I'm in Barcelona and wow, it's amazing here! I'm so jet-lagged right now as I just arrived this morning. Funny thing, the concerige told us that Raval is not a good place to visit for tourists :( I'm staying near Diagonal Station.. Any good vintage shops/restaurants here? xx

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  8. Well, actually yes! Right above you, you've got the neighbourhood of Gràcia, which is very nice because it's less urban, in a way: you've got little stores, vintage and emerging brands alike, and thousands of tiny bistros all over the place. What you can do is walk up Torrent de l'Olla Street. You'll find very cool vintage stores on your way up, and also a delicious greek restaurant called La Taberna Griega. When you reach Astúries Street, you can either turn left, towards the Fontana metro station (and on your way you'll find 2 or 3 amazing bakeries, a great wok take-away place called Woki, and an amazing store called Plisados. In the end you get to the Travessera de Gràcia Street, also filled with stores, but less 'interesting' ones), or right, (where you'll find the Diamant Square and, if you keep going, Verdi Street, one of the busiest in the area with little restaurants and shops), or keep going up, 'til you find... my Design school, IED Barcelona! ;)
    If you feel like it, you can look up the address of a restaurant called 'Cantina Machito', it's really close to Verdi Street and one (if not the) best mexican restaurants in Barcelona; and the Untitled BCN art gallery, in Topazi Street: www.untitledbcn.com.
    Also, right next to the Diagonal metro station, you have the Casa Fuster Hotel, one of the most luxurious and respected hotels in the city, you could make a reservation and have dinner at their restaurant. It's expensive, though! Same applies to the restaurant of the Mandarin hotel in Pg de Gràcia.
    And of course, there's the whole Eixample neighbourhood!! You can walk down Passeig de Gràcia or Rambla Catalunya, and I'm sure you can find a cool place around there...
    Have fuun!!! :)

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  9. I really like your blog! Follow me :)

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  10. Beautiful pics!!!
    New follower on Bloglovin!I loved that also followed.Kisses.

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  11. Que fotos más chulas!! precioosas! un besiin!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!! :)

Laura