Although it is frowned upon to celebrate our Saint's day in England other countries actively promote it. In Catalonia, it is known as La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day), El dia de la Rosa (The Day of the Rose) or El dia del Llibre (The Day of the Book).
Rather like St Valentine's Day (which we in England are allowed to celebrate), men give red roses to their sweethearts, women given books to theirs, although in more modern times, books are given by either sex. Roses are now given in different colours which all have different meanings. As well, as the better know red rose, the blue rose has also become popular, and it is usually given to friends since they symbolise trust. Pink roses are given to thank someone for an important favour. Purple roses symbolise nobility, femininity and seduction, whilst white roses symbolise purity and innocence. Yellow roses are a little less common, they symbolise joy and happiness, and so are usually given to teenagers. All around Barcelona, book and flower stalls pop up overnight and by the end of the day, over 4 millions roses and almost 1 million books will have been sold and gifted onwards. The national dance of Catalonia, the Sardana, is performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume and book stores and cafes host readings by authors.
The atmosphere in Barcelona is always great, on this day it is fantastic.
A lot of airlines state that 'only one bag may be carried on board', but many passengers, and I hate to say it, but it is mostly women, seem unable to count to one.
People seem to think that ONE handbag or laptop bag, ONE carry on case and ONE Duty Free bag together count as their one piece of hand luggage. I don't understand what the difficulty is. If the rules state one piece, just take one piece instead of arguing with the airline staff and holding everyone up. Liquids in carry on luggage seem to cause issues too. Again, the instructions are clear. Individual bottles no more than 100ml each, and all must fit into a 1 litre clear plastic bag which can be sealed closed. There are some exceptions in the case of medication and baby milk.
These are not new, or hard to understand, rules, and yet I always seem to get stuck behind someone at Security screening who has chosen to ignore them. Do you follow the rules, or do you try to bend them when travelling?
