Sant Jordi

Today was Sant Jordi day in Barcelona.  The streets of Barcelona were filled with roses to celebrate what many consider the most beautiful day of the year.  Legend has it that near a village lived a fearsome dragon that devoured everything it found.  In exchange for not devastating their village they decided to hold a raffle and give the person who came out to satisfy his hunger. One day, chance decided that it would be the King's daughter.  Although they accepted her fate, the knight Sant Jordi would not allow it and wielding his lance on his horse, he defeated the dragon.  His wound left a stream of blood from which a rose bush was born, and Sant Jordi gave one of the roses to the princess declaring his love.  It seemed like every street corner had someone selling roses and every sidewalk was packed with people.



People walking and shopping everywhere

Spain hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.  We visited the stadium today and they were preparing for a concert.  Here we find out that Bruce Springsteen will be having two concert in the stadium later this week.  We had a young Spanish girl take our picture.


Setting up for Springsteen

Front of the stadium

We also visited the National Museum of Art.  The museum was broken up into art from various time periods.  There was Medieval Romanesque Art, Medieval Gothic Art, Renaissance and Baroque, and Modern Art.  We skipped the modern art section.










Looking at Barcelona from the front of the Museum

We also went to see the Sagrada Familia. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Construction on the project was started in 1882 and they are hoping to have it completed by 2026.  When completed the church will be 566 feet high, the tallest church in the world.  We waited too long to get tickets to take an inside tour and they were all sold out.



It just so happened that my daughter, Kristin and her husband Kane, are currently in Barcelona on a vacation.  This is completely by chance.  She didn't know we were coming and we didn't know she was coming.  We decided to have dinner together tonight.  She picked the restaurant which had fantastic food.  The name of the restaurant had us a little curious.


Tomorrow we leave Barcelona and fly to Scotland.










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