Charcoal burning everywhere

I used to say Sundays in Spain were depressing, but it's really more like manic depression. The stores are all closed and normally all the Spanish people stay home. Then on Easter the stores were open and people were out. Today was the Dia de Sant Jordi (Day of Saint George), the patron saint of Catalunya, and everyone was out. Music, parades, street fares. The line to get into the Picasso museum was down the street, a foreboding sign of what Barcelona will feel like once tourist season starts for real. My mom is visiting and I'd been telling her how much Sundays here suck; now the thinks I'm full of shit.

It's tradition here that on St. Jordi day girls give guys books and guys give girls roses. My problems with this are twofold. First, it's like another Valentine's Day. Fuck that. Second, and I'm really not trying to be a pain in the ass here, flowers and books? Girls are pretty and boys are smart? I know it's just tradition, and roses are pretty and they smell good, but still. I'd be way more excited about a boy who gave me books than one who gave me flowers.