Interesting week.

This week will probably be one of the most action packed during my stay in Barcelona. And this time I don't just mean the amount of school work.

The week is kicked off tomorrow on Wednesday, when various events take place. 23rd of April is dia del Sant Jordi (aka Day of St. George) that happens to be the preferred saint of Catalonia and therefore celebrated here.

On top of this old tradition, a smart entrepreneur running a book shop 100 something years ago, developed another reason for celebration: dia del libro y la rosa (day of the book & rose). The tradition is that men buy roses to women and women books to men. On the modern days of emancipation and equality, the trend has turned so that both sexes receive books, but women get a rose as well. I've heard that Barcelona and specially the area of Las Ramblas will be crammed with stands selling roses and books and with people wondering around enjoying the nice spring weather and festive atmosphere. Needless to say, that the prices of both books and roses, especially on the stand, will go up for tomorrow. One of the most popular books for tomorrow is probably the latest novel of Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which was published last week in Spain with a print of 1 million copies!¡ He's previous book "Shadow of the wind" has been one of the biggest international bestsellers coming from Spain in recent years. To those unfamiliar with the book, it takes place in post-war Barcelona which of course adds a little extra to the one's reading the book here. Like me;D

On top of St. Jordi, books and roses there is a epic battle between FC Barcelona and Manchester United, who ironically comes from a country where St. George also has special meaning. First of two semifinal games for this seasons Champions League will be played on Camp Nou tomorrow night. Although Barca hasn't been at its best lately, we are still hoping to win Tevez & Co. I actually tried to get tickets to the games, even though the prices were 70 euros and up. After standing in the line with Bojan, we got info that the socios of Barca have reserved almost all of the tickets and the ticket booth for public would not be opened unless a greater amount of tickets come available. I think this is quite improbable as the socios can still keep on buying through internet. So, if one socio with season ticket gives up his place, most probably it will quickly bought by another socio who's without season ticket. This kind of two-tear system with socios leaves the general public into a weak position and it's quite improbable that random Barca fan from Finland would be able to cop a ticket. Well, it was well worth the try and I still get to enjoy the game in a bar with friends.

After we are pass Wednesday and the invasion of Manchester fans in the city start to be over, it is time for the motorheads to enter the city. F1 race of Barcelona will be held on Sunday and probably Thursday onwards the city will start receiving formula fans from different places. Although the circuit is further away from the city than in Montreal, I believe there will be a certain level of action also in the center. Best and biggest parties will of course be on Sunday after the GP, but I am quite sure that we won't pay 100+ euros to get to stand in some posh club and maybe see a climpse of Kimi and friends. Not being keen on formulas myself, I still expect the city to be bit more lively (even though there's nothing to complain with the current amount of action...) during the weekend.

Ok, but before getting balls deep into different spare time activities, I still have some school work to be finished, so I'll get back to you later!