But wait, there's more!

We are so lucky to be able to learn about the Catalonian traditions right here in town.  Last week we saw the human towers and this week the sardana dancers were in front of the monastery.

 The events were hosted by Correllengua in honor of the writer Monterrat Roig, who passed away twenty-five years ago.  They "aim to recall the commitment Roig language and country. In addition, disclose the invaluable journalistic work by the author to recover the historical memory of the crimes of Nazism and emphasize its essence distinctly feminist left. All this, to continue spreading the legacy of one of the most important figures of the country".

"The country is not only the children,

but it is the language.

The country is both at once.

If you forget and use the other one, we lack breath."

This map and the one on the banner above do not look like the traditional shape of Catalonia. These people suggest that an independent Catalonia would include these additional areas. I was not under the impression that places like Mallorca consider themselves Catalonian because they speak Mallorquín, which they say is not the same at Catalan.

At the top of this booth are signs for indepencia, feminisme, and socialisme, which are the platforms promoted by this youth organization.

This is pretty typical graffiti.

Independence shoes!

In addition to the dancing and the booths there were bastoners, which is more complex and and faster-moving than the sardana.

Here is a little video from last year's National Day of Catalonia.

And then I headed home.

I did not go back for the giant heads (Caparrots) or devils and torches (Diables i Tabalers). It is good to save something to look forward to next time!

Great Outdoors, short trip edition

Because of a late night our original pan for the day was not going to work, so we

followed the suggestion of a local and headed to the hills of Parc de Collserola.

Don't ask me how to pronounce it.  We were trying and someone on the train said it for us.
I repeated it.  D. repeated it.  A. repeated.  Excelente, she told him.

The park had a nice metal relief map (with the park being in the center of the picture), but like so many of them they like to have the waterfront looking like it is to the south, but if you look in the upper righthand corner you can see that isn't true.

We didn't get to go into this 18th-century house that was used by the poet Jacint Verdaguer and is now a museum named after him (there are several other places in Barcelona named after him).

We also did not feed the wild boars.
Or see any.

The shape of the park is all over!

We found a quiet place to sit and contemplate.

If we face the right way it looked undisturbed, but there were plenty signs of human visitors, 

some more pleasant than others.

We mostly wandered around, but did make our way

to Font Joana (if you look carefully you an see the name at the top).

Not what we planned, but still a good day!

Where is Sant Cugat?

People are excited when we say we'll be near Barcelona, but it will be a lot like living in a suburb of Los Angeles.

By train it is about one hour away and by bicycle it is about ninety minutes.  Your results may vary.

People often ask about my level of Spanish proficiency.  While I think my Danish is better, I could survive in Spanish.  Another question to ask is about my level of Catalan proficiency, because by law that is the language of the Catalonian region.  All government dealings take place in Catalan, including the instruction in public schools.

I have used a couple of panagrams as examples of the language. First is English, then Spanish, then Catalan.  Thank goodness for Google Translate.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
El rápido zorro marrón saltó sobre el perro perezoso.
El ràpid guineu marró va saltar sobre el gos mandrós. 

Pack my bags with five dozen liquor jugs.
Las maletas con cinco jarras docena de bebidas alcohólicas.
Les maletes amb cinc gerres dotzena de begudes alcohòliques.

Yes, there are similarities, but I think we will still have our challenges.  I am looking forward to it!