Happy St. George's Day

to those of you from Georgia, Newfoundland, Germany, India, Catalunya, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, many Palestinians, the Lebanon, and of course England (though the date varies in Orthodox countries because their calendar is different). The less religious celebrants in the West Midlands nominate it simply as BNP day, despite George being born in Turkey and dying in Palestine (if he existed).

Given the choice, I'd rather celebrate St. George in Catalunya, because the tradition is to give a woman a rose in return for a book: 'a rose for love and a book for ever' - slightly gloomy outlook but probably not wrong. Any takers? This is the reason why, as Henriette points out, today is UNESCO's International Day of the Book (and because Shakespeare and Cervantes allegedly died on April 23rd too).