Where Jordi isn’t the worst. He's a saint.

Shifting to Barcelona meant we changed languages, since this area speaks Catalan. I assumed incorrectly that Catalan was simply a dialect of Spanish, but it is a separate language.

Besides Catalonia (where Barcelona is located), Catalan is spoken in the Aragon, Balearic Islands, the autonomous communities of Murcia and Valencia in Spain, the country of Andorra, the Roussillon region of France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia, Italy.

And one of the first things we learned about Catalan is that they spell and pronounce their patron Saint George as Sant Jordi. 

We found out about Sant Jordi because he looks down over the nave of the Sagrada Familia, an enormous and still-in-progress basilica that towers over Barcelona. 

Sant Jordi watches over the    
inside of the basilica. 

That’s right, the exact name we gave our lovable but not-very-bright-dog. The one who wakes us up for breakfast by standing on our chests. The who hops over the back fence to scavenge for compost in the neighborhood. The one who Ryan has affectionately nicknamed “The Worst.”

Armed with this knowledge, we began seeing references to Jordi in other places. 

This Jordi bodega (above) near the Sagrada Familia sells souvenirs. 

This is the Galerias de Sant Jordi in the oldest part of the city. 

Catalan recognizes Sant Jordi's feast day on April 23. Couples celebrate by giving each other roses or books(!) on this holiday similar to Valentine's Day. 

And to top it off, we found this t-shirt in an art shop that more accurately reflects the less saintly aspects of Jordi’s personality. It had to come home with us, obviously.