Queue up: Dion and the Belmonts’ “The Wanderer”

It has been a couple of days since Gaudi blew our minds, so we thought it would be good to have a follow-up dose just to make sure it wasn’t an initial shock kind of thing. Our hotel is a couple of blocks away from an apartment building Gaudi architected toward the end of his life and is considered his best residential example of design.

The last resident left in 2019 and it is now owned by a foundation who sells tickets to enter one of the apartments, the attic, and the roof. As I write this I’m thinking “If I were to read this I would think ‘Big whoop – who would pay to see an old apartment building?’”. Well, we did, and I have to say, I really enjoyed the attic, then the roof, and last the apartment (which was decorated in period pieces).

I think it will be easier to let the pictures and captions do the talking, because it was so strange I can’t really find the words. I don’t think I’d be able to live there. All the curvy walls were making me kind of dizzy…but let’s be honest, if they offered me a chance to live in one of those apartments and hang out on the roof for a few months, I would would get a truckload of Scopaline patches and do it.

We then decided to take a leisurely stroll through Barcelona. We wanted to complete our Gaudi experience by finding another apartment building on the Block of Discord. It’s a weird assortment of buildings side-by-side, designed by competing architects, with Gaudi’s dragon-inspired building decked out with skull balconies being the loud mic drop at the end of the block.

Mark and Cat listened to the Rick Steves audio tour through the Gothic Quarter, and we followed behind like two clueless teenagers.

I did make everyone stop at one point to stand in front of a store dedicated to small figurines doing their #2 business on the ground. I mean I had to, the store had a 2x life-size statue of a kid doing that right in front of their store. You could trip over him. It was a legitimate sidewalk hazard. I feel for the shop employee that has to set that thing up everyday.

Alright, I know you are all dying for an explanation. So here it is. These small figures are hidden in nativity scenes, and are eagerly sought out by children. Ok, stay with me for this next part. It is supposed to represent fertilizing the earth under the nativity scene to ensure it will be there next year, and with it the health of body and mind required to make the nativity scene. I’m thinking this whole concept is the antithesis of a healthy mind, but that would sound judgey judgey. It is supposed to bring good luck. The name of this figure is called El Caganer which literally means “the pooper”. You can have these made in your own image, or purchase one in the image of your favorite celebrity, real or not – The Queen of England (the previous one), Chewbacca, etc. I’ll leave it to you to research any unanswered questions, and decide whether these will be on your gift giving list this year.

This seems like a good place to stop. I mean, nothing else I have to say can compete with El Caganer and the “Icks” and “Ewwws” that must be formulating in your mind.

©Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. No reproduction of text or images without permission.