Facts: Andorra is a tiny, independent principality situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains.
A bird’s eyeview of the Valley of Andorra’s capital city- Andorra la Vella.
And off we go to Andorra. For four days, we had a great time with Bernard and his family. Now its our own time. We left Carcassonne, France almost 5PM and had another three hours to navigate our way to our hotel in Andorra. It was a beautiful drive at a country side. The sights of the Pyrenees Mountains were refreshing. The first fifty miles were kind of rolling hills of pasteur lands- reminded me of the highlands of Scotland and Virginia’s countryside combined. Something familiar but different.
Main Street Andorra la Vella, the capital city of the country.
I am excited for this trip, but no expectations set as there is not so much I read about this small country. The books didn’t say anything grand except that it is one of the famous ski destinations on winter time in Europe and known for being tax haven; and the only person I knew made a trip this part of the world was my friend Grecia, who roamed this way sometime earlier this year.
It was around 730PM. The sun was hidden from the clouds that started to blanket the mighty mountains. I remembered Bob saying, “look at the clouds.” Little that i knew, we will get a close encounter with them. our last thirty miles comprised of 180-degree switch backs driving up the mountain. At the 15-mile mark, we encountered a fork, thinking we have taken the right road, we hit a wrong turn. This time, the switch backs were becoming too sharp to turn around and for all we knew we were quickly gaining altitude in a steep incline. We are ascending. Feeling a sense of panic from Bob, I put my camera down and started talking through the road we were navigating. Bob is not a fan of heights; I have to calm him down and have him stay focus on just driving or we will both end up in the ravines we didn’t even know what they looked like🤣. The clouds and fog were mixed, and they were thick; the driving was almost of zero visibility. When I thought we had been going down, a switchback would come and it was giving us an opposite result. Five minutes… ten minutes… the bend on the road went on and on… at fifteen minutes of driving, and I was guessing Bob was also at the peak of being tensed, then we went through a tunnel (which I thought was an old outpost for immigration boarder) that was about three minute drive. And for some reason as we exit from this- the sky was clear and the road was no longer as crazy as it was. 10 miles descend to Andorra’s capital city of Andorra la Vella.
The four churches we visited in Andorra:
Top: L-R Sant Antoni de la Grella and Sant Marti de la Cortinada;
Bottom: L-R Església de Sant Esteve and Sant Miguel d’Engolasters
We have not driven as many rotaries since our trip to Inverness in Scotland, and I could say that Andorra is also big on such. Our ten miles which usually can be driven for roughy 10 to 15 minutes, took 45 to get into our hotel. What I have observed since the time we hit the first roundabout, it wasn’t bare and boring rotaries; they were filled with different and unique art works- from local artists I assume🙂.
YOMO Centric is at the heart of the city, and driving into a busy, unfamiliar streets posted another challenge. After two tries on how to get into the hotel parking, we finally found it and a place to park. We had a long day, and we were tired. We ended up having dinner at the hotel after we checked- our first Andorran meal was sumptuous. After that, we called off the night.
Around Town. We only have one full day in Andorra so we made sure it was well spent. Weather wasn’t cooperating when we woke up, it was 80% rain. After our inclusive breakfast buffet, we drove out and started our sight-seeing.
The Trip to Andorra (and Barcelona) was like a pilgrimage; we visited a handful of churches. Our first stop, at the height of a heavy rain was the Sant Marti de la Cortinada- a stone church rebuilt in the 17th century. It wasn’t grand, but it has an interesting religious artifacts inside. As much as we wanted to explore the outside, the weather wasn’t cooperating, and we weren’t really that sure if we parked the right place so we left and off to another place.
Our trek around the trail of Lake Engolasters and our close account with Spartan challengers.
Lake Engolasters. After we left Sant Marti, we headed southeast to Lake Engolasters. It was really raining, but Bob and I decided to proceed to at least trek around the lake even for a good two and a half mile. Along the trail we were met by Spartan challengers that dared the mud, rain and chilly weather in this event. Im sure they are used to them, they were buffs after all😂.
Once done, we retraced the road we travelled. We had a brief stop and photographed the church of Sant Miguel d’Engolasters on its beautiful mountain back draft. The second church of the day. I walked across the church to look into the valley, and saw the panoramic view of the Andorra la Vella- this is such a beautiful bird’s eye view. Then we headed back down.
Pont de Sant Antoni de la Grella. One of the books that I bought about Andorra has a cover of this bridge, so Bob and I went to see it as well. The bridge passes over the River Valira del Nord and brings you to the chapel of Sant Antoni de la Grella. The bridge is medieval in construction and was remade in the mid-20th century while the chapel is built into the stone through which the Valira del Nord river passes. The chapel was restored in the 20th century. The chapel was closed; this was our third church of the day.🙂 When we left, we followed a bit of the walking trail, then back to where we parked our car.
Our one day itinerary:
Top: L-R Bob and I at Pont de Sant Antoni dela Grella Bridge; and a dessert
Bottom: Having Paella No2 at L’ Arrosseria after seeing multiple churches
Església de Sant Esteve. About six miles north of the medieval bridge, we headed to Cathedral of Sant Esteve. The biggest among the church in Andorra we saw so far. It is Romanesque in origin, but modified in the 20th century which explains a modern touch inside; still it was nice. The location also has a mountainous backdraft and is accessible to almost everything- shop, residences, parks, and restaurants. By this time, I was getting hungry, so I asked Bob to have lunch then. While walking at the alleys nearby, we found a local restaurant, L’ Arrosseria. Among others this one was packed with diners, and I knew then what it meant- it must be good. I ordered seafood paella and was served almost 50 minutes later- the second one from this trip- and it really didn’t disappoint; was actually worth the wait. Bob and I shared a big serving. We did some more walking then decided to head back to the hotel to recoup.
When finally rested, we walked around again and see more of the town and the shopping malls along the strip that were already closing for the day. Like the rotaries, the city is filled with so much arts, mostly of eccentric sculptures and architectural designs; and it is refreshing to see them as compare to the ads of so many ambulance-chaser lawyers in Florida.✌️ Since we still felt full and not really wanting to have another heavy meal, we decided to just sat and grabbed a dessert in a nearby restaurant. We sat outside so we could watch people pass by. I miss people watching. Once our dessert plates were empty. we then headed back, the second time to our hotel and hit the sack.
When we woke up the following day, we had a repeat of our delightful buffet breakfast. Then we walked the avenues of duty-free stores for the last time, bought some souvenirs then back to the hotel and checked out- then we took off to our next destination. Barcelona here we come!
One of the many unique sights I will remember of Andorra.