Apartaments Velvet Arinsal

... major city in the world and streets would be packed with rush-hour throngs, but not here. Spaniards like to stay up late and get up late, but what does it mean when the sun does the same? Not much I reckon except that Spaniards have the satisfaction of feeling like late-night sophisticates. Jo jum…

They DO have an Arc de Triomf close by and that gaudy temple to La Sagrada Familia not far from the bus station either. You ...

we've had some problems getting to this stage, and so haven't been able to keep the blog up to date. So far everything is now working out fine, and we have arrived on site to be able to set up in the light, and the campsite has electricity, so we are ok to get written up today. Hopefully ...

WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID: The Col de Port (1249m) is a beautiful climb and has a great descent to Tarascon.

Unfortunately the rest of the days route is on fairly major roads filed with cars heading for
Andorra to do some tax free shopping. Soaking your feet in thermal waters in Ax is highly
recommended, before taking on the seemingly endless Col de Puymorens (1915m).

We are now ...

... what happened as I didn't know the Spanish word for crusty pie eyes - I basically told her that my eyes were bothering me, and when I woke up there was stuff in them, and that my eyes were very ugly. Like I've said before, I can have deep conversations in Spanish, yet lack very basic vocabulary, at times.

Andorra sounds so regal, but as I planned this trip and researched this tiny little principality, my expectations dropped - it's got a bit of a ...

... this holy place. There is a profound respect here. Hundreds of volunteers make it all work. I must say, though I was appalled at the commercialism, I was touched by the spirit of this place. My prayers were said and I avoided the push to buy plastic 'Mary' water bottles and 100E candles but I was tempted by the Lourdes corkscrew. Why do we do such things as humans? It is a place where I suspect Jesus would turn over the tables and storm out in a rage ...

... s ski resorts and as a summer mountain getaway for Europeans. Taking a minibus from Toulouse to Andorra, I literally had to go through rain, hail, and a snowstorm to get there! Arriving at Pas de la Casa, it was 0 degrees and snowing hard. Thirty minutes later we made it to Andorra la Vella, the capital city, where I would stay at ...

... for a follow up, but there wasn't one, he just stared at me until I left..a little odd. No beer eh?, Andorra had already made itself onto my enemies list (along with those kids from the Cadburys advert, The Earl Grey pub and that fat kid who sometimes comes into Morrisons who I don't like the look of). I went for a walk around the "city" to see what exactly it had. Nothing really. There was a giant **** off model snowman in the middle of the street for no discernable reason ...

... an hour of no luck it's gone 3 and we need to make a decision on what to do. So we decide to walk to the nearby town of Bram as we can see a train line that runs close to it. After walking through the while of Bram and seeing that it pretty much has nothing to offer we see a sign for the train station and our eyes light up. The lady behind the counter tells us there is a train in 40 minutes and we will have to change once to get to Perpignan. Even ...

... couch still snoring. I find the kids can speak basic English so help teach them how to count and colours in English. They are bright kids. Today is the best day. Snow day, and what better way to start a snow day than a trip sledging. I keenly invite the kids to come along too and we find ourselves climbing a 100 metre long hill just behind their house. Perfect. I step forward first offering to take one of the kids down with me. A sledge with a ...

... Carolina had said all that she needed to say and the car sailed on in a pensive silence through the huge and dynamic landscape. I am the only new teacher in the group of 20; I have to admit I was a little bit nervous entering in to a group who not only had spent 2 weeks together for the first term of this camp but had all experienced such a tradgedy. However, they´re all very welcoming and I´m finding my place. This ...