Apsis Arthotel Andorra la Vella

... 8216;outdoor rec’ clothes. I guess it’s my style. You can take the boy out of Flagstaff, but you can’t take Flagstaff out of the boy. So I roam the streets day-dreaming of snow bunnies and hot buttered rums and things I should have said long ago, as though I belonged here. I almost came a year-and-a-half ago, last time I was in Barcelona, but it was February… and it was raining… and I had no proper ...

... days will get some entries soon.

Today, we started from France, and drove a few miles into Andorra. So we have now done 10 of the 11 countires!!

Photos to follow, I'll just go back and put some news on the other days, then get photos loaded up. That takes ages.

... the watershed and we drop into the Spanish frontier town of Bourg Madame. We continue east across a wide plane undulating over the Col De Llous (1345m) and the Col De la Perche (1570m). From here a unbelievably long descent takes us nearly al the way to our
hotel. Prades has a reassuringly Mediterranean feel about it, with lots of courtyard cafe's and
clay tiled roofs.

WHAT I EXPERIENCED:

... some software a few years ago, and has been living off that. "I don't even know how much I money I have in the bank, honestly ..." Given that he was talking about test driving Ferraris, but still finding his old Japanese tuner car faster, it must be a lot of money left in the bank ...

You might argue that it's all lies, because why would he stay in a hostel if he had all that money? Hostels are mostly about saving money, but I think they are ...

... We have booked for two nights. This is off season so, for 50E a night we get a four star hotel with pool, sauna & gym right in the middle of town. Great! Today we walked from one end of the town to the other on a very nice stone path elevated above the city with a few farms between us and the chaos. Wandered around the city a bit and are now enjoying a kick back. Plan to go for a swim this afternoon, rest a bit and go on the town later for ...

... Festa Brava hotel. I seriously considered going snowboarding, but it was just too late in the season and the snow, though plentiful, was just too wet for my tastes. So I wandered about town, dodging the hourly rainfall and taking in the sights. Not too much to be seen here, but nice to look around a place I had no idea even existed!

... hoping for a bar to magically appear before me. It just didn't happen. I ended up drinking a can of Portuguese Sagres in a small café just up from the bus station. That was it for Andorra really. There's not a great deal to say about the place, the only vaguely interesting thing about it is that it's a joint Principality governed, technically, by the President of France and a Spanish bishop. That's the only thing of note about Andorra- and it's not even that entertaining. I ...

... down the hill - bad idea. The visibility was very low and the snow was coming down cold and fast and the wind didn't help also. We walk for roughly half an hour before finding a lay by to stop in and it takes a matter of minutes to get a lift from a French guy. One the way down the mountain there is a T junction where one way heads towards Perpignan and the other back to France the way we came. Our driver is adamant that going with him back to ...

So I survived through one session of American Village...amazing! my crew went to Andorra on the 14th of July because we knew that nothing would be open for France's holiday. I bought a cheap pair of puma's, and everyone else bought cheap alcohol and ciggarettes! Andorra, the place you go to buy stuff!

... So some 20mins into our ascent I sounded closer to Haedes on the ol life-o-spectrum then I cared to be. No matter, our pace slowed as the grade increased. Soon it was clear the stupider of the climbers, me, would take the lead with unwavering belief in his sure-footedness. To appease the other half of the team however, we searched laterally for a less retarted slope. Once again the 80 year old chain smoker from Mexico City would lag behind as the pace increased. Eventually we would ...