Andorra has had little upheaval, and its borders haven’t changed since the thirteenth century. Larger than Liechtenstein, Andorra has seven primary cities. The country became a parliamentary democracy in 1993, despite being a relatively old country. The co-princes (one Spanish and one French) still have limited powers within the country.
My experience in Andorra was fascinating. No one I spoke to understood English and it seemed that they very rarely got tourists from areas other than Spain and France. The tourists that they do get, seem to be solely for skiing. For instance, I was waiting at a bus stop and it took me several minutes to figure out that it was only used during ski season.
Despite the language barrier, I think that Andorra is the first place that I have found where I could see myself living in the future. The region was beautiful and the people were so nice. Also, the food was fantastic.
Although all I wanted to do when I got to Andorra was to explore, I had to take some time out to tend to more domestic things. Namely, laundry and grocery shopping. My clothes were really starting to stink, so that had to be taken care of.
In the evening, I explored La Vella. As the name claims, it’s located in the valley. It feels like you are in a big bowl, the sides of which are mountains. I cannot reiterate enough how beautiful the area was. The smaller towns nestled on the sides of the mountains and the clouds constantly raising and settling. The whole time I was in Andorra, it rained off and on. I loved watching the mist and clouds roll in.
On Friday morning, I treated myself by sleeping in as long as I could. After eventually rousing myself, I was off to explore! I visited Encamp and Canillo. Les Bons, in Encamp, has a “medieval complex” which includes a church from the 12th century, a defensive tower, and the ruins of a castle from the 13th century. The view from the top of the tower was fantastic. After Encamp, I made my way to Canillo. Canillo is the largest region of Andorra, with a whopping 47 square miles. Canilllo is typically colder than then La Vella due to its elevation. It went from 26 to 14 (78 to 57) real quick.
After all of the adventuring I was ready for a nap. Mostly, I wanted to eat but the restaurants didn’t open until eight or nine p.m. for dinner. While waiting for food, I went to the central park and walked around some more. For dinner, I had pizza with goat cheese, honey and nuts. It was a Michelin starred restaurant and was way yummier than I expected! Eating at a Michelin restaurant is something I have had on my bucket list for a long time.
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Follow Claire on her travels to Germany at https://nutzedentagdot.wordpress.com
Read more about studying German with the University of Arkansas
