24 hours in Andorra

 

We wanted to explore the Pyrenees on this trip and spend more time in the mountains between France and Spain. But it looks like we might have to come back another time, either in the winter to ski or in July/August to hike. In April and May, it's "mud season" and there is beauty and awesomeness, but the weather is unpredictable (as we already saw with the snow during Jason's race above Ribes de Freser). 

But when my neice came, she wanted to go to France, so we decided to travel between Spain and France via Andorra, the beautiful mountainous micro-nation in the Pyrenees. The official language is Catalan, which is what we have been hearing for the last month throughout the Catalonian region of Spain. It's about a 2.5 hour drive North of Barcelona. Jason ran to the airport to pick up our rental car, then picked us up from our lodging, and off we went.

We spent the night in Andorra la Vella, the highest capital city in Europe at 1023m / 3356ft. The city has a local population of 22,000 people, but is a popular ski resort town with mountains all around. It has plenty of hiking and road cycling all around. It wasn't cheap to stay there, and our options were limited. The city itself reminded us of Vail, Colorado. Lots of built up accommodations, lots of construction trying to pack infrastructure into the valley below the mountains, and lots of high end shopping and fancy people. But also beautiful things all around. We enjoyed a stroll around town in the evening and we did enjoy seeing many large ski shops and outdoor stores as well as the Rolex, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc.

The melting clock of Dali

The next morning we drove just a few minutes North into the town of Ordino. This felt more like our style: more charming, very beautiful, less pretentious. We went for a short but steep hike (to get an old geocache, of course!) and had a lovely view of the valley below and the snow-covered peaks above. It was clouding up, so we continued our drive East toward the French border.

We had some snow falling on us when we drove higher up in elevation, and we could see ski resorts here and there in each little village. We liked the look of the village Canillo, and also the infrastructure for skiing in Soldeau looked like fun. And then we descended into France. There were a LOT of people coming into Andorra from the France side because it was the start of a long weekend in France. Shopping in Andorra is a big deal with lower taxes. Strangely enough, there was also some kind of video game tournament in Andorra, so some of the cars we saw coming in were decorated in fun and creative ways (star wars, bright colours, cartoon characters, etc all over the outside), so that was entertaining to drive by.

Our highest pass on the drive

We found a cache up on the highest pass.

The last shopping area in Andorra before crossing the border into France

And then we entered France!

We didn't get stopped at either border (Spain to Andorra or Andorra to France), and everything in the country felt just like the rest of Catalonia to us. But it's a beautiful place and it was still really fun to go to this little country that isn't particularly easy to get to from North America.

Thanks, Andorra! Gracias!Adeu!

Barcelona

 Our mojo family (+ visiting neice) had 3 nights in Barcelona to see all the sights.

The first day was a Sunday, and we drove south from the Pyrenees to the coast and enjoyed a stop at a hike to the castle of Burriac (to get an old geocache!) before heading into the city.

We checked into our rental apartment, which was in a neighbourhood near the Sagrada Familia. Then Jason had to return the rental car to the airport so us ladies did lunch. We found a 100% gluten free sushi restaurant. My neice has celiac disease and finding a place to eat out for her can be really challenging. So this was such a TREAT! It had been so long since we had eaten sushi, and this amazing restaurant was delicious and had a fantastic menu with loads of options for each of us. The restaurant is called ARUKU - go if you have the chance!

While we were inside, it started POURING rain. Like the hard, fast, painful, and full kind of raindrops! Some of us had light jackets but no real rain jackets and no umbrella... so we sprinted from cover to cover for a few blocks and then it stopped. We walked around the main area of the city and explored with no particular agenda. We found some Gaudi buildings, the lego store, and a lot of pigeons. We walked along "La Rambla" and saw a beautiful cathedral. We window shopped a bit and admired the consignment clothing shops, and then came to the Arc de Triomphe where we watched street performers for a few minutes before going back to the apartment in the rain again.

Chopsticks practice at ARUKU gluten free sushi restaurant

The Lego Store was closed (Sunday) but we window shopped and saw Gaudi buildings in Lego form

Ava's favourite part of the entire city were the pigeons

On day 2 we went ahead with the hop on/hop off bus. We really enjoyed the fairy tale buildings of Guell Park (we didn't pay to go in). I enjoyed the Colombus monument and the trade center. We walked around the Montjuic area and saw the 1992 Olympic stadium. 

The torch on the side of the 1992 stadium

Side note - I got really choked up being there... it was the last time the Canadian women's field hockey team qualified for the Games and the specific games that inspired me to really want to play field hockey for Canada and go to the Olympics myself. Although I did play for Canada, we never qualified for the Olympics and somehow being inside the stadium hit me with unexpected emotions as I pictured the women that I looked up to marching in the Opening Ceremonies...

As we were getting closer to the modern art museum and the magic fountain, we were all getting quite hungry and tired. We needed to find somewhere for lunch, but unfortunately the gluten free restaurants were not in this area. We walked to a place that had an egg theme, but they didn't actually have gluten free items that were safe for my neice. So she patiently sat while we ate our lunch, and then she had to wait until later for food she could eat, which turned out to be quite a while later... sorry!!!

We got back on the bus and saw the FC Barcelona club and stadium, and then we went to the pier and waterfront area before we found food success and Teagan ate nachos at a place called MANIOCA.We also had yummy smoothies!

The kids got to ride at the very front of the double decker for a while - their favorite!

On day 3 we had pre-booked the first time slot at Sagrada Familia and went to see this amazing church structure. Even though many in the group are a bit burnt out from seeing amazing churches for the last 10 months, each of us was totally impressed and blown away. It was really fun. The details, the light of the stained-glass, the symbolism and artistic creativity... we loved it.

cloister

3 wise men

morning light coming in

the forest roof

Our father, who art in heaven...

the ribs above the passion of christ side

fruit

We also went up the tower on the nativity side, but honestly going up the tower - that part was a bit underwhelming. 

Leaving through this cool 3D door with all the names of Jesus

Teagan (the teacher) stands at the front of the old classroom

Then we caught the metro (because, well, Teagan had never been on a metro) to go hang out at the beach for a while and chill in the sun.

Jason made his own funky building drip castle

We all went in the water - even Mom!

Beautiful city park. Loved this area.

While we were making our way back to our place, we decided we would try out one more 100% gluten free bakery. Teagan ordered apple cake, but then our family had to get in on the action so we also ordered a chocolate chip cookie, lemon meringue pie, and a cheesecake. And guess what? All 5 of us were able to SHARE bites around the whole table because the entire bakery was safely 100% gluten free. That kind of thing just isn't something Teagan has ever been able to do, so it was really fun and delicious.

So it's safe to say that we all really loved our time in Barcelona, and we can see why people rave about this aweome city. I could enjoy spending more time here, even though I'm not a city person. It was easy to walk around, but also there is great transit with bus and metro and options for lovely bike lanes to bike or scooter. 

One thing that happily surprised us: we felt so safe. That may sound silly, but Barcelona has a significant reputation for pick pockets and petty crime. Every thing I read, every person I talked to, and any podcast I listened to about Barcelona mentioned this. So perhaps we were lucky. Or perhaps it is because there were 5 of us and we travel in a little pack taking care of our stuff together in a group? Or maybe it just isn't nearly busy during the week in May compared the a summer weekend... Or because we are lame and don't go out at night?  ... But we didn't notice anything or feel suspiciious at all or have any feeling of trepidation or any problems at all. So, I'm not saying it doesn't happen and bad luck can happen to anyone at anytime. But I'm just saying that it felt really safe and I don't think people should be discouraged from going or scared about it. 

Go, if you're lucky enough to have the chance!