Blogs from Andorra, Europe - page 7

Sunday 18/4/10 So where was I? Ah yes, Andorra. Think Colorado meets Queenstown meets Kuala Lumpur. The scenery is stunning. Andorra is at the top of Spain and bottom of France and appears to be nestled in the base of a valley. It´s surrounded by big fuck-off mountains about 2500 - 3000 metres high so is a major skiing capital. Also it´s a tax haven so lots of cheap electronic goods and impenetrable (not to mention discrete banks - I know where my money´s stashed!) Major construction going on here with big roads and huge hotels being built so obviously the recession has done Andorra some favours. I drove around the very narrow windy roads for an hour trying to find a hotel as it was getting late and dark. I finally came acroos the Bates ... read more

Today in Andorra we had the opportunity to experience a calçotada, a popular gastronomical event held around this time where calçots, a type of green onion, are consumed in large quantities. Somewhat milder than onions but looking like thinner versions of leeks, calçots are native to eastern Spain and not really consumed anywhere else. The tenderness of the long, center is achieved by planting the onion bulbs in trenches and successively increasing the depth of the soil around the stems throughout autumn and winter as they continue to grow. The catalan verb calçar apparently means literally to cover the trunk or bottom of plant with dirt, hence the onion's name calçot The calçots are barbecued in large quantities over fire, then served - today they were divvied out and wrapped in newspapers. Once you receive your ... read more

Thought it's now been over five months since I transplanted myself into the Pyrenees, up until this past weekend I still hadn't indulged in one of Andorrans' favorite past times - skiing. My roommate Mike and our friend Pere had made plans to do some cross-country skiing (esquí de fons) on Saturday, so I sucked it up and decided I'd go on with them. One of the people I tutor lent me an old pair of ski pants, and the boot/pole/ski rental plus the pass would only run me 20€ or so, so why not? As the day drew nearer I started to research cross-country skiing a bit more. Wikipedia states that "as a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along ... read more

Today, on the Feast of St. Anthony, all of Andorra gathers together in various plazas throughout the country to celebrate what is called L'escudella. Escudella, itself, it the name given to a traditional Catalan stew full of delicious things like Catalan sausages, beans, and various vegetables. Apparently in the early 70s some friends in Andorra got together and prepared plates of escudella for their neighbors and the shopkeepers in the area. They were essentially reviving the centuries-old tradition of distributing food among the poorest in the parish on St. Anthony's day, January 17th. As you might have guessed, this became quite popular and now the entire country participates. Lucky for us, in Andorra la Vella the festivities were taking place just a 5 minute walk from our apartment in the Plaça de Les Arcades. Basically the ... read more

Hi Everybody! I really planned to just do a photo blog on this trip. Walt and I are cruising in the Mediterranean. We went to Barcelona a couple of days early and took a side trip to Andorra. Andorra is a small country located in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. It has a population of around 77,000 people and an area of only 468 sq km. Andorra is known as a great place to ski and for its tax free shopping. There were many huge electronics stores there. It took us 5 hr. to travel to Andorra from Barcelona and 3 hr. to return. We passed by beautiful lakes, rugged mtn., old stone ruins, and many dairy farms. I wish that I could have spent more time in Barcelona. I hope to someday return ... read more