Blogs from Andorra, Europe - page 8

The Fasthotel might be cheap and the room small(the shower/toilet)is like a cubicle they added after the room was built,a bit like what you would buy at Mitre 10 and have installed except a bit bigger because it has a toilet and washbasin as well.The cubicle obviously wasn’t completely and firmly attached as it rocks a bit when you walk or should I say step in there because there isn’t much room to do anything else.However we must say the water pressure in the shower head is very good and we have tried out a few showers over the past 7 months!! It is time to bring out the long sleeve shirts and put them on top of the shirt pile in the Kathmandu shirt bag and relegate the short sleeve shirts to the bottom probably ... read more

Well after 3 weeks of living in the prison known as Aparthotel Conseller I am finally free from such pleasantries as water being turned off without notice, paying for an internet that worked 1/300th of the time, and breathing in fumes from the construction that never seemed to cease. After some mild trauma with respects to securing a 4th person for our 4 bedroom apartment, Mike, Alex, and I convinced one of the Oxford students to take the 4th spot until she leaves around Christmas. After that...who knows...but for now it works out well money-wise and we are happy as clams. The place itself is located in the main Andorran city, Andorra la Vella, more specifically in the Ciutat de Valls, a neighborhood somewhat elevated and hence named "City of Valleys" literally. Since all four of ... read more

I sure wish I had my camera coming down the "mountain" from school today. After this morning's rainstorms the mountains were all covered in an eerie mist - I'll have to start bringing my camera out with me more often to catch such events. Anyway...I'm alive and well in the Pyrenees, though without too many exciting things to recount. Nonetheless I'll try to enchant you with the details of my day to day life. Since we all know what I actually want to talk about, let's cut to the chase and have a look at what I've been eating. Though adjusting to our new schedules and teaching-loads has put a slight hold on our frequent feasts, we still are eating quite well. Perhaps the most interesting night's meal was inspired by a cute little package of ... read more

The next day in Andorra brought an even earlier appointment with which to start the day - 7am blood tests. At 6:30 we met in the lobby to make the trek to the hospital. Now Fulbright had already demanded from us the paperwork from a full physical including blood work and tb test, but of course Andorra wanted it AGAIN. No matter that two PPDs within a few months of one another can result in TB symptoms. Hogwash! We were all out of there by 7:45, with only one British girl having an issue with nausea before finally getting over it and completing the short visit. Afterwards those of us with the 9am appointment with Jordí went for coffee and fresh croissants before heading further into town to meet him, as well as Risha, at the ... read more

Well as you all may have guessed I've made it to the mountains valleys of Andorra. Chris and my last morning together, as you may have guessed, was rather traumatic, but once I shifted my mind to the exciting few days ahead I calmed down and was fine once I got to the bus station. I had maybe 40 minutes to kill at station, but by 10:15 I was ready to board and seated right in the front row with the best view of the journey in to the Pyrenees. A few minutes later I noticed who I was fairly certain was another of the Fulbrighters standing outside the bus, but he got on without looking at who was around so I figured I'd just wait til we got to Andorra to meet and just relax ... read more