This past weekend I went on a ski adventure to a stunning mountain range relatively close to Barcelona, The Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are located in Andorra, a teeny, tiny country wedged in between Spain and France mostly noted for its mountains and skiing. When I say small, I truly mean small. I felt liked we walked half of the country by the end of the weekend. It is a very beautiful country though, overtaken by the Pyrenees.
We stayed near Andorra la Vella, the capital, and highest capital city in Europe, elevated at 1023 meters. Also of interest is that the people of Andorra have the second highest human life expectancy in the world, at 82 years old.
We took a bus from Barcelona to Andorra, because it was the cheapest (and only )way to get to Andorra la Vella. The drive was beautiful, but very, very windy. We winded through small mountain villages, over lakes, and up and over mountains. We could see the Pyrenees off in the distance for most of the three hour trip.
After getting off at the bus station in Andorra la Vella, we attempted to find our hostel. The hostel gave us misleading directions, and we ended up on the complete wrong side of town. It was getting dark, and everyone we asked (including the police officers) gave us varying directions. Finally we asked a pharmacist, and she helped us catch a bus to where we needed to go. Getting to the hostel took a lot of time and effort. (as we had to converse in Spanish the entire time.) We were both getting a little frustrated because no one was helping us, but finally we got it straight, and in the process saw the president of Portugal, who was visiting in Andorra that same weekend.
We arrived at our hostel, and were greeted by a fantastic lady, who really helped us. She was so nice that it made up for the faulty directions the hostel had online. She helped us pick where we should ski the next day and gave us other information about the town. We headed up to our room, a small and simple room with a shared bathroom. Not glamourous, but exactly what we were looking for...economical. Plus, everyone else staying there was skiers so that was neat too.
After settling in, we walked around the town. We ate a nice dinner in a little restaurant, and attempted to find something to do. We didn't have much luck, however, as the town was pretty deserted and sleepy at night. All the skiers must have come down from the mountain and crashed.
One thing we did check out was the local hot mineral pools, or hot springs. It was in a really neat glass, modern building. The place was called Caldea, and I guess it was a hotspot for skiers at night. We didn't actually enter though, because the prices were very steep and the reservations for the times we could go were full. If I ever go back, I definitely want to try and check it out though. It looked very soothing and relaxing, and with its mix of outdoor and indoor themed pools of hot mineral water, it looked like a great time.
We went to bed relatively early to get an early start on our ski adventure. Up at 8 am, and went to a small coffee/pastry shop for a coffee and pastry. (Barcelona has ruined us for prices. A coffee and pastry was only 1.85E. That is unheard of in Barcelona.) After breakfast we went to a little market to grab some bread and cheese and fruit to have for lunch at the ski resort.
We packed up a backpack and put on layers of all our clothes. (neither of us had "official" ski gear, but we worked with what we had). After more transportation confusion, we found a bus that would take us up to the mountain we wanted to ski at. The bus dropped us off at a small town, Masana, and from there we rented skis and got lift tickets. Then we had to take about a 10 minute gondola ride up the mountain. Until this point, we hadn't seen too many snow covered peeks, but as soon as we got off the gondola, we were surrounded. Beautiful, snow capped mountains were everywhere. It was really exciting and there were skiers everywhere. We quickly rented a locker, put on our equipment, and hit the slopes.
The day was absolutely beautiful. Bright blue skies and lots of sun. The slopes were really great (a little clumpy from the warm weather and lots...i mean LOTS of people!) We had a nice time skiing, except for a small mishap which left Amy and I separated. In attempts to get back to her I had to go up another mountain and ski down a big hill. I wasn't fully thinking about what I was doing and was going to0 quick trying to get to her, and in the process I wiped out. I really banged up my knee, but thank goodness I didn't break anything. The hills were very intense, and I saw lots of people wipe out (although, not too many injuries). I finally met up with Amy again and we headed down to the lodge for a late lunch.
After enjoying our packed lunch, we just explored around a bit. My knee was too banged up to continue skiing, so we had to stop the day a little earlier than we wanted to. (although, the resort ended up closing at 5 anyway). I guess I am used to Peak and Peek with lighted slopes at night, but bigger places with multiple mountains don't have the ability to light up that many slopes, so they have to close earlier.
After going back down the gondola, we explored Mansana a bit, got some coffee, and then headed back down to our hostel. We stopped at a little grocery store for some dinner foods. (Cava, bread, and cheese) and went back to the hostel. Not a very eventful night. We were both exhausted, and I could barely move my leg.
The next morning, after a nice long sleep, we packed up and explored around Andorra la Vella. We didn't find too much interesting. Most of the shops were big name stores, perfumeries, or cigarette stores. Since Andorra is tax free, many people come to experience the duty free shopping. I was kinda bummed there weren't more (actually any) unique little shops. The weather started to get overcast, and we were thankful that we had skied the day earlier.
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