Technically, or administratively, the city belongs to the state of Bavaria but truly there is nothing about Lederhosen, Weißwurst, Bier and Biergartens. Würzburg, the wine capital of Franconia in the northwestern tip of Bavaria, will show you that there’s more to life than beer and sausage. The dialect is different, the choice of sausage is…
Never in my life did I think I would have an honour of traveling to Kosovo 🙂 Booking this trip was a bit of a bullet in my throat but it ended up being totally thrilled with the state/non-state. Depends on which side you are. Travelling from Skopje to Prishtina, our local guide welcomed us…
When you dive into the story of this city, you go medieval. Let me show you where I ended up. This city is the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It has been founded in the 8th century by Charlemagne by building the Cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul. The cathedral stands by the Münstersche Aa river. Upon arrival to the…
Koki the rooster, Lupo the dog, Burlón the cat and Tonto the donkey. And me. Starring in Brother Grimm’s story in Bremen. 🙂 The story tells they formed a band playing guitar, drums, trumpet and saxophone with the aim of winning a contest in the city of Bremen. Let’s start at the beginning. In medias…
My summer Scandinavian road trip finished. From the Trelleborg port, we took the ferry to Rostock. It took 6 hours to float on a Huckleberry Finn passing down the Danish islands like Bornholm. Rostock is a city in northern Germany, located on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the…
Sweden’s second city gets much less attention than its fancier east-coast alternative (Stockholm), but for me, that’s all the more reason to visit Gothenburg. Yes Patrick, this is how you write it in English. The city was named Göteborg in the city’s charter in 1621. The name was given after the Göta älv, the nearby…
Living in Belgium, I have been saying I need to visit this city for so long. The most I got of this city for all these years was flying from the Charleroi Airport. I knew there was no beauty in this city as it was built in 16th century, as an industrial hub, exploiting people…
My little jubilee, the 50th country visited was Liechtenstein. And boy what a ceremony happened. The Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Confederation were celebrating the 100 years of their common Dounae contract. We were about to cross the bridge that was built over the river Rhine, but we were stopped as the celebration was just…
Krapina is my hometown. Zagorje runs through veins. Kajkavian dialect is spoken out loud by my core. So please, allow me to show you a portion of heaven given to us people from Zagorje to enjoy, nourish, and remain proud. Krapina Krapina was first mentioned in 1193. It has always been a favorite site for…
This is a post of a lovely, walkable city that will charm all wine, gastronomy and history lovers. From Markets to Mustard! This capital of Burgundie is calling you to get all its tastes. And you will not know all of these existed! The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until…
Avignon is a city on the Rhône river in the south of France. It is surrounded by walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d’Avignon) – a series of defensive stone walls that were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history. We entered through Porte Saint-Michel. The…
This historical province of southeastern France, extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur . The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille. Known for its diverse landscapes, miles of…
Andorra is a tiny little country in Europe, between France and Spain, in the mountains of Pyrenees and has no airport. How to fly there? Well, I got to Girona […]
Andorra is a tiny little country in Europe, between France and Spain, in the mountains of Pyrenees and has no airport.
How to fly there? Well, I got to Girona first and rent the car from there. Google says 3 and half hours for 220 km. How is that possible? Well, when we saw the landscape – mountains crossed with steep bends we realized that the max speed is going to be 50 km/h.
Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra is nowadays ruled by the diarchy headed by two Princes: the Catholic Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain, and the President of France.
Anyhow, driving through Pyrenees was amazing. Green hills, sunshine and blue sky and far away the white snow in the mountains…
We couldn’t help but stop to admire and take some fresh air. You know how they say: Fresh air makes hunger. So we had a diner in this beautiful old house – restaurant:
The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. The spoken languages are French and Spanish (both castillan and catalan).
Anyhow, we arrived to our hotel which was not in the capital city but some small city called Erts. Something like 15 min away from the capital. Honestly, if we would have been driving 15 min more we would end up in France.
It was off the winter season, and seems like in Andorra they live for winter tourism so the Christmas decorations were still on. The price was cheap cause they don’t have VAT taxation and yeah, it is off the season. Andorra is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is its official currency.
So we had the most beautiful room with the view on waterfall and mountains. It was loud all night and relaxing… 🙂
Next day after the healthy breakfast in the mountains, we took a walk around the river and admired the nature.
Then, the journey planned was the capital city Andorra la Vella. Btw, I noticed the little bicycles placed on the street lights. Cute, isn’t it? 🙂
And the cable car 🙂 Unfortunately, we didn’t stop… Next time when I come back, I promise!
And then we arrived to the capital, after some minutes of drivings.
The principal industry is tourism, as already mentioned, although the country also earns foreign income from being a tax haven. Furniture and brandies are local products. Being at an elevation of 1,023 m, it is the highest capital city in Europe and a popular ski resort.
However, it was time to sit and make a planning of the afternoon.
We had a local beer. It tasted nicely, I have to admit.
The beer is called Boris according to an adventurer and nobleman Boris Skossyreff, who in 1934 self-proclaimed himself a Kinfg of Andorra with his promise of freedoms and modernization of the country and wealth through the establishment of a tax haven and foreign investments. He was arrested by the Co-Prince and Bishop.
After the small break we continued towards the city center. They call it old city but there is nothing old there, except three houses which were anyhow destroyed and rebuilt.
In the city centre was the Church of St Esteve, ocated on Plaça del Príncep Benlloch. It was built in the 11th-12th century and then restored in the 20th century.
Andorra nowadays continued with the same economic system that it had during the 12th–14th centuries with a large production of metallurgy and with the introduction of tobacco and import trade. The fair of Andorra la Vella was ratified by the co-princes in 14th century being the most important annual national festival commercially ever since. Indeed, the tobacco shops are present everywhere for the very cheap price.
Casa de la Vall is a historical house built in 16th century as a manor and tower defense by the Busquets family. Until recently it was the seat of the legislative and executive power of Andorra.
We entered the building and had a nice tour with a guide.
Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the President of France and the CatholicBishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain) as Co-Princes. When I asked the guide how many times do they meet, I was told that the Bishop is regularly coming to govern but the French Presidents come twice in the mandate. Well…
Also, just a hint, imagine if Catalonia gets the so much wanted independence?! You can let me know your answers and possible scenarios in the comments 🙂
Anyhow, Andorra la Vella is one big shopping centre, so let’s do things as the Andorrans (tourists) do.
And then it was time to eat. Nice local specialties but more like Spanish food, I would say.
Driving back was even more complicated. I guess all these tourists were coming back from their shopping weekend.
It was nice to meet you Andorra – officially country number 46. 🙂
Good day! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew
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I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one?
I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
Beautiful Mountains trip
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Such a beautiful place 😍
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Waow very nice
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Wow..😍 amazing mountains
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Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
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I ever go Andorra when i was little,beautiful
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Great info. Lucky me I discovered your website by accident (stumbleupon). I’ve saved it for later!
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quick visit this blog on regular basis to obtain updated from most recent information.
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Good day! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew
where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one?
Thanks a lot!
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I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
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