Mountains!!! I’m finally back in the mountains!!!! I really wanted to target some of the smaller countries that usually get overlooked on most world travel itineraries and Andorra was on the way to Spain from France, so why not?  I took a mini bus from Toulouse and it did not take very long for the mountains to begin to loom.  A surprise site that I noticed right on the border however, was giant shopping structures, similar to how there is dessert and then all of a sudden Giant Casino’s when approaching the Nevada border.  It surprised me a little bit, but after a little bit of reading realized that Andorra was a huge European shopping destination.  Apparently it is one of the cheapest places in Europe to buy luxury goods, booze and cigarettes.  The entire country is essentially just an entire duty free shopping mall.  I had done no research on the place before I arrived and was pretty surprised to see this.  It kind of put me off honestly, but I also saw the mountains in the background and that excited me.

Here is a shot of the mini bus that brought me from Toulouse.

I arrived pretty early in the day, so had some time to explore.  I dropped my stuff off at the hostel/hotel and headed into the city to check out what it was like.  As expected it was more or less just luxury shops and electronics stores lining the streets.  Not much culture, just consumerism.  I kinda got tired of that pretty quick, so I decided to go for a run into the mountains.

You could get 4.5L of whiskey for 30 euros or a year old fresh hop IPA.

The run was great though, it gave a nice view over the town and allowed me to escape a little.

There were a few cool architectural elements, like a stream that flowed through the middle of town and some older buildings that were built into the mountains.

There was also a really cool ray of light popping through the clouds that i enjoyed.

I ended up grabbing a beer or two from the grocery store and just laptopped for the evening in the hostel.  There didn’t really seem to be any night life there.

The next day i woke up decently early and opted to go on a hike originating from the city itself.  I looked into taking a bus outside the city to another part of the country, but there seemed to be a decent loop and the bus service seemed unreliable.

It didn’t take very long to get out of the city and be one with the mountains.  I was pretty much the only one out there and it was so nice to be back in the mountains on my own.  I really love hiking,

There were a few huts along the trail that I would guess people use more in the winter or on longer distance treks.  Seemed pretty bare bones but could be nice in the dead of winter.

I hiked for a few hours and then stopped beside a lake to read my book and just chill.  I really didn’t have much to do when i returned to the city, so decided to soak up the isolation and natural beauty while i had the chance.

I stopped at the top to take my signature picture.

After my hike, I heard that there was a craft beer bar in town and so i decided to check that out.

I had a few beers from Andorra and then headed back to the hostel for some more chill.

This was also the day I found out I had been accepted into the 2019 Boston Marathon which I was super excited about at the time.  Unfortunately a unknown foot injury at the end of January, sidelined me for that race as well as the Boston 2 Big Sur challenge which I was supposed to participate in.  Oh well, I was happy at the time.

The next morning I woke up early and explored the city one more time before jumping in a Blah Blah car towards Barcelona!

The car was full and the driver did not speak english, but there was another guy taking the ride that did and so we chatted a little bit.  Blah Blah car is basically a carpool service that is an app that will match you with drivers heading from one place to another.  You pay them from the app and they are reviewed and vetted to ensure it is safeish.  I was crammed in the back of a small car with two other larger dudes, but overall the bus options were limited and this was faster and cheap.

Anyways.  That concludes my short jaunt through Andorra, I am off to SPAIN!!!!