2022 World Tour – Andorra – Country #49
Hello from Andorra, my sixth stop on the trip, a quick in and out with a visit to Montserrat on the way home. Below is the standard summary:
– Cool Ranch Doritos: No
– Thai ATM Card Works: Didn’t try
– Thai Debit Card Works: Yes
– Thai Internet Purchase Works: Didn’t try
– USA Credit Card Works: Didn’t try
– Worldwide Telephone/Data/SMS eSIM Works: Didn’t try
– Magic Jack Works: Didn’t try
– VPN Works: Didn’t try
– COVID Compliance Chronicles: Nothing required
– Internet Works: Yes
– Drone Flights: Didn’t investigate
– Cost of Living: ?
– Currency: EUR 1 = USD $1.07
– Language Issues: Easy
– City-Wide Wifi: No
I decided to rent a car, a cute little vastly underpowered Fiat 500, which was a bit of a clusterfuck itself, and headed north out of Barcelona, stopped for lunch in Girona and then entered Andorra. The Principality of Andorra is a 468 square kilometer region bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Created by Charlemagne, it somehow managed to survive the upheavals of western Europe through the centuries. I worked briefly at IBM with a guy from Andorra who was a bit of a dick, so frankly I wasn’t expecting much. But, it’s so close I had to check it out.
As I was doing some research I can across an article from Smithsonian Magazine titled “Andorra: The Ugliest Country in Europe?”. Wow, that’s pretty harsh. The article is even harsher. I’ll put the link at the bottom so you can read it yourself. I wouldn’t go as far as the author in my critique, but I have to say it’s pretty close.
Approaching Andorra from the south takes you through incredible mountain passes and switchback roads that don’t look bad on the map, but wow your progress of getting anywhere slows to a crawl. The border crossing had no staff even though Andorra is not in the EU, you just drive through, and yes, the gas stations and fast food shops start straight away. I don’t want to slag it entirely because I think in wintertime it would be a perfect postcard of mountains and snow, but in May it was dirty and overconstructed, with all of its warts showing.
My Spanish SIM card stopped working within feet of the border so I stopped at a quite good Italian restaurant for dinner and jumped on the Wifi to find an AirBnB. I booked with a Superhost who appears to manage several properties so this guy should be professional, right? Ha!
I clicked on the AirBnB link to get directions, it guides me to #25 on a street full of ski lodges. The guy is nowhere to be seen for check-in. I start walking up and down the street and eventually he drives by, waves me down and directs me to #8. The AirBnB listing has the wrong street address! He guides me to a hidden parking area, also not shown on the listing. As we’re walking into the building he starts rattling off the Wifi password in heavily accented Spanish or Catalan – hold on there, I’m dragging my suitcase and backpack up the stairs and I’m not ready for that yet! He then points to an area in a corner and then begins to walk up some stairs. What’s going on? I finally work out there’s an elevator back there in the dark. OK. Into the room, it’s actually quite nice, modern ski-lodge meets Ikea. He says I can watch Netflix but I later find there’s no account defined in the TV. I also discover I have to put on all of my own sheets and pillowcases, and pay him e18 for the privilege of clean bedding.
Woke up the morning to discover that the view from the window is also incorrect. Rather than a nice view of the valley I look over a noisy school play area and construction site. Ugh. I got on the road and drove down to Montserrat – wow. This is an unmissable place if you’re in the area. The mountains, valleys, views, cable cars, funicular trains, cathedral of the Black Madonna and a great art museum with artists even I’ve heard of like Picasso, Dali, Monet, Caravaggio, Degas, el Greco, Chagall, and Renoir. The Picasso and Dali must have been early works because they were not the abstract of their later careers. The name Montserrat comes from Serrated Mountain, describing the jagged ridgeline. If you go, don’t be thrown off by the big flashing red light at the gate, drive up and push the button to get your parking ticket then go through. No signs explaining anything of course.
Back to Barcelona and $77 worth of petrol later, I’m home.
And here’s the kicker: This is the review that the AirBnB host left for me, translated from Spanish. I literally interacted with this guy for about 2 minutes. Does this sound insane to you?
“Michael is the type of person that is pleased to find in life for his excellent way of living. He is really fantastic and charming. He has treated the apartment as if it were his own, leaving everything in perfect condition. He has been like having people you have known all your life at home. It was a great pleasure meeting you. They are 100 X 100 recommended.”
Smithsonian Magazine Article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/andorra-the-ugliest-country-in-europe-121002597/
