Tag Archive for 'Spain'
I know the pictures are coming a bit late, but I was finally able to upload our pictures from Paris, Andorra, and Spain. To view, select the Gallery link in the top at the top of the page, or following the below links to specific albums. Enjoy.
With time disappearing quickly through our fingers, Natalie and I were only able to spend a day in Andorra. This time was marked by the following four impressions.
- Andorra would be a beautiful place to spend the summer hiking/biking. It would also be a superb place to spend the winter skiing/snowboarding. Although the fall in Andorra is excellent, it is not really the best time to be there as the snow has not arrived and it is a bit cold for hiking (unless of course you bring the proper gear).
- Andorra is a ski nation. This tiny nation (2.5 time smaller than Paris, France) has created an entire economy around snow sports. It is really something to see.
- Drunk people can be difficult to deal with when you do not speak their language. 2 drunk 20 something year old boys decided that 3:00 am was a good time to be extremely loud outside of our hotel room door. I had quite a few words with them, but I am pretty sure they were mostly making fun of me as I was the only person who appeared to think that their behavior constituted an issue. They left. Eventually.
- Andorra has some high quality spring water. Natalie and I were in the village of Arsinal, when a van pulled up to the local spring (water pouring out a of bricked in wall like area beside the road) and opened their back doors. Inside, were roughly 100 one gallon jugs which they began to systematically fill up and load back into the van. I drew a few possible conclusions from this.(1) They do not have running water and must manually bring water to where they live. Although this is possible, it seems likely that they would have, long before buying the van, figured out how to get running water into their abode. (2) Their water is full of sulfur and they need to water to keep from overloading their bodies with sulfur. Also improbable based on the reason previously explained. (3) The are bottling the water and selling it for a profit. I like this concept, but if this is the case, their operation is so slow there is no way they are making enough money to pay for the gas in that van. (4) The spring outside of our hotel is actually the fountain of eternal youth and these old Andorrans were getting their yearly supply of immortality.
Overall, our time in Andorra was positive if not a bit perplexing. For example, Spain has a customs check for all motorized transport out of Andorra. Interestingly, this appears to be an exercise for the motorists. Each motorist is required to park, turn off the car, get out and open the trunk. This accomplished, a customs official looks in the car for .0056 seconds, before declaring the car “fine”. The motorist closes the trunk and zooms happily away, with 500 kilos of Andorran cocaine safely packed inside Osprey backpacks. (Disclaimer: I am not importing or export cocaine from/to Andorra or any other nation.)
Catalan
The Northeast section of Spain contains a province or state referred to as Catalan. They have their own language, Catalan, which is an unfathomable mixture of Spanish and French, with a bit of Italian through in here and there for good measure. It is my understanding that no one speaks Catalan outside of the Autonomous State of Catalan (I asked a local if Spain is divided into states or provinces and he told me they are called Autonomous States.) and the country of Andorra. I speak a smattering of Spanish which is about enough to get around a Spanish speaking country. Catalan is defiantly not Spanish and, although getting around was not difficult, I was not able to refresh my Spanish.
Spanish Driving.
Spanish drivers are….polite. This was a difficult change for me as driving in Italy is a survival of the fittest routine. Spanish drivers stop when a pedestrian is standing on the sidewalk waiting to use a cross walk. In Italy, people don’t use cross walks and I almost caused an accident by crossing the street outside a cross walk. Seriously. I felt bad. This politeness took some getting used to and I am afraid that I failed to stop for many pedestrians as they calmly waited to use the cross walk. Lesson learned. When driving in other countries, never assume that you are in Italy.
On arrival, Girona, Spain immediately began to remind me of Kalamazoo, Michigan (U.S.A.) in many ways. We got off our Ryan Air flight (20 euros per person) and Girona captivated me in an instant. Did I mention we woke up at 4:50am, had to take a cab in Paris because the metro doesn’t begin until 5:30 am? Oh, and Justin had a 101 degree fever.
Arriving in Girona we were able to check right into Pension Margarit -our new sanctuary. It offered a bed and place to hang laundry. Justin recovered from his fever, the laundry dried, and we were able to explore Girona clothed.
Falling in love with Girona was easy for me. Four rivers total flow into the city. We are right along Rio Onyar, with eleven (the sexy number) bridges total. I could not imagine a more beautiful Spanish city all lit up at night, with the lights sparkling on the river.
It is romantic. We treated ourselves to tapas and a bottle of awesome Spanish wine. Thanks for the recommendation Pedro. D.O. Taverna Catalana, just opened, and Pedro, a Spanish teacher from Poland spending some time in Girona working on his Spanish and working as a server, made our evening wonderful. Thanks again Pedro! Best to you as a teacher, and the best to Taverna Catalana offering the best atmosphere, tapas and wine selection in Girona.
Pedro’s not the only awesome person we have met. We have also enjoyed Marc who works at Pension Margarit, as he was so helpful, fun and friendly. We would come back to Girona, just to hang out with Marc.
We were also able to meet Anna, an extremely talented painter. She opened a studio about a year ago, Encant botiga-taller d’art. She will leave for Paris, September 2009 and spend a year studying art there. Anna, maybe we will see you in Paris?
Another great element of Girona is the city’s easy accessibility to both the Mediterranean Sea and the south of France. I don’t remember any Roses or many flowers at all, but it turns out Roses, Spain, right on the Mediterranean, is a great place to play frisbee on the beach (with big sheep dogs running with you). You can only play so much frisbee with Spanish sheep dogs before the urge to jump back in the car occurs. Especially when your frisbee has been doubling as a dinner plate, dog drool quickly becomes a pressing concern. Like magic, within a half hour, we were in the south of France enjoying some pastries on the ocean. Our day in Spain and France has been truly remarkable, and it’s become the best part of lovable Girona. Being so close to France, a handful of national parks, and the coast only teased me more into the fairy tale Girona has become in my heart.
Italy was a fun filled joy ride, packed full of more experiences that I had time to process. Paris was an enjoyable assault on all of my senses, as I spent two days walking around trying to take everything in at once. By the time Natalie and I arrived in Girona, Spain, I was exhausted. Living life as a world traveling nomad is wonderful, but the combination of the hectic pace and continual flow of new information (Not to mention the 100 decisions that need to be made every day. Many of these are not very important but that can be difficult to determine at the time
) left be worn down and tired.
Spain was a relief. We decided to stay in Girona (about 75 minutes north of Barcelona) in a reasonably priced hotel that provided us with our own bathroom. Although the city has about 86,000 residents, it is not large when compared to the major European cities. Thus, we have been able to wander leisurely through its streets, go out to dinner (a rare treat for us) and sleep as much as we require. The tourist in me feels guilty about these decisions. After all, Barcelona is relatively close and Spain is a wonderful country that I really want to explore. At the same time, the traveler in me (he is young still, but growing more mature - I hope) warns that if I do not learn to take it easy, I will begin to hate traveling. So I have taken naps. Every day. It is great.
Of course, now that our adventurous spirts have been fully recharged, we are leaving Girona, Spain and heading to the little know country of Andorra. Nothing helps to fuel the spirit of adventure like a road trip in a foreign country through mountain roads.
