by Wesley
Home >> Postcard from Andorra
I don’t ski. If you don’t ski in Andorra, on a winter day you practically get the country to yourself. My plan was to explore La Massana and its surroundings on Saturday. Maggy, my dog, and I left the hotel at 9:30, abandoned by our beloved skiers. By 10:00, we had seen the town of La Massana and drunk a salty Vichy Catalan. Now what? We went to buy some llonganissa and bull. We walked to all of the furthest extremes of the town, even into places I think we weren’t supposed to walk into, in hopes of finding some hidden architectural treasure tucked out of sight. We found nothing of the sort.
On my map, I saw a neighborhood on the hill behind and above the hotel, El Pui. To Maggy’s dismay, I decided to climb that mountain, too, and go see the church that was marked so largely and clearly. We got to a group of houses and, assuming this was the neighborhood marked on the map, searched for a church. We walked around several times, me utterly confused and Maggy more irritable by the second, before I saw the bell. A little bell on top of a tiny building I had assumed to be a shed. I looked in the window and in that temple that made my bathroom look like a palace, there was an altar. This was my church! Mission accomplished, we traipsed back down the hill. It was 12:00.
For my late morning excursion to Pal, most attractive according to andorra.ad, I decided to leave Maggy and take the 1:30 bus to Pal. I would see the town, have lunch, and catch the 3:30 bus back down to La Massana. It was a perfect plan. Or it would have been a perfect plan. Pal is the Romanesque lover’s dream. For ten minutes. I was alone. I had two hours. In Pal I saw a total of one person and one cat. The Plaça Major had a garage and a faucet posing as a fountain. Xixerella was only 2 kilometers down the mountain. Instead of waiting around Pal for two hours, I decided to walk. I passed a restaurant but I was embarrassed to eat alone. God, was I stupid. Just when I was walking down the road, too far to turn back yet still far from the next town, it started to rain. Cars sped past me, their passengers probably laughing, as I got more and more soaked. When I did get to Xixerella, alleluia, I was no longer embarrassed and was willing to go anywhere, willing to pay any price, willing to eat ANYTHING, as long as I could sit down and get dry. Luckily enough, there was a restaurant and there I ate (una taula per a un…) and waited until it was 3:30 and I could run out and flag the bus down.
I got back to La Massana unharmed, wet, but unharmed. The afternoon and next morning were spent in Andorra la Vella, where at least I knew I wouldn’t be alone in the middle of a mountain town. Pending: Ordino, Sant Julià de Lòria, Meritxell…
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Posted on http://www.weeklyletter.com at 2007-03-01 11:00:00 +0100
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Hi Wesley
I don’t ski, I’ve never tried it, but I think it has no interest for me.
I’ve been in Andorra four years ago. I only visited the center of Andorra. I remember it has many, many shops. I bought a Nikon camera. It was very economic.
I don’t like very much the town, because I think is a city for skiing not for spending the time.
Bye, bye.
I’ve only skied once. The only thing I liked about that experience was the steaming warm vapour that came out of boots when the suffering was over.
I tried Alpine skiing once, somewhere near Bregenz, Austria. It was a most humiliating experience. The next year, in a Swiss resort called Heidi Land, I chose to let my beloved skiers leave me with my book. The third year, I worked out a compromise with the beloved skiers. I figured that cross-country skiing could be something I could handle. After all, New Yorkers do it in Central Park after a blizzard. The uphills and downhills are shorter and less steep, falls are in theory more negotiable, and you can chitchat (kwento) along the way. It’s like taking a walk, more or less. As reward for my willingness to adapt, I was given a nice skiing suit. But no, I haven’t worn it much and I probably won’t ever wear it much. Whether Alpine or cross-country, skiing is cold, skiing is bulky, and I fall and fall again and can never get up. Actually I tried water skiing in warm Philippine seas and I could never get up either, so in general, skis don’t like me, just like in general dogs don’t like me. I don’t know why, but the Maggy of the story happens to be the one and only dog in the world who doesn’t growl at me or outright ignore me, so I like and appreciate Maggy the way I like and appreciate anyone who doesn’t slight or snub me. And Maggy can’t ski so we have something in common.
My father and grandfather go walking in the mountains almost every Sunday. They go to nearby mountains so are home for lunch. Once a year, though, they want to go farther and have a whole weekend. Once it was to the Picos de Europa, another time it was the Pyrenees. My mother and I go along. What do we do there? If you don’t hike in the mountains, there is not much to do in a mountain town that has only one street. You can’t be going in circles all day long. The church is closed, even on Sunday. We take uphill walks and try to get lost in the mountains. In between attempts we come back “downtown� and go into the same bars to drink or eat something. We read our books, my mom scribbles, she nags, we argue. Then the mountaineers return all sweaty and muddy and we look forward to a good supper.
I suggest you visit these villages in spring or in summer if you are not fond of skiing. Do some hicking across the beautiful paths and discover the amazing landscapes those mountains hide. It is just a suggestion.
Hello,
I don’t ski but i believe that it would not do it bad, because I love skating. Here in AndalucÃa we have only “Sierra Nevada-Granada” to go to ski.
Anyway Andorra in addition to for skiing he knows each other to go shopping.
Bye Wesly
Reyes.
PD.- The photos don’t cheer up to visit Andorra !!
Thank you for comments up to now. I do want to clear up one thing and that is that this “postcard” is situational, just an experience I had. I still like Andorra! Actually, I would go back but this time with two things in mind:
1. Do not go alone.
2. Drive (except in Andorra la Vella).
Skiing is something you have to love. I think that once is enough to know whether you like it or not. If you love it, it’s all worth it. If you don’t, it’s cold and wet and all around unpleasant.
And finally, I like small towns, even tiny towns for weekend tourism or family tourism because you can see many of them in one day and/or not stressed to see one site after another. However if I have to be alone, give me city or give me death.
I needed zero attempts to know that skiing is not for me. I just can’t imagine myself in a ski suit (and wouldn’t recommend anyone else imagine me in one either).
It’s not the sliding downhill on snow that puts me off- though I can think of lots of things more productive – it’s the ski-lifts!!!! They look like death traps to me. Flimsy bits of bent iron hung from a cable.
I’d be with Gina in the hotel bar, sat by the open fire, reading poems and drinking cognac. I might stroll to the window every now and then with my binoculars for a chuckle.
Andorra is not only ski, the city has very much shops for to buy (chocolat, souvenirs, electronic items, jewels, etc). You can to find good prices in items as oil and wheels for cars.
Good food and good landscape is an opportunity for to know Andorra city and its streets.
Regards,
Javier
Hi all,
in my case, I don’t like skiing very much. But I go skiing since 3 years ago (to Andorra), because it’s very relaxing for me. When I ski I’m so concentrated in not falling than I’m not thinking about so many things I have to do at work .
After a skiing-day, I like the activities I can do there: spas (have you tried Caldea in Andorra? it’s so good) shopping, reading….
regards,
Begoña.