Before meet other friends, need to buy cheap liquors and cigarettes ah ah ah... ;)

I'll be honest...it wasn't great. It wasn't terrible either!

The resort is very small and doesn't have much to do in the way of apres ski...but that doesn't really matter if the slopes are good...which they weren't really. Granted we did go realtively late in the season, but there wasn't nearly enough powder for everyone. The last snowfall had been on the 4th Feb, and Andorra had been having some fantastic sunshine...so all the snow in the resorts at the base was gone...and quite alot of the snow on the slopes was starting to turn to slush.

We had a fair snowfall on the second day there, but then the last couple of days were very hot and sunny...which ruined many of the slopes and in some places exposed bare earth and rock beneath.

Altogether though the resort was nice, and if you want more variety in terms of slopage you can always bob over to Pal or take the bus to Arcalis...both of which are easy to do (and free if you have your lift pass). So, good but go earlier in the season as Andorra is renowned for its sunshine.

Why do you go to Andorra - because it's there. To get to the little country in the mountains is great, especially if you are coming from the french side. You drive in some fantastic mountain views. As a Dane coming from a country where the highest point is 173 meters - you can understand my fascination. I just love them.

One thing you have to do in Andorra, is shopping - I bought my digital camera here and these pictures are the first ones. This place is also a place to haggle as well - walk from shop to shop and see how you are doing. You have to be aware of their siesta - they close many of the shops for 1½ - 2½ hours in the middle of the day.

I took my car up many of the small roads that leave the main road - and there you find fantastic views. The Andorians are excellent drivers and the like to show off by passing you in the most crazy ways:D 

One of the great things of the surroundings of Andorra are to follow the rutes of Tour De France and many of the mountain tops - I am just amazed how they can do these peaks on bike and in the speed they do it. Some of these peaks are really hard to drive in car.   

Ok, so it's not Andorran cuisine, but it's quick, predictable and out of the rain. Pizza can be made to order in 10 - 15 minutes, and there's plenty of seating on both levels of the restaurant. Hey, what other place can you get a pizza and an ear of corn? For around €12, you can get a medium cheese pizza (pizza margarita) and two pepsis, definitely worth it to get out of the cold November rain in Andorra and to refuel for more rainy sightseeing.

My esteemed travel colleagues and I crossed into Andorran territory from Spain at 1:00 pm; it was drizzling and just plain grey outside.  Luckily, the temperature hovered in the mid 40s Fahrenheit, so we didn't have to worry about freezing precipitation.  We found a large parking lot near the French post office and started walking toward the main street, Av. Meritxell.  The tourist office we walked by was closed, the shops we walked by were closed; Andorra was closed...The Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza was open, and the front desk receptionist was happy to give us a map of the town. 

Due to the sake of convenience, we opted to dine at the local KFC/Pizza Hut for lunch.  Our margarita pizza and pepsi were fantastic, holding up to the typical American fast food standard.  After refueling, we meandered around the Pyrenean capital.  For some reason, we avoided the old town and stayed around the more commercialized area.  St. Julia Perfumeria sat on every corner - their doors were open, inviting the only four tourists in town to come in and sample their tax-free perfume. 

Escale, the local department store was also open for business, and a tidy little bakery greeted us as we walked through the front doors.  We decided to have an afternoon snack - a custard pastry will do the trick.  A ticket dipenser dutifully churned out tickets for patrons, and as we were gawking at the display and pondering on what to choose, a nice Andorran local said to us, "You have to take a ticket."  It was a very kind gesture that was misconstrued by yours truly, but at least she was trying to help.  I wonder if she had any recommendations for our pastry choice?  The rest of the department store was full of items in which to purchase:  watches, perfume, clothes, newspapers, sporting goods, pet items, one rack of postcards...No other country trinkets were to be found.  How am I supposed to get my Andorra patch for my international backpack?  I'm foreshadowing a bit, but I'm going to guess that ebay will have one when I get home... ;)

In a nutshell, we accomplished what we set out to do in Andorra - take some pictures and walk around the town.  We had no interest in skiing or shopping, but it's a good thing, because we were able to neither.  I'm still not sure if we were in Andorra la Vella at the wrong time of day, since many Andorrans still practice the ritual of siesta, or if we were Andorra for the wrong season; nonetheless, we came, we saw, we conquered "The Pyrenean Country." 

This was one of the worst hotels I have slept in for years. We arrived very late in the evening to Andorra and the first two hotels we tried were full. Therefore I took a chanche with one on the road into the center of the city. In the car we had said to each other that we didn't need much more than a bed at this moment but when we put our head on the pillows we just laughted:D This was just too much. We had a room of the size of a phone booth, but they had managed to put in separate beds - again! and an extra bed just in case if someone fell down from the cliff and into our room. It must have been a room for other purpose - maybe a room were they saved all the beds that didn't work. The ones we had were so soft that they reminded me of a kids icecream on a very sunny day - all smached up and ready to throw out. We paid 50€ and even that was a robbery - of us. In Ski season it was prized at 94€!!! You have to be very drunk when you go to bed then in order to sleep forgetting how high it was prized.

Yet another holiday with Russell and Sarah and yet another party the night before, to make the trip to the airport before sunrise all the more challenging.

This time were flying out on a Sunday morning and the night before Michelle and I were hosts to a cocktail party that included Fergus and Helen and Bec and Craig, so there was no chance that we would be allowed to take it easy.

Our driver arrived on time and the 4 of us and all our gear piled into his old station wagon.  Not only was it a tight squeeze, the car must have been 20 years old and he had the cheek to charge us £75 for the pleasure!!  Snow holiday off to a flying start already!

The rest of the trip to Arinsal, Andorra was unremarkable, aside from Russell’s continual griping about his hangover and our rep’s shocking sense of humour and all around uselessness.   

We were all very glad when the coach ride was over.  We checked into the Princessa Parc Hotel and were very impressed with the facilities.  The rooms were good and the hotel was vast, with lots of facilities and most importantly, good food, which was inclusive with the deal that we’d booked.

The downside to our arrival was the absence of snow.  A serious problem when you are on a snow holiday.  Our rep assured us that there was snow on the slopes, which was pretty hard to believe from the village. 

After a good nights sleep, all our dreams came true, we awoke to our first morning on the slopes and there was snow everywhere on the ground.  They’d had a solid 6” of snow overnight and the town and its new guests were abuzz with excitement about the prospect of fresh powder.

We had to ascend to the piste via a gondola before we were able to pick up our equipment and meet up with our instructors.  Surprisingly, Michelle and I were two of the few boarders who had arrived seeking lessions who had any idea what they were doing, so we were thrust into the advanced class.  Our instructor, Rodrigo was an Agentinian who has been boarding for 15 years.  It took us a while to get used to his manner of instruction (which involved more “follow me!” than step by step instruction) but by weeks end he had won us over, as we’d both learnt a great deal from him.

Unfortunately, the snow that fell on the first night was the only snow that fell for the entire week, so whilst the conditions on day 1 were close to ideal, they got worse and worse during the week.  The weather was great most of the time, the sun was out and it was lovely and warm during lunch breaks but by weeks end we were almost surfing down the slope, rather than snowboarding down it.

The nightlife in Andorra was supposed to be legendary.  We pass up the pub crawl on the first night but went out looking for a crowd on the second night and were astounded by how quiet it was.  We did our best to make our own fun though, enjoying a bottle of Port the four of us had picked up on holidays together a year ago along with a few cheeses. 

Russell set his social sights on the Friday night 70’s party, so most of the evenings in the lead up to that were passed with a few quiet drinks, some cheese toasties and swapping of snowboarding and skiing stories. 

The 70’s night was good and bad.  You couldn’t swing a cat in the place without slapping 5 chavs in the face but once we’d got our first 10 drinks down and the dance floor started to fill up, it turned into quite a craic.  We were having such a good time, they had to chuck us out at 4am!!

Just a beautifull trip to the coll d'ordino. Andorra is a good hiking country, beautifull sights and lovely nature... Just go!

Next morning when we woke up we had our breakfast - and my son always enjoys this because then he can get bacon and eggs. Our goal of this morning was to go Andorra and do some shopping. Driving up to Andorra is always a very nice trip if you like driving in mountains. This time we were lucky because there was not that many trucks on the road. We were also lucky with the weather - it was clear warm and very beautiful.  

Andorra la Vella  is the capital of the principality of Andorra and situated at 1409m. The city's main attraction is the shops - and the duty-free shoping:D. It is always possible to make a bargain here if you are looking after something special. The city is lying at the confluence of the Gran Valira, the Valira del Oriente and the Valira del Norte rivers, Andorra La Vella is surrounded by stunning snow-capped mountains of up to 2500 metres high.

The old cetre Barri Antic was the original heart of the town when it was little more than a village. It stretches from the Esglesia de Sant Esteve to Placeta del Puial and is characterized by atmospheric cobblestoned streets and arresting stone houses.

Visit the Casa de la Vall (House of the Valley) where the Andorran parliament has met since 1702. Originally built as a family home in 1580, it has to be one of the most comfortable parliament chambers in the world! The town’s Esglesia de Sant Esteve dates from the 11^th century. Stroll in the Placa del Poble – the large public square atop the Edifici Administratiu Govern d’Andorra.

One of the most interesting places will be the Caldea Spa. The interior is made as the hanging gardens of Babylon and the facilities are great; indoor and outdoor pools with fountains and waterfalls, saunas, hot-tubs, Turkish baths, sunbeds and a lot more.