Spain Day 4 Andorra July 17, 2015

As I typed the title for this day, I realized, that one could argue that it is wrong, in that Andorra is a country, not a part of Spain. But, then again, I couldn't very well type Andorra Day 4 or even Andorra Day 1, as neither seems right. The trip is mainly to Spain. So, we'll stick with the title above.
We got up at 7:30 to a sunny sky with no clouds, but a bit of a haze. I've got my European ankle rash, that first turned up a few years ago in an equally hot Germany. However, this time it doesn't itch. I still say it is the heat, not an allergy, as the German pharmacist insisted at the time.
At 9, we all headed to the beach to experience the Mediterranean and get the car. There were already a fair number of folks there. There was a concrete ramp down to the beach along the seawall. At the bottom, there was a bit of a boardwalk to the rinsing stations. The sand wasn't too hot, but we were shocked at how cold the water was. It was also incredibly calm, more like a lake than what I expected. I don't think I expected it to be waves like the Atlantic, but I did think it would have some like the Gulf of Mexico does on the other side of Florida. But, just lapping of the water. Incredibly clear, too.

Not much in the way of shells were to be found either. I managed to get 2 small ones. I also got sand for my collection of spice jars of sand. It may sound like a weird thing to collect, but they are interesting to compare. Plus, it gives me a bit of real estate from the beaches I've visited.
I'd brought a towel on the trip, so cleaning up was a bit easier. Even rinsing didn't make the sand terribly easy to get off, though.
At 9:38, we found the car covered in what looked like dirt, but was no doubt sand. Seemed odd, what with the relative lack of breeze, but I guess that evening breeze that we experienced was enough to pick up sand-even that far from the actual beach.
Within 15 minutes, we were parked back at Diagonal Mar. We went back to our rooms to pack up and at 10:25, we checked out of the hotel. Now came the fun of getting the suitcases to fit back in the car. I left it to the three of them, while I got myself situated again in the driver's seat. I really hoped that leaving town would be easier than getting into it.
At 10:47, with the odometer showing 17,300, we headed off. My daughter programmed both GPS units with the address of our Andorran hotel. Until our GPS, Sarah, woke up, I followed signs pointing to Andorra. We were surprised first by an Ikea and then by a Toys R Us along the highway. The latter probably shouldn't have been a surprise, since there had been one in the mall. But, still, it seemed more like America than we expected. Soon, however, the scenery was more of what we expected:

Of course, the road sign on that second one is not like any we've seen at home.
At 11:35, we paid our first toll of the trip and it was 4,25 euros. We weren't always clear why we were paying a toll. Sometimes, it seemed to be for a tunnel. Others, it just seemed to be for the road. Maybe they take the attitude that the users should pay the bulk of the fees. Who knows?
The roads were good. I probably could have gone a lot faster than I did, but the car at the rental place had warned me that Spanish police like to ticket.
At 12:21 (17420 on the odometer), I finally found a photo op for us. It was near Massis del Pedraforca's exit and it was just a little park-like area on the side of the road. My husband started to wander down a path and discovered a stream. He encouraged us to come down and we found a nearer path to use. It was rather steep, but we all managed to get down, although each of us had to be caught at the bottom. I really wanted to touch the water, but bending down wouldn't do it, because the bank was too high. I couldn't kneel due to the knee, so the family had to hold onto me as I reached down to touch it. It felt wonderfully cool. Everyone took a turn. Then, there was the fun of getting back up the embankment. We found ourselves laughing like crazy. An excellent stop!
At 12:40, we were back on the road. According to Wikipedia, this was the Pre-Pyrennees. At 12:51, we entered Cadi Tunnel, which was 5026 meters long and at 1051m elevation, which explained the popping in our ears. The toll on the other side (17437) was a whopping 11, 65 euros, which we had to scrape up change to meet. They don't post signs ahead of time warning you of the amount of the toll, so that you can be prepared.
At 12:57 (17438), we pulled into a rest area for lunch, since we weren't sure what we'd find ahead and towns had been rather sparse. It was called Porta Cerdanya. It was very well maintained. It served both sides of the highway and we crossed a bridge to reach the restaurant. My younger daughter was quite disappointed that the ski shop was closed for the season.
We looked around at the self-service food, but wound up ordering from the counter. (We were surprised to see Oreos and Chips Ahoy in the self-service area.) My husband and I got 2 Bocadillo Suprema (long rolls with chicken and ham), 1 liter of Coke Zero to share, and 2 bags of Lay's (!) chips, but they weren't flavors you can get at home:

Once we tried them, we wished we could get them at home. They were delicious! Our daughters ordered ham and ham and brie on the local long rolls. The seating area was very pleasant. Part of it had tablecloths for evening meals. They were having trouble with their new credit card machine and it took until after the meal for it to work and let us pay.
We were on the road again about 2, feeling refreshed.  We saw some interesting signs.

By 2:46, I was feeling incredibly sleepy, which my medication often does to me, which is why I don't drive long distances alone. So, with 17479 on the odometer, we switched drivers. I soon realized, we shouldn't have. Why? Just 9 minutes later and at 17486, my daughter crossed the border into Andorra.
Drat! Well, that gave me a chance to appreciate how different it looked.

They seem to have built along the ravine created by the river that ran near the road. The capital, Andorra la Vella, seemed to be mostly in this valley, with just a bit running up the sides.
At 3:14 (17497), we reached our hotel. There was no street parking here and, in fact, there were yellow pylons and cafe areas, but there was an opening right in front of the Hotel de L'Isard just big enough for the car.

I'd chosen the hotel for its location in the older part of town and because the place looked so cool with that stone facade. We were given rooms 110 and 109, which were actually separated by an L-shaped hall. They were simple rooms that had a bit of mountain view over the roof. They were not new or modern, but seemed fine for the night. (It did turn out that dealing with the air conditioning was an issue. It blew directly on me, which wasn't great, but turning it off, meant it was actually too hot. In the mountains!)
At 3:35, the younger daughter and I went off to move the car to the parking lot up the hill to which we were directed. She chose to drive, because she felt, she'd already had to deal with the one-way streets and understood them. We couldn't get directly to Lot 5A, but had to drive back down the hill and then cut up to the lot before reaching the hotel. When we got to the lot, it said it was full, even though, we could see spots. The lot was built into the side of the mountain and there was a row of spots to the right of the entrance that were full, but to the left was a big open area. There was a sign that said something about a festival, but the date had already passed. We had to do something with the car, so we went back to 4A, which was the garage for a large department store. Very few spots existed on each floor, but we finally found one on level 5A. We cut through the store, which was catty corner from the hotel. At the hotel, they gave us another suggestion and we went back to try again. The clerk in the store wasn't thrilled to validate, when we'd bought nothing, but we wound up paying nothing to park. The exit was scary steep and came out somewhere we hadn't been before. We got a bit lost, but finally came upon the other lot, 1A, which turned out to be underground. My daughter wanted to give lot 5A another shot, so we headed there. We pulled into the entrance because we saw a car exiting at the other end and after just a moment, the light turned green and we could park. Hurrah! It was now 4:18 and the odometer read 17503. We found the pay machine, so that we'd know where that was.
By 4:30, we were in our rooms to get ready to explore. We all wanted our passports stamped, so we headed to the info center. They told us we had to do it at the border. Coming in, they had just waved us across the border. We'd have to try as we left the country.
We came out to a bit of rain. It didn't last terribly long. Just across the plaza, we found a Salvador Dali sculpture. That was a pleasant surprise.

I must admit, that this was really the only culture we saw in Andorra. Cirque du Soleil was in town, but we didn't go. People come here to shop due to low taxes. We saw lots of shoppers. We also saw lots of alcohol and lots of cigarettes for sale.

We didn't come to shop, except for postcards and such. We wanted to see this postage stamp country. My husband couldn't understand why the rest of us insisted on coming here. We took the attitude, that if we were going to be as close as Barcelona, it would be a crime not to take advantage of the opportunity to come here. We'll never get here any other way.
We did wander into some stores. We spent some time in a department store below the info center. We love looking at what kinds of kitchen things people use. My daughters even picked up a few items. Then, we spent time just exploring the grocery store in the department store. So cool! Lots of chocolates, wines, fish-yuk, so many cheeses!
By 6:50, there was a nice cool breeze and the shoppers had disappeared to their buses or whatever. I found a cute mini Andorra sculpture, some pins and postcards in a shop.
At 8:00, we went to Casa Teresa, a restaurant that we'd seen recommended in Frommer's or Fodor's, not sure which.  It was sort of an Italian restaurant really. There was seating outside, inside near the bar and in the front of the place, but we were led further inside. We ordered a liter of sangria for those of us who drink and a Normal Coke for the older daughter. Olives and bread were also delivered, albeit unbidden.

This was a very good way to spend our time waiting for our food!
My older daughter and I each ordered Reina Pizza. Mine came with obvious burnt edges, something that would never happen at home, but I was able to eat the rest and it was okay.

My younger daughter absolutely loves spaghetti, so she had to order the Bolognese version that was on the menu. She liked it.

My husband ordered stuffed trout, which I could barely look at, but he likes it.

What I loved about this dinner was that even after 3 days of being together almost constantly and having all these meals together, we had just a great conversation during this one, with lots of laughter. I love this about my family. We get along so well on trips and can always find something to talk about.
We decided we had to try more than one dessert. The idea of a frozen lemon as a cup intrigued us, so we ordered the Limona Gelada, which was terrific. A great palate cleanser. Trufes were a must, because I am not going to miss a chance to have chocolate truffles. They were amazing! An intense dark chocolate flavor that I loved!

Our final choice was the profiteroles. They were easy to share and so light and creamy. Basically, they are cream puffs with chocolate poured over them. Yum!

The bill came to 60,82, which my older daughter paid. Rather than splitting dinner bills,we took turns paying. At lunch, the daughters usually paid for their own. It worked out.
At 9:38, we headed out and up the hill to our hotel. There were some folks in cafes, but the streets were quieter than during the shopping time of day. At 9:50, we were already back to our rooms.