Saturday 19th April – the Road to Barcelona

The sun was shining as we left Andorra for Barcelona. While we enjoyed our short time in Andorra the weather had dampened both our skins and our spirits just a little. Andorra with the sun out is a much more appealing place. Its narrow streets and its towering mountain backdrops are much less intimidating in the bright light of a clear day.

As we left the Principality and crossed the border into Spain we were stopped by immigration and questioned on our purchases in Andorra. The boots were opened but our cases were not … our passports were not checked … none of it makes sense to me … I still wonder about why small Principalities like Andorra are allowed to exist … the tax benefits are there for the inhabitants and the tax avoiders but I confess not to understand the benefit to Spain and France to have it on their respective borders.




Heading down the mountains, the European love of skiing was evident with the streams of traffic driving towards Andorra from Spain as thousands of people sought out the last chance for some adventure on the slopes of the Pyrenees before spring becomes a complete reality and the last traces of snow shrink away to swell the streams that feed from it.


The views back towards the Pyrenees were stunning










Given the beautiful, clear if crisp day it was not surprising that the car parking spaces were full at the monastery perched high on the top of the Mountains of Montserrat about 6o kilometres from Barcelona. While it would have been a delight to have driven the little Peugeot up the mountain we had to settle for a pleasant ride on the rail car.





One has to admire the strength both physically and spiritually of the monks that originally established the monastery. It is almost impossible to imagine how taxing it must have been to first build accommodation and then to live your life in such an in-hospitable yet beautiful place.




We have three days in Barcelona and our drive into the city was quite pleasant although I suspect we might have been fortunate that it was the early afternoon of a Saturday, Barca were not scheduled to play Espanyol until fairly late afternoon and our hotel was located in an accessible location just off the Avenue Diagonal. In any event finding and booking into the hotel was without incident – finding a park for three days – now that needed some of Bernadette’s best negotiating skills – needless to say in the end we have the car safely stored away just a stone’s throw from the hotel – Bernadette doesn’t speak Catalan and the guy didn’t speak English – nevertheless they made each other understood and both seemed pleased with the deal that they struck.

The hotel is pleasant and is about a 15 minute, safe walk from the main square of Barcelona. It is well served with tapas bars and we tried two on our first night in town. The first was fairly traditional while the second was an Irish Pub that served the Tapas in an effort to blend in with the locals. A Tapas selection washed down with Guinness is a remarkably good combination.