Andorra is a tiny speck on the map, squashed between France and Spain, in the mountains of the Pyranees. Jacks, myself,
Shaun and Robyn caught a very early flight from Gatwick, and after landing in Toulouse, we boarded our Thomson Ski coach to Soldeu. Our half way stop was designed purely for the tour companies, and had about as much charm as a garbage dump. The best food on offer was chip rolls, and although it excited many of our fellow tourists, we were not too impressed. While we were there about 400 chip rolls must have been sold. Sunday is big for business in their part of town, and I reckon everything shuts down as the busses roll out.
Finally, after around 3 and a bit hours on the coach, we arrived in Soldeu, and after checking into our hotel, we made our way to the ski hire shop. They're really well prepared for the arriving ski mob, and in no time at all we had our stuff. We were pretty exhausted, so after a quick walk through town and dinner at our hotel, we hit the sack.
First thing on monday morning we caught the gondola up the mountain and registered at the beginner ski school. There were 150 beginners, so getting there early guaranteed us morning lessons throughout the week. The advantage of this was that we'd get the chance of testing our 'skills' in the afternoon. The skiing thing felt very strange at first, and I looked like a newborn giraffe trying to breakdance. Each day we got a little better, and more importantly, we started having fun. Towards the end of the week we were doing a couple of easy blue runs and feeling quite comfortable on the slopes. The last thing we wanted to do was break a leg, so we were possibly a bit on the cautious side. On friday I entered myself in the beginners race, and came 18th out of 140. I don't think I'll be competing in the Winter Olympics just yet though.
Our
hotel was on the main street, only a 5 minute walk to the gondola. The rooms were clean but small, and the food wasn't too bad (with most emphasis on the carnivores). The best thing about it was the 5-6pm happy hour, with a 'buy 1 San Miguel get 1 free' special. The pubs in town offered very little in the way of local culture, and were carbon copies of any high street pub in the UK. After joining our Thomson organised pub crawl early on in the week, we decided to avoid spending any more time in the pubs (or with the Thomson crowd). Quite sad how many tourists depend on familiarity to enjoy being away from home.
The ski season in Andorra hadn't seen too much in the way of snow, and their snow cannon's had been working overtime. This all changed during our stay, with huge snowfall towards the end of the week. The town became a winter wonderland, and the mountains and slopes were covered. Jackie's birthday was on saturday, and we woke up to a blizzard outside. We decided to enjoy a bit of a lie in, and after opening presents, we tucked into a late breakfast. Staying in Soldeu, at another hotel, was
Ben and Michelle,
John and Kirstin(who we met on our Croatian trip),
Gerrod and Kristy (Aussies in NY), Pat ( a mate of Ben's) and Matt (Kirsty's brother). The previous evening we had all arranged to meet up at a bar on the slopes, at 11am, to have a quick celebratory drink for Jacks' birthday. The weather was poor, and we knew the bar would be closed, so we decided not to rush up. The Aussie crowd did, and were sitting outside the closed bar at 11am, singing happy birthday to an absent Jacks (they filmed themselves doing this). The funny thing was that we actually made it to the top by 11, and were skiing past the hut around the time of the sing-song. We just assumed that they wouldn't be there. Thanks guys, it's the thought that counts.
Sunday was our 1 year anniversary, and even though the bulk of the day was spent making our way back to London, we enjoyed the memories of our wedding day. We left our hotel at around 4:50am, and arrived back at our flat just after 2pm. We'd thoroughly enjoyed our first skiing experience, and will definately be going again. The trip was great, but I did find that Andorra lacks any individual culture or style. I understand that it's a principality and not a country, but I just wish both the residents and the big tour operators would try and promote some sort of local character. At the moment it's a collision of all things english, spanish and french, and the only real locals I came across were the smelly sheep wandering through town.
