October 22, 2026

Thursday

Barcelona, Catalonia, España > Andorra la Vella, Parròquia d'Andorra la Vella, Principat d'Andorra (Principality of Andorra)

Good morning. A rough night’s sleep. The fact that we don’t have a record of our return bus from Andorra la Vella to Barcelona on Sunday just kept going around, keeping sleep at bay. Of course, it was all for not. The bar in the lobby opened at 07:00.

I got a cappuccino at 07:20. I was able to use the remaining chit from the room to buy the cappuccino. The guy behind the bar asked if I wanted anything to eat. While I looked at the menu nothing tickled my fancy, so I said no. He was feeling sorry for me and brought me a croissant on the house. He said I shouldn’t drink coffee on an empty stomach. Not sure why, I do it every morning.

Back in the room I woke Mary up at 08:00. Although the DirectBus ticket office opens at 08:00 I waited until 08:30 to call them. It said to use WhatsApp, but the response I got was we don’t take calls on WhatsApp. They do however text.

I sent them our information including what I thought was the time and date (10:45, Sunday) for the return trip. They responded by sending me a copy of our tickets. Easy-peasy no reason to worry.

At 10:45 we left for the 11:45 bus, twenty minutes away walking really slowly. We had to stand in line to check-out; there was a Viking Cruise also checking out. However, we were at the bus terminal by 11:15, thirty-minutes before our departure, as required by the information on the ticket.

It was unclear exactly which of the lanes would be used for the DirectBus to Andorra, so we went to the ticket window to ask. When we did they woman behind the glass asked for our ticket and passport. She then proceeded to print tickets for us and give us luggage tags. We were told to got to lane 5 for the bus.

We went into the small café in the bus station and got a hand and cheese croissant, Mars bar and a bottle of water for our lunch. Back in line for the bus. At 11:40 the bus pulled in. There were already people on board. The bus had made a stop at the airport for people going to Andorra.

We got on board, settled in. It isn’t much different than economy on an airplane. The seats are about the same size, maybe a little more leg room. Just as we were getting ready to pull out, a man came up claiming to have seat 9, my seat. The bus driver came; we showed our tickets. Yes, we did both have seat 9. We were on the right bus, but we couldn’t see his ticket well enough to see if he was. But the bus driver told him to find any open seat. And, with that we were off.

Andorra, officially the Principat d'Andorra (Principality of Andorra), is a small, landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyténées mountains in southwestern Europe. It is stuck between France to the north and España to the south. The unsubstantiated history is that it was created by Charlemagne. Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Diocese of Urgell.

Andorra was formed as a polity by a charter in 1278, being a lordship within the Principality of Catalonia until 1715. A polity is a politically organized group of people or society that shares a collective identity and system of governance. It has its own laws, constitution and administrative authority. Unlike a sovereign state it does not strictly require a full international independence. Until 1993 Andorra was governed by two co-princes: The bishop of Urgell, and the president of France. Andorrans approved a new historic constitution in a referendum in 1993, transforming the co-principality into a parliamentary democracy. This limited the co-princes’ powers. They also joined the United Nations.

Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe; the other five being Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Andorra has an area of 468 square kilometers (181 sq. Miles) and a population of less than 100,000. Andorra la Vella (Andorra the old) is the capital and largest city. The Andorran people are a Romance group descended from the Catalans. Andorra is the world’s 17th-smallest country by land, and 11th-smallest by population. Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe at an elevation of 1,023 meters (3,356 feet). There is only one official language – Catalan. Tourism is Andorra’s life blood with approximately 8 million visitors annually. They, therefore, speak Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Although it uses the Euro as its currency it is not a member state of the European Union.

We ate our sandwich and drank our water about 13:00. The bus officially entered Andorra at 14:55. Mary added another country to her list. She is one more closer to my total; I was here in 1965 with my parents. We arrive at the bus station in Andorra la Vella just as it went 15:00. It was less than a mile to the hotel, so we decided to walk it. We didn’t realize that air would be this thin, but be made it to the Grand Plaza Hotel and Spa before it went 15:30.

We asked for dinner recommendations. The desk clerk recommended Sapori d’Italia down by the bus station. We asked him to make dinner reservations. They open at 20:00. We reviewed our country count tonight and determined that Mary now has 80. I have 87.

At 19:00 we left the hotel for dinner. We exited the hotel and turned right down Carrer (or Calle) Maria Pla. We stopped at Ametler Origen, a grocery store, to see if we could find me some more English Breakfast tea, not there was no joy. We continued on to Avenida Meritxell which is listed on the map as part of “The Shopping Mile” here in Andorra. Andorra being “tax free” shopping is one of the main reasons tourists come here.

When we arrive at Avenida Consell d’Europa, just before the river (La Valira) there is a traffic circle. Unfortunately, it is under reconstruction and there was no pedestrian path to continue on, so we walked down Avenida Consell d’Europa following the river until we were able to cross over to the other side of the river to Passeig del Valira. We then took another right trying to get up to Avenida Meritwell. Eventually we did.

On Avenida Meritwell we found a shop called “The Cigar Store”. They had a huge selection of cigars, including Pardon! While I wasn’t able to get the 2000 Maduro I usually smoke I was able to get a box of naturals. They were €10.75 (about $12) each. That includes tax. I got a box of 26 and a new cutter.

We walked around the edge of the old town and down the hill to Sapori d’Italia, arriving just as they were opening the door for dinner at 20:00. We were, as usual, the first patrons. The restaurant looked dry nice. The young lady that sat us spoke Italian so that was a good sign.

The menu was in Spanish and English. It was a simple placard of laminated paper. One side had various dishes and the other pizza. We weren’t really interested in piazza, we wanted pasta. We started with an order of “Traditional Bruschetta” as an appetizer. Mary ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. I ordered the gnocchi alla Brava (a combination of emmental, gorgonzola, parmesan and taleggio).

This was the bruschetta

Mary’s pasta

My gnocchi alla brava 

There are on occasion difficulties in translation. The “Bruschetta Tradizionale”’s description is – with red and yellow tomato, Pinnolo del Vesuvio DOP, basil, garlic, onion, extra virgin olive oil, served on a hot focaccina.” The issue revolves around the last word – focaccina. Focaccina vs focaccia. Focaccia is bread, usually made in a square pan. Focaccina is a round piece of piazza dough. We learn something everyday.

The bruschetta had all the right ingredients. However, the tomato was more like a pizza sauce than sliced raw tomatoes. There was a lot of onion. There is never sufficient garlic for me, but this had even less than the minimum. Usually the basil, tomato, garlic and onion aren’t “cooked”. This was served like a pizza, everything hot. The flavor was ok, just not what was expected.

Mary’s spaghetti bolognese was simple described as “pasta with minced meat”. For us, bolognese means tomato sauce with meat. The spaghetti was exactly as it should have been. The sauce was mostly tomato. There was a little bit of meat. It really didn’t have much flavor. Ok, nothing compares to Nonna’s spaghetti sauce.

The gnocchi alla Brava was described as above. It was very good. Served in flat square pan in a cork tray. It had obviously come out of the pizza oven straight to the table. It was hot and full of cheese. There was much more than I needed in terms of a portion, but it was so good I ate it all anyway.

After dinner we waked them to call us a taxi to take us back to the hotel. We stepped outside as the taxi pulled up. It was the usual €10 ride back to the hotel. We confirmed it was ok for me to smoke on the terrace outside our room. We did see and ashtray out there earlier. I went out and had a cigar while Mary played word.

It had gone 21:00 by the time we went to bed. Below are the views from our terrace.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria