There are a handful of tiny countries salting the map of Europe. Known as microstates, they have autonomous governments which are recognized by the larger states around them. Andorra’s population is eclipsed by that of Bellingham, Washington for 9 months of the year. If I could, I would visit every nation on earth. And so, Andorra is one spot on the map that I could not pass up the opportunity to see.
The bus from Barcelona took four hours each way. I have become accustomed to long bus rides over the course of last year. The countryside of eastern Spain, and that of Andorra, is wonderful to see. Hills with dramatic, cliff faces are the seat of large, stone churches. Cream and Swiss cheese colored rocks jut out from beneath tall trees; stubborn looking, craggy, obstinate, and porous-sharp boulders acting as homes for smaller beasts.
Andorra La Vella, the capital, rests in a valley and is surrounded completely by low mountains. A fast-moving creek cuts through the town, bringing with it the calm sounds of mountain water. A light rain had me moving quickly from place to place. I was attracted to a large, mirror-glassed structure, the obvious center of everything. Once inside, I found out that it was a famous spa. I ogled briefly at the chrome-plated Star Trek interior before making my way to the water museum.
Andorra owes much of its modernization to hydroelectric facilities which were built there before the Second War. The water museum was impressive, opulent, engaging, and free. Afterward I went to a three story building which houses three small museums. The first floor was showcasing a Spanish sculptor who had been on the losing side of the Spanish Civil War. Josep Viladomat was a man with a rare ability to capture faces and hands with hammer and chisel. His works are displayed throughout the city.
An interesting coincidence of God happened after my return bus had dropped me off in Barcelona. One of the men I met at the hostel just happened to be entering the station as I was leaving it. I would have lost track of him altogether had we not been brought together in that moment. It is amazing how God works and unfathomable that miracle of orchestration.
albaniacalling 