Spain - June 2010

Mad Dash to Madrid

The Guinness

It was all a bit rushed having arranged this trip at short notice and only having a day in Madrid. It’s amazing what you can do with a little iTouch and WiFi access. I’d managed to book two hotels, look up trains and have a brief look at Guinness outlets, all before I’d left Andorra. On arriving in Madrid though things were different. As I interspersed the sightseeing with tracking down a pub serving Guinness it quickly became apparent that there were a lot of ex-Irish pubs around that had either now shut down or no longer selling the black stuff. I eventually found one open.

Much relieved after finding a Guinness at the Triskel Tavern

Wendy kindly pours me another before picking out my next destination - Oslo. 

 That should do nicely for a summer holiday!

Getting There and around

From Andorra I took the coach back to Barcelona and then jumped on the new high-speed train to Madrid. It wasn’t cheap but it certainly saved making a return trip at a later date. And a great train journey it was too gradually getting more arid as we approached Madrid.

The Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) high speed trains modelled on a duck?

Team Makeup

A solo effort on this trip.

Accommodation

I failed to find room in any of the hostels at such short notice so ended up at the Aristos Hotel on Avda Pio XII.

Don Quixote I do believe.

Food

Such was the brevity of my trip that I ended up eating snacks rather than a traditional Spanish meal.

Those lions must be well trained to pull a chariot.

Sightseeing highlights

Lots of classic architecture and wide boulevards lined with state buildings and shops.

Plaza de Cibeles with the Cibeles fountain built in 1777 which depicts the roman goddess of nature in a chariot pulled by two lions.

The Callao cinema art deco building with its curved corner built in 1928.

The very impressive Royal Palace, Palacio de Oriente and nearby ornamental gardens built in the 1750s.

Plaza Mayor, a giant old square, teeming with people

Real Madrid’s Bernabéu stadium.

Quirky moments

Not realising that Madrid is Europe’s third largest capital city behind London and Berlin. No wonder I kept getting lost.

The architecture of the Atocha railway station itself was also impressive as was the atrium complete with indoor tropical botanical garden, pool and turtles, some of them pretty large.

Andorra – June 2010

Ambling Around Andorra

The Guinness

Guinness was somewhat hard to find in the capital Andorra la Vella. I hadn’t bought an ‘emergency can’ with me so I was glad that on my first day I managed to find some on sale in a supermarket. That would be my fallback is I failed to find any elsewhere.

Phew.  My fallback position is sorted

After much searching I did eventually find a bar that sold Guinness though not quite as I knew it. A can was emptied into a glass and the glass put on an ultrasonic platform to encourage a true head to be formed. To add insult to injury it was served in a San Migel glass.

It may be Guinness but not quite what I was expecting.

I did a bit of travelling around the country and eventually had a true pint of draught Guinness in the Quo Vadis pub in Arinsal. They kindly agreed to pick out my next destination – Madrid, Spain. Ummm, I thought, hardly worth going home. So as I supped my pint my mind turned to how I could get to Madrid.

Now that's more like it.  A pint of draught Guinness in Quo Vadis, Arinsal.

Looking a bit happier now.  That's hitting the right spot.

Ana picks out my next destination - Madrid. 

Getting There and Around

I took a budget airline flight to Barcelona and from there took a direct coach up to Andorra. The only issue was that the coach arrived in the middle of the night and rather foolishly I hadn’t booked a hotel. Not to worry, I soon found one open and luxurious by my standards it was too.

Travelling around Andorra isn’t difficult. It’s a small country with an efficient bus service though most busses start from the capital so if you want to travel across the country you’ll normally end up coming back into the capital.

A well maintained hillside track

Team Makeup

It was just me on this trip and it wasn’t even a sort of trip where I met other travellers, so I’m glad I had a good book with me.

Accommodation

In Andorra de Vella I spent a night at the Novotel. In Meritxell I stayed in Hotel Ermita which was lovely and in a tiny hamlet with good scenery. In Arinsal I stayed at the Hotel Arinsal. It was certainly low season there – I think I was the only guest. It looked like the sort of place that would be busy with skiers in winter and holidaymakers in the summer. I was told to make sure I took my key with me if I went out!

Looking down into the hamlet of Meitrxell and Hotel Ermita

Food

The food at Hotel Ermita in Meritxell has to be the highlight. One evening I had scrambled eggs with peppers to start, duck with a roasted pepper for main course and brownies for desert. The other night I was served with starters of pasta soup, the main course was Catalan sausage on a bed of haricot beans and crème brulee for desert

Sightseeing highlights

I didn’t go high into the mountains but I did do some walking on the lower slopes. The area has lots of well marked footpaths. At Arinsal I found a lovely track up a valley. This place was idyllic. A river tumbling down through the trees, and plenty of butterflies and wild flowers. Amongst the butterflies was the Burnet Companion (a moth in reality) and meadow fotilia. I settled down and read my book for an hour or so.

Lovely valleys full of wild flowers and butterflies.

Quirky moments

There are some pretty wacky things to see in the capital itself. Some of the sculptures are worth seeking out.

Some pretty bisare headgear being worn in Andorra's capital

Lasting Memories

Lovely as the area was it was quiet even for me. I cut my visit short by a couple of days so I could make a mad dash down to Madrid.

What do you make of all that then?