andorra: andorra la vella and santa coloma

when i looked at a map of europe, i noticed a small country called andorra in between spain and france...i did a quick check on google maps, which told me i could get between andorra and barcelona with a 3 hour bus ride...yahoo!
a few quick facts about andorra: they use the euro as currency...the official language is catalan, though most everything is listed in three languages: catalan, french, and spanish...i had fun comparing catalan to the other two and seeing what i could figure out...official population is just under 85,000 people...wikipedia tells me andorra has the highest capital city in europe!
my bus left barcelona at 1100, i arrived in andorra at 1400...i noticed when we crossed the border, but there was no stop, no check of passports, no stamps, etc...there was a border station, but i'm not sure who is required to stop there, if anyone...(i didn't end up with a passport stamp, i'm wondering if it's possible to get one at this station if i asked nicely? i need to go back to find out)...i tried looking online for this information, and didn't find anything posted anytime recently...is there an official place i can look?

andorra is a very small country, and when you visit, you're probably going to andorra la vella...this is part of the twin cities, the other 'city' is called les escaldes...i think the split between the two is a bridge...until i was looking at the labels of postcards, i didn't even realize there were two cities...(there are also small ski towns around the country, and another town down the road called santa coloma)...
the bus dropped me off, i think the station is in andorra la vella...i walked to my hotel, i think it was in les escaldes...(a 15 minute walk, at most)...

i checked in, and wasn't thrilled with the accomodations (extra charge for wifi, which wouldn't have reached to my room even if i was willing to pay for it) but it was fine for the night...
after figuring out a plan, i headed back out, stopping first for lunch...nothing special, just a random cafe...then to the tourist information center...(free wifi around that area!)...they gave me a city map and marked a walking tour of sorts, and told me where i could buy postcards :)
i walked through the historical center, which is pretty small, so it didn't take me long...

an old administration building, an old church, and i've forgotten what else...the aspect that makes this area kinda awesome is that it's all in a valley...several valleys actually...so everywhere you look, there are mountains in the immediate background...beautiful, and my camera isn't nearly good enough to capture it all properly...i need a lens that is much wider, and a better viewpoint...and a car so i could get out of the city and try to find more scenic spots...the actual cities of andorra la vella and les escaldes weren't anything to write home about...

since it didn't take long to see the 'sights' i walked into the shopping area of les escaldes...there are very few reasons people come to andorra...one is to say they've been to another country...a second reason is for the outdoor activities: skiing/snowboarding in winter, hiking/climbing in summer...
and third: duty free shopping...there are several malls set up for just this reason...i didn't see anything i wanted, so i watched people more than anything...
i did see a ferris wheel under contruction, i wonder if anything more was going to be added to that...there were kids playing pickup basketball in a somewhat rundown looking court just outside the construction zone...

the next morning i got up early, with the intention of walking to santa coloma to see a UNESCO listed church...i ended up getting there way early, i had to wait about 40 minutes until it was officially opened...
when it did open, the lady asked me if i wanted a free tour, i said why not...she asked what language, i said english, she said her english wasn't very good...i asked if she could go for french, of course she answered...so i got my tour in french, and i'm happy to say i think i understood most of what she said...yay!! i was even able to respond a few times and ask questions...yahoo!!

the church was built between the 9th and 12th centuries...i wanted to go in the tower, but the lady said that was unsafe...booo...i wonder if there are plans to fix that? part of the church is still original, including some of the walls, and the archway over the entrance...the roof is wood...it's really small, but i liked it...
after my tour the lady gave me a detailed brochure of all the cultural sights in andorra...too bad i didn't have a car to go see everything...
i walked back to my hotel, picked up my bag, and walked to the bus station to catch the next bus back to barcelona...
if i had more time, i would come back to andorra and hike as much as i could in the summer/fall...