![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/files\/2019\/03\/53825963_10157116787977938_9048969465257000960_n.jpg\")
<\/a>Andorra is Europe\u2019s smallest country; not in the EU, but an independent entity nonetheless, it has diplomatic representation, its own stamps, uses the Euro, and has maintained its independence for over a thousand years by playing off Spain and France.\u00a0 That\u2019s the case today, where it\u2019s co-leaders are President Macron of France (\u201che signs what we tell him to,\u201d our hotelier stated), and a bishop of Spain. A democratic parliament has been constitutionally running the country day-to-day for at least 26 years, a feat celebrated today as \u201cConstitution Day\u201d which shut down everything, I had expected, honestly, a much smaller city-state (I think the population is about 200,000), but it\u2019s about 20 miles of spectacular scenery, from about 7500 feet down to where we are, in the largest \u201ccity,\u201d at 3000 plus.\u00a0 As I look out the window, what I\u2019m seeing reminds me of Vail\u2014a ski town with new condos halfway up the mountain.\u00a0 There\u2019s a world ski cup going on, mostly in the upper reaches, which are snow clad, and remain open until April 22 (after which, I think, the slopes become suitable for the mountain biking world cup). This is tourist country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The country is duty-free, which means it\u2019s either ski (or increasingly snowboard) or shop.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid to ask where\u2019s the \u201cold city,\u201d since I\u2019ll probably get shown a 1970s premall store. I think there\u2019s one or two old buildings, somewhere, rather like Hong Kong.\u00a0 The comparison is apt from the shopping standpoint\u2014high-end stores and electronics. Nathan Road anyone?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The language deceived me, initially; it\u2019s Catalan.\u00a0 The marquees read \u201cBon Dia,\u201d not \u201cBuenos dias,\u201d and the directions read \u201cEspanya,\u201d\u00a0 not Espana, with a squiggle over the n, but Andorrans seem to be happy to take any currency.\u00a0 The official map is printed in Catalan, Spanish, French\u2014and Russian. Perhaps neighbor Catalonia, instead of agitating for independence, ought to seek annexation to Andorra?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We\u2019re here less than 24 hours so I think I better take a walk before we leave.\u00a0 Everything is open again, and tourists are welcome!<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Europe\u2019s smallest country March 15, 2019 Andorra is Europe\u2019s smallest country; not in the EU, but an independent entity nonetheless, it has diplomatic representation, its own stamps, uses the Euro, and has maintained its independence for over a thousand years by playing off Spain and France.\u00a0 That\u2019s the case today, where it\u2019s co-leaders are President … Continue reading “Adore Andorra?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe-2019"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1713"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8411,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions\/8411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>including Starbucks\u2014except for McDonald\u2019s and Burger King.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n