📍 Andorra la Vella 🏃♂️21km ⏱1h43
📍 Anyós 🏃♂️12,5k ⏱1h09
1st country on the list is Andorra, the Nation into the Pyrenees Mountains! It's a micronation located between Spain and France, the 14th smallest country in the World, one of the most ancient ones and the only country that has a dual sovreignity and Catalan as first official language.
Andorra la Vella is the Capital and it is the most elevated one in Europe.
I spent few days in Andorra, after arriving at Barcelona Airport and managing to get a mini van transport as plan B, as my Bus got cancelled due to the protests of spanish people who wanted the indipendence of Catalunya. Every major road was closed so we took secondary ones up into the mountains and driving on gravel. Not bad right? Arriving 5h later than expected, I got to my hotel and went for a walk around Andorra La Vella to see how it looked like. Small and cute, very well organized, clean and totally safe.
The morning after I was fresh and rested, ready for the long distance of 21km in total, with a goal in my mind go and return, reaching the border between Andorra and Spain and get a passport stamp at the douane office, as it's said that it's the only place where you can get an andorran stamp for travellers.
The way down was pretty easy, straight line down to the border and stopping occasionally to take some pictures of the stone bridge, many little churches and the picturesque mountainous environement.
Arrived at the border, where there's a big roundabout with a massive andorran flag, there were the stations where cars where entering and exiting the country, so little and easy to cross even by walk. I took then a chance to run a kilometer also into the Spanish territory and mark a 2nd country on the go. Cars were queueing to enter Andorra and many started supporting, clapping and shouted me aa encouragement along my run. Really nice to experience this! Back in Andorra, I asked for a stamp on my passport and before heading back to Andorra la Vella, I noticed there is a little river called "Riu Runer", who funny enough reminded me to us, the runners!
The return was hard, all uphill for 11km where at the end of it, in front of the Dalì Monument, a local runner came for a chat and told he started following me for almost 10km behind, but couldn't manage to catch me. He said he was in the first 20 runners of Andorra, a pretty cool rank, even for a tiny nation, and made me feel strong as he couldn't overpass me. Woop woop! A mandatory selife together and the first ever touch of my social/travel running project! Food and proper rest during the rest of the day, except the moment I bumped into my work colleague from London, Andrea who was in Andorra with her family and spent time for a chat and a coffee.
3rd day,
My legs were sore, a half marathon all downhill and uphill is not something I was trained for, but I needed to distress my legs and I couldn't miss the chance for another run in Andorra. Who knows if I'll go back or run again here!
So I went the opposite direction of the day before, and chose to go even higher in the Mountains, I wanted to reach the little rural church of Anyós at 6km from the Capital. What a crazy route! That was proper climbing rather than running, the forest roads was really beautiful, but really hard, uphill, disconnected trails and rocky paths along the river "Valira d'Orient", passing by the stone bridge of "Sant Antoni de la Grella".
Arrived at Anyós, total peace and quiet from the top of the hill where the little church was built. You could see already snow on the higher mountains and that the temperature was already different due to the altitude (440m higher than Andorra la Vella).
Took some photos and down to the Capital, through another return route, that was easy but through a tunnel and the speedway. Luckly this bit, was quick and no cars were passing on that moment.
Hotel, shower, rest and chill, food and then back to Barcelona as I had to take a flight to Iceland!
Gràcies Andorra! I really loved it!
