As much as we are loving Barcelona, and as much as I am enjoying school, the time has come to get away for the weekend! I feel like I've been studying non-stop since I got here, and so the time has come for me and the family to get away from it all and get into the mountains and to enjoy the foliage. Luckily, we are really close to Andorra, a tiny country high up in the Pyrenees mountains. A lot of my classmates from Spain seem to have visited Andorra, but mostly for skiing in the winter. We wanted to get out there to hike as a family and stay in one of the 30 refugis. Basically, mountain huts that are free for people to use out in the middle of nowhere.
I got the car while Lain got Emre ready and packed our things. I left it to her to make sure we had an awesome playlist, she did not disappoint! We left before noon and enjoyed the drive. It's been a few months since we've been in a car, so it took some time to get familiar. Emre enjoyed driving through the tunnels. He would chant, "tunnel, tunnel, tunnel" the whole way. He would eventually fade out when it took too long to get through. Since we rushed to get on the road, we skipped meals, so we stopped for some muffins and ate them in the car. Emre ate most of them, so he didn't have a big appetite when we stopped for McDonald's in Andorra. While passing through the town, we noticed a store with a giant moving tyrannosaurus rex in the storefront, so we decided to stop on our way back home. We ate our lunch, used the restrooms, and then headed up to the mountains. We admired the views along the way and stopped to take pictures. Once we arrived at the park, we asked some people where to buy firewood. I couldn't remember the word for firewood and Lain overheard and then she said, "leña, it's leña!" I got in the car and she was just laughing. Her name in Spanish sounds like, "la leña," which means, "the firewood." The one time that I would ever need that translated word, I couldn't remember it. She thought it was hilarious!
We drove back through the town once more to find a place for firewood and stopped at a gas station to buy some. The refugi huts have firewood in the Summer, so we didn't want to risk not having some. We drive up once more and arrive at the park. We throw on more layers, get our packs situated, and start our hike. We just followed the signs, which started off with a very steep path. It was more backcountry hiking than a leisurely one. 40 minutes in, huffing and puffing, we make it to another sign. It said we were about halfway there, which was comforting. We pressed on, despite the rain and cold and the heaviness of our packs. 10 minutes left, our backs were shot! Carrying Emre and the pack had taken its toll. Lain's heels were blistering as well, and the rain was not helping. We follow the river and finally make it to the hut. Unfortunately, we were not alone. There was a group of English lads that had taken over the hut. All the bunk spots were taken, so we found a small private hut to claim for ourselves. It was cold and dreary, but we made a party out of it!
Alastair started straightaway to get a fire going while I helped grab some things to start it: twigs, needles, paper, and tampons. We weren't too prepared. It took about 30 minutes to get it roaring, I was so proud of him! However, it did take a hot second for it to go out. I saw Alastair taking a selfie and then it was out. So he had to do it again! And he succeeded. While we were working on the fire, Emre was just walking around, munching on sweets and corn nuts. Such a funny one! We dressed into dry clothes, bundled Emre up with lots of layers, and watched the fire while snuggled up in our sleeping bags. I told stories of dinosaurs doing yoga, per Emre's request. I finally got Emre to sleep by singing Christmas songs.
We flew the drone for a bit to get shots of where we slept and enjoyed the crisp chilly air. There wasn't a cloud in sight, which would be perfect for hiking back!
Emre hiked the majority of the time, only a couple of times in the carrier because there were some unsafe areas. I'm so proud of how well he did. He fell a few times but would pick himself up and keep going. He even said to himself, "I'm the dino king!" to boost his moral. It was so cute! We listened to some great music to keep us going through the pain of our sore blistering feet. We stopped every so often to admire the view, take pictures, and share our appreciation for each other. This trip was good for our souls, a bit of rejuvenation!
It took about 2 and a half hours, considering Emre was hiking along with us. When we made it to the end, Emre said, "WAHOO! Let's do it again!" I'm glad even Emre enjoyed it, so I think we'll be doing this quite often next summer.
We stopped in the town to do some shopping. Apparently, a lot of Europeans go to Andorra to shop for luxury goods because of the taxes there or something of the sort. We stopped at a bakery for Alastair's obsession of ensamadas and I got to treat myself to a coat from Zara. We have Zara everywhere in Barcelona but I haven't gone shopping, so it was a delightful surprise! We ate at Burger King before heading back to Barcelona. A great weekend getaway!
