Andorra - Pleasure & pain

Robyn: So we’re back from Andorra after a really cool skiing/boarding trip with Brad and Jackie. All limbs are still attached and in good working order (well Shaun’s a little achy, but coping). I was pretty happy with my skills and am slowly getting better and more confident down the runs. Quite frankly, I won’t be surprised if the National Austrian downhill skiing team approaches me with a sponsorship deal quite soon. Ok, ok perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but I do think I can confidently go down most of the reds. This obviously excludes a run called Miguel – a red with an attitude – Shaun assured me that the one small but decidedly steep section was black, so we’ll class it as a Maroon run. I’m not too confident on the Maroons. ANYWAY…Andorra was a bit of a mish mash of culture – being a tiny principality sandwiched between Spain and France. Some of the shopkeepers would speak French to me (perhaps I look French, oui, oui?? That’s “wee wee” to the uninformed!!!) and some would speak Spanish – hola! We didn’t experience too much Andorran culture in the resort but hey, that’s not what a skiing trip is about.

It was hot and dry when we arrived and Shaun wanted to swap his board for a mountain bike. The snow cannons allowed us to ski for the first few days but we were blessed by the weather gods and a big snowman took a dump right over our resort for 2 days solid! The ski conditions improved immensely and our confidence increased! Friday was my best day, a culmination of the week’s “preparation”– we ventured all the way to the neighbouring resort of Pas de la Casa cruising down some awesome wide runs. By the end of the week we were knackered, the body had been tested beyond its limits (these days, getting up too quickly from my chair can cause a muscle spasm – let’s just say I’m not in peak condition). We arrived back in London on Sunday and were fortunately greeted by glorious sunshine which helped to quell the post holiday blues. And here I am, back at work – dreaming of the next holiday…aaah!!

Shaun: Our trip to Andorra was excellent and a welcome and well-deserved break for Robyn and I. What so often makes a good trip though is the company you share it with, and it was brilliant that we got to spend some quality time with Brad '*Henry' and Jax before they jet off on their round-the-world trip in May. It was also great to see how enthusiastic and keen they both were in tackling the daunting but fun task of skiing for the first time.

Firstly, I would definitely recommend Soldeu (pronounced Sol-day-o) as a Ski Resort, especially for skiers of 'beginner' to 'intermediate' skill levels. I say skiers, because I don't believe it's as suited to snowboarders. A high percentage of the runs have flat sections in between the odd dip and at times it becomes nigh on impossible to complete a run without having to unstrap at some point and labour up to the next highest point so you can continue down the run. This shouldn't deter any snowboarders from going to Soldeu though as it's still superb, you just need to push your speed levels to new heights! (They also have the best snowboard park I have ever seen at neighbouring resort El-Tarter). The vast network of runs that are available are wide and predominantly a mix of blues and reds. The facilities are also first class, no rickety chair-lifts or crappy old hire equipment, just about everything is new. This is indicative of the amount of money that's being poured into the place through Andorra's number one earner – (Winter)tourism. I believe most of that money comes across the bars in the little town and I must say, I was blown away by the London prices in a country/principality I was told would be cheap. To clear things up for everyone concerned (including Thomson – so please update your brochures accordingly), Andorran ski resorts are not cheap, amongst other things, 4 Euro's for a small bottle of San Miguel is blatantly having a giraffe. It's an absolute shame that the Brits have practically taken over this town to, if it weren't for the surrounding setting of the spectacular Pyrenees mountains one could easily have been forgiven for thinking we were in Birmingham or Hull. Hmmmm, yes, more England and Hackett t-shirts, Reebok Classics and Argo's chains than you can shake a ski pole at.



It was also great that we got the chance to see Ben and Michelle again and meet some of their cool, down to earth friends.

My 'MVP 'for Andorra '07 had to be Robyn though, she ski'd more and more confidently all week and improved vastly from our previous trip. On the one occassion, as she said earlier, we managed to ski all the way across to the 'Mobeni of the Slopes' – Pas de la Casa, (which I think may be Andorran for 'extremely dirty place with not one single tree') probably a good 10-15km's away and definitely the ugliest resort I've ever clapped my wary eyes on.

All in all a great and memorable time was had by all. In closing, special mention must go out to Vicky, our holiday rep who showed genuine concern for our general happiness and well being throughout the trip and religiously ensured that we were always kept abreast of resort goings on. Not. And finally, thanks to the Thomson bus for arriving 20 minutes late on the Sunday morning, toilet pipes frozen and all. We all thoroughly enjoyed standing outside waiting in the icy breeze. It wasn't that chilly up there, probably only about 20 below, not counting the wind chill. Thankfully we had all just seen 'March of the Penguins' otherwise we may all have frozen to death up there. It was also a good thing no one needed the toilet during the 3.5hour coach trip to the airport either. Not. Perhaps, going forward you could install toilets in your buses (that travel to ski resorts), that don't have issues with freezing pipes, thus rendering them useless? Oh but you couldn't do that now could you because then there'd be no reason to stop at that god forsaken, culturally devoid 'chip hut' in the middle of nowhere that obviously all you sold out tour operators own and make a quick dirty buck out of!? You can't pull the wool over my eyes. Have some respect for local culture, I'd have far rather used the toilets at the Macdonalds 200m down the road. I was half-expecting Vince Vaughan (from the movie Psycho) to pop round the side of the bus and tell me it was all a dream after you'd locked us outside for 20 minutes! I was particulalry impressed to by how quickly Vicky and the customer repellant bus driver rushed back to the vehicle once they'd found out! You loafed, that's what both of you did, LOAFED! And not an explanation or apology between you!? Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse! Thomson, you need to raise your game in Andorra BIG time, you're being left behind by your competitors. And no, I didn't fill out your 'Customer Satisfaction Questionaire' because frankly I was too disillusioned and couldn't be bothered to. Plus there probably wouldn't have been enough space in the boxes for me to vent accordingly.

There, now I feel better. Now if only more people would read this blog so that I could actually make a difference in this world.

*'Henry' is a brand of Vacuum cleaner over here and is also a metaphor for the amount of food that Brad can consume in one sitting.