Country #72 - Finland

The Snow

This morning my mom and I, unfortunately, had to say goodbye to Amsterdam after a perfect two days. It was a really early morning at that, as our flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki was at 7am. We took an Uber to the train station (because transit was not running yet) and then took a quick train to the airport. Now that we are in the Schengen Zone we didn’t have to go through immigration so the process at the airport was really simple. It wasn’t too long of a flight thank goodness, but we made a new friend on the flight! My mom chatted more than me but Ralph talked with us about lots of different things. Feel free to check out his blog (ralphslond.com)! You never know what kind of cool people you will meet on an airplane.

After we landed we took the train into Helsinki. It is super simple and is actually one of the first places that I that I travelled on my own when I studied abroad, so it definitely holds a special little place for me. I loved my last visit to Helsinki and was really looking forward to today! We were in the city in about twenty minutes and stored our luggage in the lockers in the Helsinki central train station. Our next stop was to eat lunch at a great little burger spot near the station called Friends & Brgrs. It was a great place to just look out at the city, which was especially interesting today because it was Finland’s 100th anniversary of Independence! We had no idea until we were leaving Amsterdam that today was so important in Finland, but hoped that it would make the day even more interesting!

After a filling lunch, we made our way to our first stop of the day, to try and find my mom a new memory card for her camera because hers had broken. We quickly found out, however, that 100 years of independence means that literally every store is closed. Restaurants and most tourist sites tended to be open though! Our first actual stop of the day, then, was the Kamppi Chapel of Silence. Kampii Chapel is a spiritual building (but not technically a church) that is open to everyone. The coolest part about it is that is just open for anyone to come in and sit and think, and it completely cuts off all outside noise from the busy square just right outside. It is also a really uniquely designed building, which makes sense when you learn that it was built as part of the World Design Capital program in 2012.

After enjoying the silence we made our way to Kissima, Helsinki’s Modern Art Museum, and honestly one of the best modern art museums I’ve been to! What is so impressive is that both times I have been to Kissima it has been entirely different, but both times it has been incredibly innovative and insightful. This time was especially cool because the current exhibits focused on technology and art. If you ever find yourself in Helsinki this museum is a must see! What was also pretty funny was that while we were in the museum we saw a van accidentally run into a statue outside. I say run into, but it was more like a gentle tap. That gentle tap, though, caused a giant leak in the van, and as we progressed through the museum the scene outside progressed from the guy in the van realizing he screwed up to the police and a tow truck on the scene.

After Kissima we headed over towards Helsinki Cathedral, one of the most iconic spots in Helsinki. I love how giant and imposing the church is, but also how simple and beautiful it is! My visit this time stood in stark contrast to last – there was absolutely no one there when I visited last February, but this time there were crowds everywhere due to the adorable Christmas market! It was truly the perfect setting for a Christmas market, right in front of the incredible Helsinki Cathedral. The stalls were all very original and local which I really appreciated. We really enjoyed walking through all of them, and I was very excited to find that Regatta Café, one of my favorite stops on my last trip to Helsinki, had a stall as well! It is a cozy little café on the edge of a tiny pond out of the center of the city so we didn’t have enough time to see it today, but the stall was definitely a good way to make up for that! We had some tasty (and warm) hot chocolate and a great plum pastry as well.

Once we finished at the market we then walked over to the Market Square area which was filled with people for the Independence Day celebrations. There were one hundred Finnish flags set up which was really cool, and the area in general is a great one because it is right on the water. Our last stop of the day was to walk up Esplanadi, which is sort of Helsinki’s high street and was adorably decorated for Christmas. In fact, Helsinki killed it with the Christmas decorations. It felt like there were beautiful street decorations around every corner, and each street was unique. It was great! After walking down Esplanadi and passing by Stockmann department store to look at their great window decorations, we then headed back to the central station to get our bags and buy a few snacks.

From the central station, we took the tram straight to the West Terminal, where our ferry/cruise (I’m still not quite sure what it would be classified as) was leaving from. We are taking the cruise from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, Russia, and then back again in two days. The exciting part about doing St. Petersburg this way is that we don’t need to get a Russian visa, which can be about $300. Taking this ferry (the Moby/SPL line) saved us cost and also was not too bad on time as both rides we would be sleeping overnight. We checked in and received our boarding card/room key, arrival card, and departure card. We then walked up to board the boat and headed to our room. It was tiny, but I’m glad we at least splurged to not have the beds right on top of one another! The room felt kind of like a hostel level accommodation, but we did have our own small bathroom at least, and the room was clean.

We got settled in our tiny space before heading up to explore the boat. There were a few restaurants, a casino, lounge, sauna, movie theater, and a few other amenities. We decided to eat pizza and were able to watch as Helsinki faded away into the distance, as did my cell service. We were soon in the middle of absolute nowhere (technically the Gulf of Finland), and after we finished eating we headed back down to our room. We both fell asleep really early as it had been such a long day and we were exhausted. I’m hoping to get a good night’s sleep on the boat before we hit the ground running in St. Petersburg in the morning!

72 countries down, 124 to go.

Country #71 - Netherlands Day 2

The Art

I had a fantastic night’s sleep before getting ready and having an equally fantastic breakfast! My mom and I had breakfast at our hotel, Ambassade Hotel, and had a view right out the window of the canals. I had a tasty omelette, warm chocolate crepe, and lots of other foods from the buffet. It was a great start to our full day in the Netherlands! After eating we headed to the lobby to meet Eelco, the reservations manager of the hotel. We had such a great conversation and learned so much about both the Ambassade Hotel and its history as well as Amsterdam. I am so glad to have been able to stay in such an interesting and historic hotel - if you want to learn more about my stay head over to the Ambassade Hotel page of my site.

After our meeting, we set out for the day! Our first stop was a hidden courtyard near our hotel, and then we headed to see the Nine Streets in the daylight. They were beautiful last night but are far more picturesque once the sun is up. We saw tons of cute shops before making our way towards Museumplein, the area of Amsterdam filled with, you guessed it, museums! My mom did the Van Gogh museum on her own since I just did it last year, and while she did that I made my way to one of the most beautiful spots in Amsterdam, Vondelpark. Vondelpark is a giant, relaxing, and beautiful park in the heart of Amsterdam, and I really enjoy just taking time to walk through and enjoy it. After an hour I made my way back to meet up with my mom.

Our next stop was a new one for me in Amsterdam - the Moco Museum. The Moco Museum features art by two artists only, Banksy and Roy Liechtenstein. It was definitely a change of pace as far as museums go and I absolutely loved it. It was so interesting to see so much of Banksy's art in one place as you don’t even normally see it in museums. It was also a very informative museum as far as learning about the inspiration behind many of Banksy's iconic works which I really appreciated. After finishing Moco Museum relatively quickly (it’s really small) we made our way to Stedelijk, Amsterdam’s modern art museum.

Stedelijk was one of my favorite museums on my last visit, but what was so incredible about my visit this time was that the entire museum was completely different than last time, and it had only been a year! It was still a great museum, though, and we saw lots of interesting pieces before heading back outside to Museumplein, where we walked to take a picture of the infamous I Amsterdam sign. From here we took the tram over to Albert Cuyp Market, which was another new experience for me.

Albert Cuyp Market was a great street with tons of vendors. We had two of the best stroopwafels ever (definitely visit just for the stroopwafels) and some very tasty fries. We walked through the market pretty quickly before heading back towards the Nine Streets to buy a small print that was in a store that had been closed earlier in the day. We then stopped by the flower market (Bloemenmarkt) where we got a few tulip bulbs to take home. Our next stop was then back by Van Stapele Koekmakerij to stock up on more cookies before leaving Amsterdam. If my last post didn’t convince you maybe this one will - they are literally the best cookies in the world and there is no argument and you have to go if you ever visit Amsterdam. The lady at the register even remembered us from the day before! We then headed back to our hotel to warm up for a bit.

We decided to do a night cruise to see the Amsterdam Light Festival, giving us only a little time to grab a small bite to eat beforehand. We decided to try The Lebanese Sajeria, a small spot that was right outside of our hotel and smelled amazing every time we walked by. It was a great decision because the food tasted as good as it smelled! We split a really yummy Manouse flatbread before catching our boat around the canals.

The light tour was so cool! I highly recommend visiting Amsterdam during The Amsterdam Light Festival because it was so cool to see an art exhibition based on light from the water. After about an hour and a half on the water, we arrived back and made our way back to Ambassade Hotel to get a good night’s sleep before an early morning heading to Helsinki, Finland tomorrow!

71 countries down, 125 to go.

Read about my first day in the Netherlands here.

Read about my third day in the Netherlands here.

To learn more about Ambassade Hotel click here.

Country #71 - Netherlands Day 1

The NYC Lights

Today was an early one, but it’s exciting because it is the start of my two week Europe trip with my mom! I’m really looking forward to having her join me for two weeks in Christmas-y Europe. We’ll be going all over, including to the Netherlands, Finland, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Our first stop is in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, specifically), but to get there we have to fly through both New York and Dublin.

We drove three hours to Atlanta where we had an 11am flight, which meant we had to leave by 6am. We were running a bit late but thanks to my dad’s quick driving ended up making it without having to run to our gate, thank goodness. I was pretty annoyed with United, though, as they made us check our carry on bags through claiming there was no space left in the overhead bins. When we got on the plane though there was still plenty of space! The flight seemed really short and our bags arrived safely in New York as well. I also found out mid-flight that Alabama would be headed to the college football playoff, so that was some exciting 37,000-foot news!

When we landed we met my Aunt Dana outside. We would be spending the day with her in NYC before departing late in the evening. There was very little traffic on our drive into the city, and after exiting the Lincoln tunnel we parked without a hassle and then took the subway towards our first stop: food! On the way to eat we stopped in the MOMA design store and walked up a small portion of 5th avenue, glimpsing the beautiful lights for the first time. We were soon at the Plaza Food Hall, one of my favorite places to eat in New York as it’s really close to where I worked last summer. I really love the pasta place there, Ora Di Pasta, which is where we decided to eat. I had my favorite, the four-cheese alfredo ravioli! We met some nice ladies from Florida sitting next to us, and after we finished we headed back out to enjoy all of the Christmas lights and window decorations.

It was so insanely crowded (much more than it ever was during the summer), but we were still able to see a lot. My favorite decorations were probably Tiffany, Burberry, and Cartier, and the best indoor decorations were Bergdorf Goodman and Saks. Saks also probably had the best lights but we didn’t realize until after we left that we needed to wait to see them turned on. The windows were cool too, though! We stopped in St. Patrick’s church real quick as well (it is beautiful and definitely worth stepping inside if you ever find yourself in New York) and then made our way across the street to 30 Rock to see the giant tree. It was, indeed, giant, and also was a pretty chubby tree. It was wall-to-wall people and we quickly made our way through to catch a cab back to our car on the other side.

We drove up the west side highway, out of the city, and on towards Newburgh where we would be flying out of. We made a quick stop at Best Buy and to see my Uncle Tom who had some chicken fingers waiting for us at a small restaurant in the town where they live right near Newburgh, Cornwall-on-Hudson. We ate quickly and then headed on to the airport. It was a great day taking a quick visit through the city and visiting with Aunt Dana as well.

It took forever to check-in for our flight, and I had my first ever bad experience with Norwegian Air (which is good because I fly them all of the time). Our bag was .2 kg overweight and they refused to let us carry it on, or to let us take anything out of it, which I have never in my life seen before. I was livid. It didn’t cost anything to check it through, but we have a dangerously short layover when we arrive in Dublin and having to wait on our bags honestly could make us miss our connection. Funny how my first bad experience with Norwegian ever was dealing with US-based gate agents, right?

The Canals

Our flight to Dublin was almost completely full and we had no window seat, only a middle and an aisle. The flight was only six hours and by some sort of miracle, I slept more than I almost ever do on international flights, even without a window seat! I guess I was just exhausted from only getting a few hours of sleep before having to get up so early today, but I truly was amazed. When we landed in Dublin it was off to the races to catch our next flight. We were changing airlines and only had an hour and a half because our flight was late on top of already having such a short amount of time. We raced to immigration where the line took about twenty minutes and then had to wait on our bags for another ten minutes (see? I had a right to be upset back in New York).

We had fifty minutes to make our flight at this point. We were flying Ryanair so we had to go to the gate to have them stamp our tickets since we are not from the EU - they call this a visa check but I call it a waste of time because literally no other airline requires it. We then went through security where our line ended up being the slowest and both of my bags were flagged for extra screening, of course. We now only had about ten minutes until boarding supposedly closed, but with European airlines, especially Ryanair, the boarding pass times can be exaggerated. However, they could also be accurate every now and then, so it is always best to play it extremely safe.

My mom went on to the gate to tell them that I was coming, and I had to run a good long ways after waiting ten minutes for my bags. Dripping sweat I made it to what seemed like the farthest away gate with only a few people left boarding. It was a miracle - we made it! It was a pretty quick flight and seemed almost over by the time we received the food that we ordered as we had yet to eat today.

When we arrived in Amsterdam immigration was simple and we then made our way to the train into the city. We bought our tickets at the terminal for about five euros and the ride itself took about twenty minutes. When we arrived we walked across the street from the train station to the GVB Tickets & Information office to buy our tram passes for two days. We then took the tram two stops to head to our hotel, Ambassade Hotel. It was a two-minute walk from the tram and boy, is it incredible!

We were greeted by Eelco, the reservations manager, and that was just the start to our amazing stay. Ambassade Hotel sits right on a canal and is such a cool place. Our room was beautiful with a canal view, amazing interior, and very cosy bed. Oh, and the best shower ever! The hotel itself has a stunning library that features over 4,000 books. And get this: they are all signed by the author, and every single author had stayed at or been to the hotel!  And we are talking some really famous authors, too. There is also a lot of art throughout the hotel which I especially loved.

After checking in, showering, and resting for a bit we then headed out for a few hours. We walked around the Nine Streets area, one of my favorite parts of Amsterdam that happens to be where Ambassade Hotel is located. It is filled with really cool shops and is so picturesque. It was a beautiful night and really enjoyable to walk around. Our first stop was an obvious one: the absolute, indisputable, greatest cookie shop in the entire world, Van Stapele Koekmakerij! I am not exaggerating people, they are the best. Dark chocolate cookie, white chocolate and chocolate chip middle, served straight out of the oven still piping hot. I have been dreaming about them since last being in Amsterdam a year and a half ago, and they are still every bit as good. I would literally fly across the Atlantic just for these cookies. So I think it goes without saying, but if you are ever in Amsterdam, definitely make the stop. There might be a line out the door but it is always worth it (and we were lucky enough not to have a line!).

After the cookies we had dinner at Eetcafe Singel 404. I had a tasty bacon, chicken, and cheese sandwich. It was a really cute little spot and we had a great view out the window. After dinner we went into a few shops, walked around a bit longer, and then visited the Cheese Museum. It is really just a cheese shop (with tons of free samples) with a small museum in the bottom, but it is such a happy little store and I recommend it as well. The coolest part about walking around, though, was all of the Christmas lights! They make an already beautiful city even better. When we walked back we stopped by the Anne Frank house. I did this on my last visit and I highly recommend it. It is such an interesting and well-done museum!

Afterwards, we headed to Dam Square, which is where the Royal Palace is located. We walked around for a few minutes and then headed into de Bijenkorf, which is a department store similar to a Saks or Harrods. It was nice and warm and enjoyable to walk through all of the cool floors and to see the Christmas windows and all of the Christmas decorations. By this point, we were getting pretty tired and decided to head back to our hotel to get a much needed good night's sleep. It was a crazy forty-eight hours, but I am so glad to be back in Europe and back in Amsterdam! We have a whole nother day to explore tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it.

71 countries down, 125 to go.

Read about my second day in the Netherlands here.

To learn more about Ambassade Hotel click here.

Country #60 - Spain

The Guggenheim

Today I visited Bilbao, Spain! You’re probably wondering why I chose Bilbao of every amazing place in Spain that there is to visit and the answer is pretty simple. I spent a week in Spain last year with my mom when she visited me during study abroad; we visited Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, all of which I loved. However, ever since I heard about the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao it has sat at the top of my bucket list and a visit became a must. I am a huge fan of museums if you can’t tell, and especially modern art museums which the Guggenheim Bilbao is. Also, it seemed like a good idea to avoid Barcelona right now considering everything that is going on politically. So Bilbao, finally, it is!

I thankfully got a really good nights sleep before setting off for a full day in Bilbao. My first stop of the day was Catedral de Santiago. It was right near I was staying in the heart of Plaza Nueva area and was a beautiful example of gothic architecture. There was a nice audio guide that I appreciated and it was a really stunning Spanish church. From there I walked along Ria del Nervion O de Bilbao all the way to the Guggenheim. It was a beautiful walk along the water and I really enjoyed being able to see the city that way. When I arrived at the Guggenheim my jaw literally dropped. It is one of the most, if not the most, incredible buildings that I have ever seen. It is made of titanium (that’s as thin as tissue paper), stone, and glass. It is incredible and words simply cannot do it justice so please enjoy the pictures. The art outside (besides the creepy spider) was all amazing and I just so happened to walk by when the fog installation on the bridge went off which was really cool.

If I can give you any advice for visiting it would be to definitely buy your ticket ahead of time. The line outside went stretched up the long stairway entrance and down the street, but I was able to just walk right on in. Also, the ticket includes an audio guide! I took my time in the museum as it was the entire reason I was in Bilbao. And I was not disappointed. The first floor was filled with large installation pieces which I really enjoyed and will include some pictures of below. The second floor was entirely a video installation by one artist spread throughout the galleries which was really interesting. Lastly, on the third floor was the Guggenheim's permanent collection. It was a more typical gallery feel and included works by Rothko and Pollock.

I thoroughly enjoyed every floor as well as learning more about the building which is basically a sculpture in itself and was my favorite work of art on the day. It’s just such a cool building! I spent three hours in the museum and another hour outside taking pictures. I even walked up on the bridge next to it to get some better shots which I recommend if you visit. It was definitely worth travelling to see and I can now say that I have seen every Guggenheim museum (the others are in New York and Venice).

After the Guggenheim, I was starving but everything was, unfortunately, closed thanks to Siesta being an actual, annoying, thing. I get that it is a cultural thing but, speaking solely as a tourist, it is annoying to find things closed in the middle of the day. I found an ice cream place that was open at least. It wasn’t the ideal lunch situation but it was enough to hold me over until a large dinner later in the evening. After getting the ice cream I walked to Federico Moyúa Plaza which was filled with people and was just a cool spot in the center of the city to see. From there I walked to the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao. The permanent collection there is free from 6-8 so I waited ten minutes before entering and it was great!

I really enjoyed the museum because it covered all time periods, from Medieval to Modern and everything in between in sequential order. I also enjoyed my time there as it wasn’t huge but was high in quality even having works by Picasso. I spent about an hour in the museum before walking by the next door Doña Casilda de Iturrizar Park for a few minutes and then walking back across the river to Plaza Nueva for dinner. I had originally planned to take the Metro back until I realized why their streets were swarming with people - Bilbao Athletic Club (soccer team) was playing Barcelona (FCB) tonight! There were fans everywhere and I even saw an approximately ten police car long motorcade escorting the Barcelona team bus. This added to it being a Saturday meant people were everywhere! As a result, I decided to walk and people watch instead of packing into a metro. I did not see any protests due to politics the entire day and the only thing I saw on my walk were lots and lots of soccer fans and a few chants!

Plaza Nueva is basically the heart of Bilbao. It was absolutely packed. I think it is just a thing in Spain for children to run around squares at night while their parents socialize because I have seen it many times before. This one was no different other than some of the kids were wearing Halloween costumes. My favorite was definitely the little girl dressed as Iron Man; she was SO into it it was fantastic. She would try to blast everyone she saw with her hands like Iron Man does.  It was adorable.

It was a bit of a struggle to find a place to eat because ordering tapas off of the bar is a little stressful, but especially in Bilbao where English was much less common than in cities like Madrid or Barcelona. I found a sit-down restaurant on the square and only had to wait for the table for a few minutes! It was great. A French family came up and sat at the rest of my table. It wasn’t ideal because it was just a bit weird - they didn’t talk the whole time. My server told me, while they were deciding to sit down, that what they were doing was considered incredibly rude in Spain! It was weird but my food was fantastic and included some of my favorite tapas: croquetas, manchego cheese, and Iberian ham.

After dinner, I sat in Plaza Nueva for a bit and called my mom. My bus to Madrid didn’t leave until 1:00am so I had to find something to do to pass the time. I eventually found a cafe around the corner that served my favourite Spanish dessert, churros and chocolate! You dip the churros in the melted chocolate and it is as good as it sounds. I sat there for about two hours and then made my way back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and head to the bus station. I arrived about thirty minutes early and we started to board not long after. It was a four-hour ride to the Madrid airport and I slept at least two of them.

When I arrived in Madrid there was almost no one in the airport as it was 5:00am. Security was, as a result, really easy. Of course, the information boards didn’t say which gate to go to because Europe is the worst at this, but I used the American Airlines app to find out since I was flying home using a family pass. It was a long wait but I watched some TV and worked on my blog. I then had to do the new extra security screening for the first time. It’s the one that was just enacted where you have to answer questions (to the airline employees) about your travels. It was just as stupid and pointless as I thought it would be. I was asked what my occupation is and where I travelled in Spain. It was more annoying than anything else.

I got a seat on the plane even though I was low on the standby list and, excitedly, it was an exit row seat! There was nothing in front of me and I had tons of space for the entire flight. I watched two movies (The House and The Big Sick), slept for three hours, ate two meals, and worked on the blog. It was not turbulent at all and was overall a good flight back! I’m going to work in Dallas for a bit before heading out on my next trip back towards the Middle East! I had an amazing time on this trip, notably in Iceland and Spain. I highly recommend you visit both. I wish I could have done more of Spain on this trip but just know that Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia are all also amazing Spanish cities that you should definitely visit. Spain is such a unique country (or countries, depending on what happens there) and I have loved every second I have spent there!

60 countries down, 136 to go.

Country #59 - Andorra

The Dali Statue

When I landed in Barcelona from Reykjavik, Iceland, it was about 2:00am. My bus for Andorra was leaving the airport at 7:30am so it made no sense for me to try and stay in a hotel. I had read about the Barcelona airport and knew that I needed to find gate U to sleep - and luckily it was where my flight arrived! Gate U had benches without armrests making it possible to lie flat, and there were tons of other people sleeping there. It took me a while but I think I got about three hours of good sleep.

It was a bit difficult to find the bus outside as there were bus areas on both sides of the street but I eventually found it (it was described as being the bus stop near the technical block, whatever that is, but I eventually found it). I talked with my brother on the phone while I waited because I still had thirty minutes until the bus would show up. I was the only person picked up at the airport and we took the bus into the heart of Barcelona to pick up the rest of the passengers. During the ride, the iPhone X went on sale and both me and my brother tried desperately to get one ordered for me (my iPhone 6 is caput and, as the major Apple lifelong fan that I am, this is a necessity). I finally got through to T-Mobile on the phone and to my surprise, there were still some left! I was so excited! Thanks to my parents for helping on the best birthday present. Oh yeah, my birthday was last week - I turned 23!

The rest of the bus ride was through winding beautiful Spanish roads but honestly, I fell asleep because I was just so tired and the winding roads were too much to handle. The bus ride was about three and a half hours. Andorra is not in the EU (even though they are right in the middle of it) so when crossing the border police boarded the bus and checked to make sure everyone had a passport or ID but other than that they didn’t do anything. When I arrived in the heart of Andorra, Andorra la Vella, there were luckily luggage lockers right at the bus stop which was super helpful.

I immediately noticed a few things about Andorra including the emphasis on shopping, the abnormal amount of cigarette ads everywhere, and the beautiful mountains surrounding it. Weird mix, I know, but it seemed pretty accurate. I walked first to the tourist information center which was super unhelpful - I needed witness signatures and they could barely speak English which, for a tourist center in the middle of Europe, doesn’t seem too smart. I walked through a cute market along the river and in the same area found the famous Salvador Dali statue, Nobility of Time, just sitting in the street in Andorra. It’s a melting clock statue (naturally) but it was really cool to see!

I then set out further on my quest to find witness signatures - how this hasn’t been more of an issue I’m not sure but it’s definitely just a bit annoying to run into problems in countries that shouldn’t be so difficult. I asked at two different hotels which were super unhelpful and also spoke poor English. This was pretty surprising because hotels are usually a safe bet for English. The third time was the charm, though, as the super kind people at the front desk of Art Hotel helped me out as witnesses!

It was a huge relief to have that finished and I spent the next thirty minutes or so walking around town. I went to one of the buzzed-about Andorra shopping centers, Andorra 2000, and it was honestly no more than a glorified grocery store. I then walked past what was basically a giant car show and then back down the water past the cute Parc Central to eat pizza at an Italian food spot on the bank of the La Valira. It was a great and much-needed meal after only having a tiny airport croissant for breakfast.

From there I headed to the Plaça del Poble area. I walked past the strangest thing on my way - basically a fully fledged cattle show? It was bizarre and smelly and I’m still just very confused by Andorra on the whole. I made my way up a small hill to Plaça del Poble which had really good views of the surrounding mountains. I then walked past Sant Esteve d'Andorra la Vella church which was closed but still beautiful on the outside. My last stop was Casa de la Vall which was, once again, closed but, once again, beautiful and also very historic.

I made my way back down to the bus terminal where I had thirty minutes to spare before headed back to Barcelona to catch another flight. Fun fact is that during my day today Catalonia formally declared independence so technically I was kind of in a country on the day it was formed! Also then Madrid declared power like a few hours later so who knows what’s going to happen, but I got extra witnesses in Barcelona just in case it becomes its own country in the next few months or so. The bus ride back was just as winding as the first and I slept again because I was still so tired from the attempted airport sleep.

On the way out of Andorra, I asked the bus driver to stop at the border so I could get a passport stamp which is definitely a thing you can do, and it was super simple to do so! Andorra was an interesting stop but I definitely wouldn’t put it high on your list - I’d honestly probably just stick to Spain if you’re in the area unless you just want to tick off another country on your list! There are things to do just not a ton, and it is pretty but not incredible. If you’re driving nearby then give it a stop but otherwise, I don’t think it’s really worth dealing with the bus ride!

I had a really late night flight out of Barcelona to Bilbao which I will be exploring tomorrow. The flight was really short and I took the inexpensive bus from the airport to the city center and then took the Metro from the city center to where I’m staying, Bilbao Hotel Jardines. I was absolutely exhausted after not having good sleep in two days so I was really excited for a good night’s rest and fell asleep instantly.

59 countries down, 137 to go.