Andorra

17 August 2013

Salvador Dali's sculpture, "The Nobility of Time,"in the city center.

The principality of Andorra, nestled in the Pyrenees, is the largest of the European microstates, even visible on most maps. It's become wealthy as a duty-free, very low VAT, tax haven selling cheap liquor and cigarettes to the French and Spanish who buy the legal maximum (or smuggle even more). And, in recent years, its massive Pyrenees mountains have been increasingly littered with ski resorts.

Andorra la Vella, the capital city of Andorra, in a valley in the beautiful Pyrenees mountains.

(Left) Friendly locals selling great cheese and OK sausage in a nearby village.
(Right) My US supermarket sure lacks such an impressive display of hog legs.

The crew of solo travelers who shared the van from Barcelona to visit Andorra.
After Andorra, going Barcelona to Monaco via Geneva, Swiss Air flew past the highest mountain in Western Europe: Mont Blanc on the border of France and Italy (15,771'; 4,807m)

Also see my post:  Microstates of Europe.