Andorra

In our quest to visit all the European Microstates, our next stop was Andorra. Measuring 180.7 mi2 (approx half the size of San Diego), Andorra comes in 6th in the race for Europe's smallest nation. Aside, Liechtenstein is #4.

In our research leading up to the trip, the country felt quite similar to Liechtenstein. It's small, known for banking, it's an alpine mountain paradise, everything works at a slower pace, it is extremely clean, and there are large expat communities bringing a range of food and cultures together. Seems like our kind of place. We also knew that we would have a busy start to our trip with several one day stops and we would be heading to Madrid after Andorra so it might be nice to have a slower paced day to get a bit of a break in our marathon vacation.

Turns out a day wandering the pedestrian shopping areas (with very few pedestrians!), playing on playgrounds and generally people watching was just what we needed. We started the morning letting the girls (and maybe Dad...see the video) run free at the city playground.

Yes, even the playground had a bank

We continued our wandering with visiting an area of street art. The most impressive of which was La Noblesse du temps or "nobility of time." It is a sculpture made by Salvador Dalí and was given to the people of  Andorra in 1999 by Enric Sabater (an Andorran native as well as a friend and confidante of Dalí's).

We also love any area with a river and cute bridge. Andorra was ready for it. They had the perfect viewing spot and special stands built for you to take your photo avoiding the squinty selfies you usually get from me.

We ended our tour with a walk through probably the most fun street in the world on a sunny day. How cool is this balloon dappled pavement to bounce through?? Even I wanted to join in on the fun.

Though this was our "rest day", I think we still managed to fit enough activity in. And I think the under 8 year old crowd agrees.