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Siiri´s Andorra Blog Spring

It is middle end of march and it is more complicated to sleep long in the morning, because birds will begin their “spring concert“ around six o´clock every morning when first daylight is out. One hour more and the sun is shining over the mountains. Andorra has about 300 sunny days in the year and it is counted one of most sunny country with resorts. This is very nice for everyone who loves snow sport. And all Andorra is full of that kind of happy people all around the ski season.

In northern countries in wintertime sometimes you feel that clouds are so low and pushing you also lower, that sometimes you just don´t want to get up from the bed because you don´t see the daylight. In Andorra it is not happening.

Through Andorra La Vella runs the river Valira and in the middle of the city there is a beautiful alley of blossoming cherry trees on the both riverbanks. It is just a magnificent walk there. People who are visiting this country at this time of the year are comparing this beauty with Japan. In the river, which will be smaller in the summer,  there are also fishes. I don´t know exactly what kind of fishes, but you can see fishermen with all equipment standing there.

Many joggers are passing you with a short sportswear, big playground for kids in the park next to alley is also full and some adults are lying on the green grass. Dog owners, pure satisfaction at their faces, are walking with their dogs. Somehow it doesn´t feel that it is just ordinary working day. Nearly everybody have siesta (even one grocery store of considerable size in La Massana  is closed from 12:30-16:00), a time for yourself to eat and rest, to do your jogging or walk with the dog, to be able to come back to work later with pleasure. I like this lifestyle. It may be one of many reasons why the life expectancy in Andorra is one of the highest in the world.

But for you I wish a beautiful enjoyable spring!

 

Andorra La Vella Cherry Trees

 

 

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Siiri´s Andorra Blog Restaurant Borda d´Erts

We all love to eat good.

My first restaurant review will be about one of my favorite place here in Andorra until now. When you will drive from La Massana towards Arinsal, you will find this restaurant from the small village of Erts just at the roundabout. It is called Borda d´Erts. Untill the years 1975/1976 it was a farm. Then apparently this place got through huge make-over and became a restaurant. Now this restaurant belongs already 9 years to one family who are originally from Portugal. I don´t have information about this place how it did look like before this family got it, but now it is small, very cozy place with rustic stonewalls and big wooden beams. It has an open fireplace and old pictures of the local history (unfortunately not from this restaurant itself) on the walls. When you sit at the table, you will smell the scent of old times and when David, son of this family who usually serves the customers, is moving around, you will hear the floor crack.

Everywhere in Andorra you feel welcome in every dining place, bar, pub, everywhere. In this restaurant we have become frequent visitors so that between us and this family it is now more like friendship.

It has been a working day and when we arrive there it is a little bit too early. We usually eat quite early that is why there are not so many customers yet. But at the weekends the situation is completely different. When you haven´t booked a table in advance you can find yourself behind the door with big apologies and with empty stomach.

We will get a nice table and suddenly I can hear my stomach complaining quite loud about hunger. We will choose a bottle of house red wine, duck breast and entrecote. With wine comes starter and at this plate there are tomatoes, garlic what you can peel and slice yourself, dried sausage, olives and warm crispy white bread. I am complete fan of garlic and don´t mind later the odor at my fingers. So you can combine yourself what will you eat and with what.

Chef de cuisine, the father of this family, at this time when we have enjoyed the wine, starter and cozy conversation has prepared delicious plates for us. Borda d´Erts is specialized for carns a la brasa I a la pedra – meat grilled at the fire or at the hot stone.  As in every self-respecting restaurant are here also different levels of grilled meat. We will choose ´´well done´´. David is taking care of us all this time tirelessly. Quite a few minutes we will skip chat and concentrate only to tastes. Unfortunately there is no place for a dessert anymore. After we have spent a very nice evening we paid and got digestive shots.

Purity and simplicity of this place enchants me every time. For sure nobody will be disappointed of visiting this restaurant. Smile at our faces, with happy stomach and complete satisfaction we say good bye and promise to come back. This promise is easy to fulfill.

Borda d´Erts RestaurantBorda d ´Erts apperitifBorda d´Erts EntrecotBorda d Erts Magret de Canard

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Siiri´s Andorra Blog Anyos Park

Thank you for reading me, you are more than welcome.

Spring is in the air. For me personally it is the most pleasant time of the year. Even the air you are breathing all the time seems different. You can feel and notice the awakenings is everywhere in the nature. The snow is still there in the mountains, but the swallows are here already to prepare the nest, you hear the other birds sing as soon as there is daylight and when you go to Andorra La Vella you see the cherry trees blossoming everywhere.

One of most pleasant activities for lot of people is swimming and using SPA facilities. In La Massana there is Anyós Park which is offering these possibilities. There are many more things also like gym, different cycling trainings, different types of yoga, Pilates, etc. We were concentrated specifically on swimming and spa. There is a big pool with 50m lanes and at a separate floor another other pool with two 25m lane and six different types of water massages. There are also two saunas: steam sauna and dry sauna; and also a Jacuzzi with hot water.

We decided that after half of day skiing at the mountains neither of us would complain of relaxing muscles there and we packed swimming stuff bought previously. Two things are mandatory: flip flops and swimming cap. This is primarily to keep the place clean. In this country where I am originally coming from the cap is not mandatory and the honor to wear it in spa was first time to me.

In capital city Andorra La Vella there is one nice shop named Basar d`Orient. It is the shop with the cheap goods and where you can find nearly everything except food.  So then I headed for this shop and was soon happy owner of our flip flops (the prices are from 4-8 €). With the swimming caps the things didn´t went so well in this shop, so I bought them after short searching from medium size mall E-Lerclerc. 4.75€ for a cap. I did buy also my swimming suit. For the person who wants to buy swimwear from Andorra I recommend to try them right on the spot, because the sizes can be too small. And the shop may not change them for you after. I didn´t do that, according to the eye it was ok, but at home unfortunately it was clear that it was not. Before of going to Anyós Park I was lucky and they did the exception so I got it changed.  Maybe they felt sorry for me after seeing my perplexed face.

So: we packed our things and drove to Anyós Park. A few days earlier we already had visited this place to the spa reception. So we knew already the ticket for adults 18€ and children from 6 years until 17 years 9€. And for this price you can stay as long as this place is open. You can rent towels as well, but we took ours with us. Then you need 1€ coin for one locker where you can put your stuff (except footwear, these you can leave under the bench in front of the lockers).

Headed to the swimming area, first thing you notice is the magnificent view on the mountains threw the huge windows. Then just few steps and you lie in a bed, bubbling, inside the pool and look at his view and think: life is still beautiful, no matter what. Water is caressing your muscles and eyes are resting with this view. Suddenly even chatting between you and your friends does not seem important anymore. Words seem to be unnecessary and it is just as good as it is right now.

After being there a few hours and enjoying all what they had to offer (to be honest, water makes miracles and over this time you can´t resist much longer) we did pack our bodies again in to all clothing and counted ourselves as “well cooked“. Skiing plus spa equals excellent combination for good sleeping. Highly recommend. Even without the skiing. 😉

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Siiri´s Andorra Blog

Dear reader. You probably agree with me when I claim: if you think you have been through a lot of things in your life and have seen all, then there are starting happen things in your life, from what you didn`t had a gray clue before.

When I thought a while ago that i will stay forever as a patriot of my country, that this way is honest and the only possible way to one citizen to do so, then Life sent me to work abroad.

When I had time to get used to this gradually, that so what: better salary and I will somehow manage with this commuting between home and work, I met the love of my life there abroad and Life thought: let it be even more homes for you from now on. So it is not so boring to commute only in between two destinations. It has been so now for a little bit more than four years now.

Now I really have homes more than one. And I have got used with this rapid lifestyle. Enter from one airport and exit from another one. The Life was right: it has not been boring at all since then.

Altogether because of my work and also of the benefit of my work I had many possibilities to go around the world, see different things and people, different cultures and behavioral patterns. Most of the things I had need for living I had fitted to my suitcase for nearly fifteen years. I have been used to the busy crowded airports, long queues and delayed flights.

Untill…

There is one absolutely lovely place in this world. The tiny Principality of Andorra in the Pyrenees. Visited once we had come on and on back in here. This country did speak to me that much that for today one of my homes is precisely here.

In Andorra you as though forget that it is the country. It feels rather bigger village where everyone know everyone. It is like living together in one big rhythm. It is affecting also all the tourists who are transiting through this country every day. They also like to be in this cozy relaxation. Everybody has a good mood. Everybody has time. No one is rushing and no one is upset when you seem to have more time than the others behind you. You will meet benevolence and trust on every step. It is so nice that I thought to share it with you.

In this blog I try to survey step by step different dining places, different activities and possibilities what this country has to offer.

I wish you a good reading and that you gain an idea of this nice country.

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Doing Business 2017

In its global country rankings of business efficiency, Doing Business 2017 awarded its top spot to New Zealand, Singapore ranks second, followed by Denmark; Hong Kong SAR, China; Republic of Korea; Norway; United Kingdom; United States; Sweden; and, in 10th place, the Republic of Macedonia.

The world’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken, are Brunei Darussalam; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Belarus; Indonesia; Serbia; Georgia; Pakistan; United Arab Emirates (UAE); and Bahrain.

“Simple rules that are easy to follow are a sign that a government treats its citizens with respect. They yield direct economic benefits – more entrepreneurship; more market opportunities for women; more adherence to the rule of law,” said Paul Romer, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President.

“But we should also remember that being treated with respect is something that people value for its own sake and that a government that fails to treat its citizens this way will lose its ability to lead,” Romer said.

Doing Business data points to continued successes in the ease of doing business worldwide, as governments increasingly take up key business reforms. Starting a new business now takes an average of 21 days worldwide, compared with 46 days 10 years ago. Paying taxes in the Philippines involved 48 payments 10 years ago, compared to 28 now and in Rwanda, the time to register a property transfer has dropped from 370 days a decade ago to 12 days now.

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Malta

Malta finance minister said that Malta should not be embarrassed using taxation as a competitive instrument and that each EU member should be able to decide on the level of taxation themselves.