It was a relaxing start today, allowing everyone a bit of a sleep in. Our morning activity was a walking tour of La Seu d'Urgell with the owner of the Castell de Ciutat as our tour guide. After a short bus ride down the hill and into town, we were ready to go. On the bus we were given a brief introduction to La Seu d'Urgell.
Apparently the economy of the town revolves around agriculture and tobacco smuggling. The neighbouring principality of Andorra is a tobacco producing region, with a much lower tax structure, resulting in tobacco products being about half of the cost in Catalonia. Thus there is a healthy cross border smuggling industry.
The town is located next to the lowest pass across the Pyrenees from France, making it and the Province of Andorra well placed for smuggling hard to get goods in from France during the Franco Regime. Also the tour de France passes through here and it is on the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James (Pilgrims Trail)
We got off the bus in front of a large Seminary, the only tertiary education facility in town. At its peak there were 400 students training to enter the priesthood, now there are only 10.
The town is the seat of the Catholic Bishop for this region and apparently that is the meaning of "La Seu" in Catalan. The Bishop is in a powerful position because not only is he Bishop for this region, but he is also a Prince of Andorra (The nearby Principality). It seems that as a consequence of history, Andorra has two Heads of State, The Bishop of La Seu d'Urgell, and the President of France. This makes this Bishop the only other Head of State in the Catholic Church other than the Pope.
This scale model of the town in the 13th Century, shows it was a Medieval Walled City, with the Castell de Ciutat on the left high up on a hill providing a fortess for the city
The Cathedral, Bishops Palace and supporting buildings dominate the town. We spent some time in a very good small museum above the tourism office that provided a good background to the cities past and recent history.
The Cathedral
Inside the cathedral which was built as much as a fortress as it was a church.
Invasions were common in the early history of the church and the complex was built to withstand heavy assaults, there was a well in the cloisters to make sure they had water, and a bread oven was built into the upper church structure.
Exiting the Cathedral we walked through the cloisters where the well is located in the middle.
Exiting the Cathedral we walked through the cloisters where the well is located in the middle.
The cloisters with the Cathedral in the background
On the opposite side of the cloisters (to the Cathedral) was an earlier church, The Church of Saint Michael. It predates the Cathedral by 200 years and is much smaller, but also built in the strong Romanesque style. The windows are not made of glass, but of alabaster and let in a surprising amount of light.
Church of St Michael
A more "modern" Baroque church was added to the complex at a later date.
After completing the Cathedral Tour, we went for a brief walk into the modern part of town to see the promenade before heading off to see the other great attraction in town, the wild water kayak facility for the 1992 Olympics.
The Main Promenade planted out with Sycamore Trees
On our way to the promenade we passed a house with a half moon carving above the door. We were informed that this house was the former house of the only Pope that was of Spanish Nationality.
Because of the influential people in this town, and in particular the Bishop, and contacts the local mayor had with Samaranch, somehow the town was selected to hold the wild water kayaying events for the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona. A new facility was designed and built which included diverting the river and including a clever pumping system, that could be reversed to generate electricity when there was excess water flowing down the river.
This design has been used in subsequent Olympics including the Sydney Olympics, and Rio Olympics soon to be held.
It is now lunch time, so it was back on the bus to return to our hotel for lunch. On the way back to the hotel the tour guide announced he had organised a little surprise for lunch. We will be given a cooking demonstration by the hotel chef on how to make paella, which will then be our lunch, with wine included of course.
Chef preparing the Paella, carefully supervised by Katya hotel owner.
The Paella is ready to cook down (another 15 minutes or so), so we can go to our tables
Lunch is served in the castle (the Paella is cooking on the lawn), just outside the dining room.
Our Table Setting (As with everything here, the attention detail is amazing)
After a salad starter, an excellent paella, desert and a few glasses of wine, we were ready to take on the afternoon agenda.
We were given a number of options for the afternoon activity and we chose to go the tour Andorra, the nearby principality. It is apparently the oldest country in Europe as its borders have never changed.
There was time for a short rest before the bus left the hotel at 2.30pm, for a drive of about 20 minutes to the Andorran Border. The border crossing was very straight forward and we picked up a local guide who would run the tour including a walking tour of one of the parishes.
Andorra is a small place, with a population of only 77, 000. It is split into 7 parishes which equate to our councils. The main industry has been tobacco growing and potatoes, but now tourism is about 80 % of the economy. Taxes are much lower than in the two countries it shares borders with, France and Spain, so smuggling of tobacco is rife.
The Tour de France also goes through Andorra, and the flags are still up in the streets of Ordino from their recent passage through.
The Tour de France also goes through Andorra, and the flags are still up in the streets of Ordino from their recent passage through.
As explained earlier, there are two heads of State, The Bishop of La Seu d'Urgell and the French President. You can see this depicted on their National Flag. One side of the coat of arms depicts the Bishops Mitre and the other the coat of arms of the French Count who handed his responsiblities (somewhat reluctantly) to the French State.
The terrain is rugged and there are several rivers running through Andorra. About 20% of their electricity is hydro electricity, the rest is purchased from France.
Parish of Escaldes (the pyramid in the centre is a hot spa)
Our guide took us for a walking tour of one of the higher parishes, Ordino. It is a pretty little alpine village
Parish of Ordino
After the walking tour we got back on the bus and headed back, but first had a short stop near the Parliament building where a few people did some shopping. It is relatively new and quite different from the surrounding architecture
Soon we were on our way back to the hotel, for a special dinner in the castle.
We arrives back at 6.15pm and dinner is at 7pm, so not much time to get ready. However it is an easy walk up to the castle and based on what we have seen so far, we expect something special.
The entrance to our dining venue
Local music was available, once again
The dining setting was amazing, as was the food
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