Among tiny countries and high peaks

 There’s something fascinating about opposites and how strength can exist in fragility, how something small can endure against something vast. Few places capture that contrast better than Andorra.

Tucked high in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, Andorra is one of Europe’s tiniest countries. And yet, despite its size and its powerful neighbours, it has preserved its independence for centuries. While borders across Europe shifted through wars, dynasties, and revolutions, this small mountain principality quietly endured, protected by geography, diplomacy, and a uniquely balanced political system.

We visited Andorra on a one-day trip during a holiday in Barcelona, and it turned out to be one of the most surprising highlights of our journey. If you’re heading to Catalonia’s vibrant capital, don’t overlook what lies beyond the city skyline. Just a few hours away, the mountains open up to a completely different world: dramatic landscapes, crisp alpine air, and a country with a story far bigger than its borders.

Trust me: Andorra isn’t just a detour. It’s an experience. Let's take a short (I promise) look at its complex history:

With more than a thousand years of history, Andorra has a story shaped by legend, diplomacy, and resilience.

Human presence in the valleys dates back to prehistoric times, with remains discovered at sites such as Balma de la Margineda. 

The country later appears in written history in the 9th century, in a document linked to the Cathedral of Santa Maria d’Urgell, which mentions Andorra’s parishes as fiefs of the Counts of Urgell. 

According to legend, Charlemagne founded Andorra in 805 in gratitude for its people’s help against the Saracens, a story that remains part of its national identity. 

In 1278 and 1288, two treaties known as the Pareatges established shared rule between the Archbishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix, creating the Principality of Andorra. Over time, the French co-prince became the King of France, and later the President of France, while the Archbishop of Urgell has remained co-prince to this day. This unique system makes Andorra one of the world’s oldest and most distinctive parliamentary co-principalities.

After this brief historical moment, let's dig into the beauty of the main city. We arrived to La Vella on a fair September day, after a trip in a comfortable bus of less than three hours.

The first impression is that we should have come in winter. If you’re a passionate skier, that’s undeniably the best time to visit, when the mountains transform into a white paradise and the slopes come alive.

And yet, even outside the ski season, Andorra is breathtaking. The dramatic scenery at the feet of the Pyrenees: deep valleys, winding mountain roads, and peaks rising sharply against the sky is enough to leave you speechless.

So instead of trying to describe it all, I’ll let a few pictures speak on my behalf.

I have to admit that prices are slightly higher than what you might expect compared to both France and Spain. However, considering Andorra’s unique mountain location, its spectacular natural scenery, and its rich cultural heritage, it’s hardly surprising.

In the end, when you factor in the setting and the experience, it feels entirely justified.

I know this has been a short post, but somehow it feels like no number of words would ever truly capture the experience. Some places simply have to be seen to be understood.

If you’re planning a trip to Spain, consider adding Andorra to your itinerary. Even better, turn it into a road trip: drive from Barcelona to Toulouse, crossing Andorra and winding your way through the Pyrenees. The journey itself, with its mountain passes, dramatic valleys, and endless views, becomes part of the adventure.

Sri Lanka: is this the return of the Wandering Writer? (part one)

Whether this might be the first signal of the return of the Wandering Writer, I mostly consider it a return to blogging after a series of mishaps on the road.

But as stated in the title, this isn't the time I'll go through those mishaps. This is the time to tell something about another fantastic country to fall in love with.

Explaining Sri Lanka in one blog it's a hard task, and it won't give justice to such a colorful and beautiful country. That's why I'll divide it into two parts, so enjoy the ride with this first taste of this island.

We went to visit Colombo in November. That corresponds to the wet season in Sri Lanka, but as I found out later, this didn't really affect the quality of our journey.

One peculiarity of the rainy season was that from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the weather was perfect the sky was blue, and the Sun blessed every step we took in the city and the beaches. It was raining from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. as the sky was opening.

Now, at my age, I'm no longer interested in the nightlife, and for me, it was more than enough to explore the city and the country during the day.

My previous travels around the world have taught me that you'll need always to keep your eyes open to the people who will approach you on the street. Most of them will try to sell you tourist services highly overpriced. 

So, understanding this, we took the first day a tuk-tuk to have a round of the main sightseeing of the city. We asked the price beforehand and, after a good deal of bargaining, we jumped in and started our first round.

Colombo isn't a big city and you might reach every place by walking or, at least using the tuk-tuk for short distances.

The first idea, which was also confirmed during our entire stay was that Colombo, and generally Sri Lanka is a very well-kept city. Everything works as it should and the level of safety is high. One thing you'll fall in love with the country is the friendliness of the people. Regardless of the reason why you approach them, they will always welcome you with a smile.

The second is the amazing natural environment and the stunning beaches. Not knowing where to start from, we took the chance to book one journey from a tourist agency to reach farther sites on the island.

The plan was to reach Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District. Considering the distance from Colombo (about 178 km), our tour guide proposed to us also to have a visit to the Elephant Foundation and an Ayurveda garden. We were supposed to arrive at our final destination by 3:00 p.m., to have the chance to visit the whole site.

Unfortunately, nothing went as it was supposed to, but let's go step by step, shall we?

Our first destination was the Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF), a family-run organization and charity set up to rescue and care for captive Asian elephants in Sri Lanka. The foundation is situated on a 15-acre estate by the name of Samaragiri, which is located 10 km northwest of Kegalle, within the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. This is a sort of sanctuary to rescue those gentle giants where we had the pleasure of interacting with them by feeding and spending some time together.

The second stop was the visit to the Ayurveda garden, which was something I wanted personally to add to the tour. I'm a fan of natural medicine and since Sri Lanka is the home of Ayurveda, I couldn't skip this chance. 

In the garden, I've learned something more about natural self-care and I did some shopping (of course).

Time passed by and our driver didn't seem to have any hurry, as if he was on a Sunday trip with the family.

Useless were all our recommendations to drive a little faster, and the scheduled time of arrival stretched from 3:00 p.m. to 6:55 p.m. Just in time to enter the park, five minutes later and they wouldn't have allowed us to enter.

Useless to say that at that time we couldn't visit the entire site, so we headed for the rock fortress:

Yes, that meant climbing 1200 steps to reach the top, and we didn't have much time left. We made it a mission and we started at the fastest pace we could because soon the sun would have set and at least that, was something we didn't want to miss. So we started our journey:

With the first steps...

... followed by other steps, we didn't give up...

And steps that seemed to be endless to climb, yet we were at the point of no return. Up to the top!

Just a few steps more and...

Finally, we reached the top to witness the sunset from something that felt like the roof of the world.

They say that to climb the stairs it might require an average of about two hours. We didn't have that luxury and we had to manage it within forty-five minutes. I'm not sure we set a record; probably not, but one thing was sure, that marathon gave us a bitter taste.

We were supposed to see the entire site, and going there for a second time was out of the question with all the things to be seen in Sri Lanka.

Tired but happy we returned to our hotel room where we simply dropped almost dead to the bed waiting for new adventures to unfold the following days.

Stay tuned because there are more interesting things and facts about Sri Lanka I need to tell you, and I'll do so with the next blog post coming up very soon. :-) 

Doha, you can't even imagine it.

So, here, we were ready to board once again to return back home after our journey. We could not leave Nigeria without anything that made me wonder.
We just passed the check-in and passport control when we reached the gate. However, there we had to go through another security check before entering the plane, which sometimes happens when the flight company does not trust the local screening completely.
I arrived at the counter, and the woman there started to open my carry-on baggage for prohibited items. Everything followed the routine when suddenly she glanced at me: "Do you have anything for me?"
In the beginning, I wasn't sure what she meant, or whether she was just joking, so I just replied that I didn't have anything.
She looked a bit disappointed and seriously: "aren't you, my friend?"
At that point I just thought you gotta be kidding me, bribing at the safety check at the airport? Really?
"No, I am not your friend," I replied firmly.
She checked thoroughly and sent me to the body scan, "well you can scan whatever you want, I am not going to get robbed this way."
Of course, this didn't cause anything more than just a delay to my boarding, but the least I can accept in this world is people trying to rob me.
This was just a little incident and didn't really mean any trouble. Yet it raised a few considerations about what is considered legit and what it is not from the personnel at the airport.

So here we were leaving Nigeria to reach our first stop of seven hours in Doha. The flight went smoothly, and at five o'clock in the morning, we reached the International airport in Doha.
Now the first impression:
You certainly are familiar with the heatwave that hits you when you open the oven to check on your food. The same heatwave hit us as we stepped out the plane. The engine was off, so it wasn't because of it. It was like entering a giant oven at 240 Celsius, barely breathable humid and hot.
I thought I knew about the heat after having experienced the Afar desert in Ethiopia... No, this was more... In Ethiopia at least it wasn't that humid, although the temperatures were much higher than in Doha (around 50 Celsius).
It was only five o'clock in the morning, and the temperatures reached already 30 Celsius!!
We reached the well air-conditioned inside the terminal with our great relief.
The first idea was that perhaps we could have had a tour of the city, but thinking twice we could also take a hotel room, have a shower, a good meal and maybe a tour of the city, before returning to the airport.
That was the best idea possible, and we had a hotel arranged within a couple of minutes. The efficiency of the country reflects on the way the general organization of the services.

Now I need to make a small introduction to Qatar. This little State of about 11.000 square kilometers is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The funny thing is that 88% of the population are expats working there, the rest 12% is Qatari.
I cannot figure out yet a good reason to move and live in such an over, where, going for a walk is totally restricted to the night or early morning.
We tried to have a walk, and our stubbornness found an empty city, where only cars were moving around.

If you have followed the Olympics that is now going on in Doha, you might have heard horrifying stories about the heat, well, let me tell you, they are not exaggerating at all. That place is not fit for humans. Just like the Sahara desert, it is made for very specialized animals.
At least THIS human doesn't consider it as a place for herself. Although I crave the summer and the hot, there is a limit to it. My limit has been abundantly tested in Doha.
So glad to have returned home, where I am free to go wherever I want without fear of dying dehydrated LOL
I wish you, as usual, a great weekend. If you live in similar desertic countries, believe me, you have all my respect and sympathy.

Three... two...one... GO!

So, here I am the day of the departure finally arrived! The struggles we had with the visas for this trip took from me at least ten years of my life. It has been a real tour de force.

These are the times required for the visas process for our journey:

1. Benin visa: 10 minutes with the e-visa.
2. Togo visa: with shipping and handling, three days
3. Ghana visa: shipping to Denmark, handling time, and shipping back: one week.
4. Nigeria visa: Shipping to Sweden handling time and shipping back, three weeks worth of constant calls, email reminders, and a considerable amount of money to set up an alternative method for shipping the passports back.
What do we suggest? Africa is big, beautiful and exciting, avoid Nigeria!

This has been our crazy countdown:

Two weeks before the departure: we had to send back our passports to the Nigerian Embassy in Stockholm, because of a series of misunderstandings.

Eleven days to departure: they received the passports.

Seven days to the departure: they asked us to send more documentation, which was promptly sent by email.

Four days to the departure: they advised us to provide for a courier pickup, which we provided the very same day. The courier pick up was scheduled for the following day, and we would have received it the day after, so two days to our departure.
We informed the Embassy about the scheduled pickup, and they acknowledged it.

Three days to departure: The courier informed us that the Embassy declared not having anything to be picked up.
Panicking we tried to call the Embassy... No answer
We sent four emails, and only the day after they replied that now the courier could come.

Two days before departure: Reschedule the pickup. Finally, the courier got our passports, and we started to feel more relaxed.

The passports reached us safely yesterday, one day before departure.
I have never in my life been more stressed than the last two weeks. I was as tense as a violin chord, but now, it's time to celebrate:

The Wandering Writer is back on the road! Whohoo!

Stay tuned, because I am going to post on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pjmann2016/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell) a sort of photo journal, and every week you will have them summarized right here in this blog!
Have a great weekend!

A city and its Jazz festival: Pori - Finland

Finnish Summer is a short season, but full of interesting events all over the country that give the chance to rediscover places we’ve never been, or we’ve skipped during our journeys.

One of these is the city of Pori, located on the west coast of Finland, and founded in 1558 by a Swedish duke, who became king of Sweden in 1568 with the name of John III. In the beginning, the residents were only 300, and they were not voluntary residents, who were relocated from other places.

Nevertheless, they soon recognized the advantages of their new city and soon started profitable trades, which the most important was the building of ships.

During the years from its foundation to modern times, Pori has suffered a few conflicts; it has been destroyed and rebuilt, but generally, it has lived a fairly quiet existence.

Nowadays the city has a population of 84318 inhabitants, which makes it the 11th largest city of Finland with a density of population of 101 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The city itself is something recommended to be visited and seen, because of its beautiful parks, cozy urban area, and summer happenings.

One of these is quite famous and attracts tourists from all over Europe.
I am talking about the Pori Jazz festival, which was established in 1966 and is one of the major jazz festivals in Europe and one of the largest cultural events in Finland. It is a festival that lasts for nine days, and it is held in July, the warmest (we are stretching here a bit) month in Finland, together with the main holiday season.

Many international artists performed here such as B. B. King, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Kanye West, Santana and yesterday Christina Aguilera.

The festival is held all over the city but mainly in Kirjurinluoto Park, which arena can hold an audience of more than 30000 people.

Pori is about 220 km away from Helsinki, but regardless this, yesterday after work we took our car and left for the concerts that were scheduled for the day, and we spend the day in the beautiful atmosphere of the park.

Despite the fact that we returned home at 3:00 am when the sun started to rise (well it didn’t really set), I considered it a great way to start the weekend, and I am wondering how could I wake up after five hours of sleep without feeling tired at all. That must be the magic of the open-air concerts.

A yearly attraction: the Rhododendron Park in Helsinki

There are attractions that are mainly for tourists and others that give enjoyment to everybody. One of these is the National Rhododendron Park in Helsinki. Every year at the beginning of June, the park offers, to the eyes of the beholder an explosion of colors and scents.
And every year, people are gathering in the Park to enjoy the full flowering of the rhododendron.
In the beginning, the first rhododendron was planted there in 1975, where the city of Helsinki, together with the University of Helsinki started a project for the Helsinki’s plant breeding program. At the same time, were planned and constructed paths along the area.
There, 3000 rhododendrons were planted for research purposes, in order to create a variety that could stand the Finnish climate and produce flowers in different colors.
Rhododendron Park is the only park in Helsinki where special uplifted view platforms were built. Those platforms give the possibility to admire from a better vantage point the beauty of the blooming.
In 1996, the park was extended adding a section where Azaleas were planted, which were the result of another breeding program started in 1986. The park offers a view of many crossbreeding species.
When I arrived in Finland, in 2004, the section was quite small, if we compare it with the extension, it has reached in the late years.

Nevertheless, I considered it large enough to keep me there for most of the summer days. I was lucky enough to live just close by so that my daily strolls would have brought me right there most of the times.
As the years passed by, I have seen the park growing slowly but steadily, until the extent it has reached nowadays. I have no idea whether there are any plans to enlarge it, but since the crossbreeding project gave spectacular results, at least from the beholder’s point of view, I hope more species and colors will be added to the Park.

Personally, I hope there will be added new parts to the park as I believe you never have too much beauty, particularly when we talk about colors and flowers. Then let’s not forget the contribution those flowers give to the pollinator’s colonies.
It is an oasis of peace, where to get connected with nature and, having at hand your mosquito repellent, that is the ideal place to stop by with a book and enjoy your time.
So here is to you another reason to visit Finland, and preferably in early Summer. One suggestion, for those who intend visiting this fantastic country, is to get at least two or three weeks time in June between 1-23.6 because there are a lot of things to be seen.
This is the period with the longest day of the year, and if you push yourself to the north, you will experience the 24h sunlight.
Here in Helsinki, the length of the day during this period is of about 18-20 hours, but the nights are mostly looking like dusk, and not particularly dark.
For the longest day of the year hosting the midsummer fest (Juhannus) you definitely want to participate in the celebrations around the country. Then, of course, the Rhododendron Park, where to chill out and relax, before heading to all the music happenings around the country.

And that will be all for the moment, I wish you a great time and an awesome weekend!

Under the Tuscany's sky - part 2

As promised you last week, here I am back talking about the beauties of the smiling town of Fiesole in the Florence province. Last time I lingered talking about the beauties of the archaeological site. Today we will conclude the tour of the city with a couple of other sights, which anyway do not make the whole of the attraction in the town at all.
What is interesting is that in most of the places I have ever visited, there is always a certain degree of little details which are going eventually to escape the attention of the traveler. This is not necessarily due to the lack of time one has at his availability to discover new places, but also to the richness of every single town, city or village.
Moreover, we also need to consider that nothing ever remains the same and the changes result in new sightseeings.
That said, let’s start with another oasis of peace, the monastery of St. Francis. The church was historically an old hermitage which was built in 1399, which was enlarged at the end if 1400 and restored in 1905.

The complex includes a church and a convent.
The church is rather small but absolutely beautiful reflecting a simple Gothic style of the period.
Inside, like all the monasteries have a small garden with a well for the water, which harmony will invite the visitor to linger and contemplate about the beauties of life and nature. Particularly enjoyable in the complete silence that surrounds the site.

On the upper floor is it still possible to visit the places where once upon a time the monks had their cells, which nowadays are transferred on a backside of the monastery and that is not possible to visit (unless you decide to join the monastic life).

The cells were once upon a time occupied by important names like that of St Bernardino of Siena.
He was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary. Nowadays we would not consider his preaching as an example of tolerance because it was frequently directed, among the others, against sodomy (homosexuality) and Jews. Nevertheless, we also need to consider the times when he was living.
Despite that, Bernardino was later canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint, where he is also referred to as “the Apostle of Italy” for his efforts to revive the country's Catholic faith during the 15th century.
The cells of the monks reflect the frugality of their life dedicated mostly to the prayers and contemplation rather than to the materiality of the existence.

The scenery that can be enjoyed from the yard of the church is absolutely amazing giving a full panoramic view of the city of Florence and the surrounding mountains, which completes the beauty and peace of the monastic life. There you really find yourself far from the noises of the busy city life, to make you believe to be transported to another dimension from where is possible to look at our modern life from a different perspective.

Indeed Fiesole is a lovely spot, a must visit, when traveling to Florence, together with all the surrounding beauties, so wherever you go on holiday, don’t limit your wanderings to the main city, take the time to visit the surroundings to find real gems to fall in love with.

Under the Tuscany's sky - part 1 -

I could not write under the Tuscany's sun, because the Sun didn't grace us with its presence, on this day. Nevertheless, despite the weather conditions, there is a magic that those little towns on the Tuscan's Apennines can do.
The magic is to transform every day into something charming, and whether grey or sunny you will surely fall in love with them.
I have met a couple of old friends in Florence, and the first thought was 'what to do today?'
We all have been visited Florence hundreds of times, so we decided to go discovering the surroundings and check the beauties hidden in those places less known to the tourists.
The place I am going to bring you today is Fiesole.
This little town of 14150 inhabitants, like the rest of the Italian cities, has a long history and it was probably founded in the 9th -8th century as an important Etruscan city, and the remains of the ancient walls testify it.
In 283 BC it was conquered by the Romans and integrated into their territories.
It is also one of the wealthiest centres of Tuscany, and since the 14th century it was considered a getaway for the upper class of Florence.
The chance to visit those remains was my main target, and we’ve spent most of the time walking around the archeological site, and this is the place where first I would like to bring you in this virtual tour.

The Roman theatre:

The Termae:

The temple:

Despite the site might seem small, there are many details that deserve to be observed and the location is an oasis of peace.
Fiesole has attracted many international artists who chose it as one of their residences, just to cite a few, Bernard Berenson, Alexandre Dumas, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hermann Hesse.
There are many beautiful and interesting places that deserve being described, and for this reason, I will not rush everything on one single blog. Just because I want you to have the time to enjoy the beauties of this place, at their fullest, I am concentrating today on the archaeological sites, and next week I will talk a bit more about another famous place; the church of St. Francis and the rest of this charming town.

Stay tuned!!

An old railway to time travel

The old saying that you will never get to know your hometown could never be more pertinent. I discovered something that, much probably I had heard about when I was a kid, but never really paid attention to it.
I am talking about the abandoned railway that, once upon a time, connected the town of Spoleto with Norcia in the region of Umbria in Italy.
According to the history, the railway was built in 1926 following an initial project of 1906, which was slowed down by the war. At those times it was considered a jewel of the railway engineering, crossing the Apennines and the complex of the Sibillini mountains.
Unfortunately, the second world war caused irreversible damages to the structure of the railway, and despite all the attempt to keep it running, it was definitely closed in 1968.
Nevertheless, the railway, which is long about 50km, can be still walked through or traveled by bike, and it was a pleasure for me in this wonderful and warm spring weather to have a walk on the first part of it.
Starting from the town of Spoleto, the railway has a constant slope of about 5% and reaches a maximum altitude of 625 m.
The quiet and the peace of the place, now surrounded by the National Park is almost amazing, and the walk through the old tunnels through the reliefs brings me the memories of the old times. Although this wouldn’t be considered safe to run with a train, the structure itself is perfectly preserved and allows a great view of the panorama.
Here are some pictures I have taken during my trekking (keep in mind where I was walking, for the whole distance there were the tracks of the train, so imagine how spectacular was to cross this beautiful landscape by train!):

I have only walked it for the first 8 km because I knew that whatever distance I was going to walk, I had to double it to return to the actual railway station from where I have started my quest.
I promised myself that I will come once again walking along this old railway but starting from the other end, hoping to reach the main bridge.
And here some other pictures of this stunning place:

Hoping you liked the post and enjoyed this virtual tour on the abandoned railway so close to my hometown.
Have all a great weekend and a Happy Easter.