GR11 - Rest day - Andorra la Vella

We took it really easy today, getting up late, enjoying the plentiful breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Andorra la Vella (Andorra the beautiful) was a surprise for me. You try not to have expectations and take things as they come, but this was too much for me. It is set in a narrow valley. The mountains go up really steeply on all sides. There doesn't appear to be single-family houses. I think everyone lives in an apartment. Everything looks so modern. The buildings have no style to speak of. They all look like apple boxes. The street-level floor has shops and the upper stories are mostly apartments (at least it appears that way judging from the things on the balconies). The entire city seems to be one giant shopping centre. There were sales all over. I know quite a few people who would be in shopping paradise here. I think it is a duty-free centre. We left with a funny feeling about the place. It seemed to be so out of place, if that can be! That was the feeling I also had about Encamp when we arrived yesterday, but now, coming back from Andorra la Vella, Encamp seemed beautiful!