Tuesday and Wednesday 7th and 8th July 2026

The last couple of days of any holiday always seems a little bittersweet. You’re still exploring, but every now and then your mind wanders to home, your own bed… and the people you’ve been missing.

On Tuesday morning, after picking up our hire car on the outskirts of Barcelona (to avoid driving through the city), we headed north towards Andorra, with one little detour first.

After a couple of hours, we stopped in Llívia, a fascinating little Spanish town completely surrounded by France. It’s what’s known as an exclave—a piece of one country that’s separated from the rest by another country. A rather quirky little geographical oddity! We wandered around, enjoyed a cool drink at a local bar, then continued on our way.

Rather than taking the main road to Andorra, we somehow found ourselves on what felt like the scenic back route. No complaints from us! Tiny villages, winding roads and beautiful countryside at every turn. We even saw a horse riding tour!

Lunch was the local set menu in one of those villages. Croquettes to start, followed by what can only be described as an impressively rare chunk of beef. Too rare for me even! Thankfully it came with grilled vegetables and potato, so I happily worked around the meat. I somehow still found room for the crème Catalana though! Dave kept things much simpler with a donut.

We reached Andorra around 3pm, checked into our hotel, had a little rest and then wandered around the town.

The stream running through the middle of the city gives it a lovely feel, with cafés and shops on both sides. Dinner was in a little bar (El Raval) just across the water where the place erupted every few minutes with cheers. It turned out the owner was Argentinian, so all the local Argentina supporters had gathered there to watch the World Cup football. We enjoyed a pizza, salad and a lovely chat with her while everyone celebrated around us.

Andorra became country number 83 for me and 130 for Dave. I’ve now caught Will on countries visited… although I doubt he’ll let me enjoy that achievement for very long!

One thing Andorra certainly has no shortage of is shopping. With no sales tax, there seemed to be endless shops selling perfume, electronics, shoes and designer brands.

Before anyone asks… we didn’t buy a single souvenir.

Sorry everyone… suitcase space won!

The town itself felt very clean and organised, almost a little like the Nordic countries. Perhaps that’s because so much of its economy revolves around the winter ski season.

One slightly amusing adventure involved border control. We stopped on the way into Andorra hoping for passport stamps (no luck), but they did electronically process our entry. That meant we needed to officially exit again before flying home. Unfortunately, I drove straight past the Spanish checkpoint, realised my mistake, and had to perform a rather stressful U-turn on a busy highway before we could clear immigration properly. Dave did manage to score a passport stamp though, so he was very happy!

Before we left Andorra we grabbed a light breakfast from a nearby bakery before heading towards Cardona.

We paused in Solsona for fresh juice, then spent almost 50 kilometres driving alongside the spectacular Oliana Reservoir.

Somewhere amongst all that beauty I was also driving a manual car on the opposite side of the road, on narrow mountain roads I’d never seen before!

I kept saying the scenery was magnificent… but even that word doesn’t seem enough. Towering mountains, turquoise water, tiny villages and brilliant blue skies. Several times I found myself getting quite emotional because it was simply so incredibly beautiful.

Europcar had upgraded us to a SEAT, but it was manual. Thankfully I still remembered how. Dave doesn’t particularly enjoy driving overseas, so I took the wheel while he did an excellent job encouraging me every few minutes that I was doing well. It genuinely helped. (Google Maps deserves a medal too.)

The only downside? Three toll roads leaving Barcelona and returning that added up to almost 80 Euros over two days!

Spain has one of the world’s highest life expectancies at around 83 years, slightly lower than Australia’s about 84 years depending on the latest estimates and methodology, which somehow didn’t surprise us given the lifestyle, fresh food and emphasis on enjoying life at a slower pace.

Our destination for the night was one I’d stumbled across completely by accident while searching for somewhere different to stay.

Spain has a wonderful collection of historic hotels called Paradores—a state-owned network of castles, monasteries, palaces and other remarkable historic buildings that have been beautifully restored as hotels. If you’re ever planning a trip to Spain, they’re well worth a look: Paradores.

Ours was the Parador de Cardona, an extraordinary castle whose origins date back to the year 886. Standing high above the town, it defended the frontier between the Christian counties of Catalonia and the Moor territories to the south. Over the centuries it became home to one of Aragón’s wealthiest noble families thanks to the nearby salt mines, survived countless wars and, remarkably, was never conquered.

We arrived just before midday and were delighted to hear our room was already ready.

After checking in we wandered upstairs to the castle bar where Dave ordered what can only be described as melted chocolate masquerading as hot chocolate, while I enjoyed a mineral water and admired the incredible views across the valley.

Lunch was just as memorable.

Patatas bravas for Dave, a delicious charcuterie platter for me, and toasted bread served the Catalan way—with a whole tomato and raw garlic clove to rub over it yourself. Absolutely delicious.

The tourist information office inside the castle gave us a map, so we spent the afternoon exploring the fortress. While chatting to one of the staff in the bar he mentioned there was a nearby bushfire causing some concern. Standing on top of a massive stone castle, we felt reasonably safe, although later that evening we watched Canadair water-bombing aircraft repeatedly circle overhead dropping water onto the fire. Quite an unexpected sight from our castle window.

Dinner was included in our stay and booked for the very Spanish hour of 8pm.

My corn soup with a slow-cooked egg was delicious. Dave wasn’t quite as impressed with his grilled vegetable entrée, but thoroughly enjoyed his steak, while my squid with asparagus and romesco sauce was small but absolutely beautiful.

After dinner we wandered through the castle one last time as the sun disappeared behind the hills before calling it a night. Dave has developed a bit of a cold, so an early bedtime (by Spanish standards) seemed like the sensible option.

After a delicious breakfast, the drive back towards Barcelona the following morning was every bit as spectacular. We even caught our first glimpse of Montserrat rising dramatically from the landscape.

I honestly don’t think I’ve found the right words to describe just how beautiful this part of Spain has been.

Best of all… I returned the hire car completely unscathed!

Now we’re sitting at Barcelona Airport waiting for the long journey home—Barcelona to London, then Singapore, then Sydney, and finally back to Wagga. Unfortunately the upgrades we were quietly hoping for didn’t eventuate, with flights apparently completely full at the moment.

Wish me luck… long-haul flights and I have never been the best of friends!

As Dave and I drove over the past few days, we found ourselves talking about all the countries we’ve visited and whether we could imagine living in any of them.

The truth is, nowhere quite feels like Australia.

But Spain?

Spain would come pretty close.

The only thing missing would be our wonderful family and friends, who we’ve missed enormously over these past six weeks.

As I finish this final blog, I keep thinking that while we’ve seen incredible places, eaten amazing food, visited 11 countries and made countless memories, the very best part of this trip has simply been sharing it with Dave.

Travelling together. Learning together. Experiencing new places together.

I’m incredibly grateful that we get to do life side by side.

Thanks so much readers, for coming along on this journey with us. Your comments, messages and encouragement have made these blogs even more special.

Now… time to head home. ❤️

Sara xx

p.s. – A comparison table of life expectancy of places we have visited this holidays. Life expectancy is, of course, just an average and doesn’t tell the whole story. But it was an interesting statistic to follow as we travelled from country to country across Africa and into Europe.

Country	Life Expectancy (Years)
🇷🇼 Rwanda	69
🇿🇦 South Africa	66
🇳🇦 Namibia	66
🇧🇯 Benin	61
🇬🇭 Ghana	65
🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire	61
🇬🇲 The Gambia	64
🇸🇳 Senegal	69
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	75
🇲🇦 Morocco	76
🇪🇸 Spain	84
🇦🇩 Andorra	84
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	81
🇦🇺 Australia	84