This morning we had the breakfast buffet in our Parador. It is included in our room rate. We have had a lot of Parador breakfasts over the last few years so it was interesting to see how they have changed because of covid. The first difference was that each person had their own set of tongs to use at the buffet.
The other big difference was that there were no communal serving dishes, no pitchers of orange juice or bowls of fruit. Everything was packaged individually.
Monday is the weekly market in La Seu d’Urgell so after breakfast we walked through the market.
La Seu d’Urgell Parador is built around the cloister of the ancient church of Saint Domènec which was originally built in the 14th century. We were able to tour the church and the nearby Cathedral of Santa Maria which was constructed in the 12th century.
The parador gave us a map of hiking trails in the mountains nearby. We chose a hike that was described as relatively easy. To get to where the trail started we drove up the steep side of a nearby valley on a narrow switchbacking road to the tiny village of Ansovell. From there we hiked about a mile further uphill to the Santuari de Bascalt. The scenery was gorgeous. The cow bells serenaded us much of the way. And the old church or sanctuary was interesting.
After our hike we stopped for a picnic on our way back down to the main road.
It was a short drive from Ansovell to the Hotel Parador de Canolich in Andorra where we are staying tonight. Duke and I have stayed here twice before. The proprietors remember us which is fun. It started to rain as we were arriving and rained for most of the rest of the afternoon and evening. We played cards and then had another great dinner.
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