Cycling B&B in the foothills of the Pyrenees

[Bonus]

We're having some spectacular clear sunny days here at Zona Zero and around Guaso generally. There can occasionally be a sharp wind but nothing like the weather a north west Spain is currently suffering!

Apparently next week will be colder, but they often say that and it doesn't materialize.
We will see I guess

 

[Bonus]

One of the things we'd like to be able to do once our B&B is up and running (See our Hub-Thread "Bonus & Wendy's Big Adventure"!), is help our cycling guests to find their way around the trails, roads and caminos of the area and of Zona Zero in particular, safely and competently.

We'd like people visiting here to make the most of their time, on and off the bike. There is so much to see and do.

With that in mind I'm looking at getting myself a Guiding Certification with European approval.

Will post my progress through the in's and out's of Spanish bureaucracy and red tape as I go . . . . .

Wish me luck :-)

 

[Bonus]

It snows up in the mountains all the way through winter. We can see it from the comfort and warmth of our village, which is well below the normal snow line and ...if we want to go and play in it we can do. It's no more than 30 mins drive north.

Once in a while though, we get snow down here where we live - which is at 721m above sea level. When that happens we're like kids at Christmas!

This is a picture of the neighbouring village of Latorrecilla at 8am this morning.

 

[Bonus]

I’m so happy to see my friend Angel Cheliz get this award. He has been one of the main driving forces responsible for creating from scratch the hundreds of km’s long collection of MTB/Enduro trails that we now know as “Zona Zero”.

“On Sunday February 4 in Boltaña, Ángel Chéliz received the "Cruz de Sobrarbe” (The Sobrabe Cross).

For us, the prize awarded to Angel Cheliz is very special. A visionary, a child in an adults body that never stops dreaming, to see beyond what their eyes reach. Surely we are not the only ones to be grateful to him and his “comrades in battle” at the Pyrenees MTB Center, Zone Zero. For the passion he has instilled in much of this territory and its future. THANK YOU.“

There goes our little tribute.

 

[mjr]

"[...]A Medieval aftertaste extends from the imposing castle of Aínsa to the streets [...]"

What does "A Medieval aftertaste" mean? Does it mainly mean that someone's been using machine translation instead of an English-as-a-first-language translator?

 

[Bonus]

It's how the local Spanish here say "Memories of the Medieval Past". :-)

 

[Bonus]

Guiding in Spain - the basic requirements:

I mentioned before that I was looking into getting myself a Guiding Certificate so that we could show visitors around "Safely & Legally". This Is what I've found out so far:

1) You need a Guiding Qualification with "European Approval".
2) You need a current "Outdoor First Aid Certificate"
3) You need Public Liability Insurance.

I'll be posting about what each of these involves over the next few mornings :-)

 

[Bonus]

Halfway through February and yesterday I spent the morning working outside with Ramon the Farmer. We were stacking firewood for next year and I was in shorts and a T-Shirt!

Is this Spring here to visit or here to stay? The next few days will tell

:-)

 

[Bonus]

Early last week I dropped off my CV to the 4 local campsites we have around Ainsa, in the hope of picking up some work over the summer.

A day later one of the sites messaged me to say they want to talk to me some more and the day after that my friend Angel, who I help maintain the local Zona Zero MTB trails with and whom I put down as a character reference, messaged me to say that the same campsite had rung him for a reference :-)

Going to see them this eve for a chat and we'll see what happens . . .

 

[Bonus]

So, starting work tomorrow then .... They want me work until the end of the month to see if I like it and if I do they'll give me a 7 month contract through the summer.

Phew

 

[Bonus]

Shame man, I think we broke Ramon the Farmers heart yesterday.

He's been keeping an eye on our progress of building walls and terracing our sloping back garden. He's always very encouraging and is amazed with what we've been able to do with what has always been a rather awkward bit of land.

So, yesterday we showed him that the first terrace was finished and the second one was well on its way. He was suitably impressed and asked us "what we were going to plant there?". I told him "Grass" - but he didn't understand - in fact he thought I was using the wrong Spanish word to describe the crop we were going to plant. So I explained in detail "Grass, so we can put out a garden table & chairs and sit with our friends drinking wine & beer and enjoying the view"

As a farmer, he doesn't get that we would do all that work, just to "sit" . . . . what about growing food, to eat???

Maybe once he and Rosa have sat and enjoyed a drink with us it will make more sense to him :-)

 

[Bonus]

Come to Spain they said, sit out on the pavement drinking cold drinks in the sunshine they said . . .

 

[Bonus]

No work today because of the weather, so time to catch up on our updates and "indoor jobs" :-)

 

[Bonus]

Finally stopped snowing this evening after nearly 40cm of snow had fallen in around 15 hours.

We are officially snowed in - no way to get the cars out until the snow melts or is cleared. As it happens, Ramon has a tractor so he can clear the road from home to the main road if we need to go anywhere.

Looks like another day at home tomorrow . . . .

 

[Bonus]

Couldn't get to work and couldn't work on our walls & garden . . . nothing left to do but to build a Snowman!