Bonus & Wendy's Big Adventure . . . .

[Bonus]

"Shortest Day" of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere today.

 

Here in Ainsa/Guaso we have Sunrise at 8:25:36 and Sunset at 17:29:59 . . . that's 9hrs 4mins 23 Secs of Daylight.

 

From tomorrow onward things can only get better . . . :-)

[Bonus]

Zona Zero has released details of the "Road Bike Cycling Routes" that I talked about a little while ago and I have posted details on our "The Pyrenees . . . " thread :-)

[Bonus]

We have quite a few people following our "adventure" now and we'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

 

We appreciate the encouragement and the comments - silly or otherwise - that we get from this thread. It all helps to keep us going when things start to get us down, which doesn't happen often, but we do miss family and friends and sometimes it gets on top of us a bit :-(

 

We will keep working and posting about it (today we were sorting stones ready for the next chance we get to build a bit more garden wall, which will be on Boxing Day) and you lot can keep "liking and commenting" on it!

 

feliz Navidad everybody.

 

Bonus & Wendy.

[TIB]

May you be blessed beyond your dreams!

[Bonus]

Woke up to this today :-)

 

https://youtu.be/8Z7UU1b5pMo

[barrykm]

Best wishes to you both, looking forward to reading your posts in 2018.

[Bonus]

We're planning on making this a "Big Year!". . . .

 

We have buildings to build, trails to ride, mountains to climb, work to find, a language to learn, gardens to plant, fiestas to attend, rivers to swim in, caminos to walk and Casa Vino to drink.

 

Looking forward to it all . . . Happy New Year everybody!

 

Bonus & Wendy

[Bonus]

Our snow didn't last long, although the mountains are still beautifully covered, so after a couple of days of wall building I had to go scouting for more stones. Ramon owns 85Ha of land and it's dotted with old walls and old buildings and he's given me permission to pick stones from anywhere.

 

It really is a very nice way to work :-)

 

The 4 wheel drive handles the track from the houses down through the woods easy enough and tows a fair load of stones back up again with ease.

 

 

[Bonus]

For a month now every evening during supper we watch the News & Weather and they predict rain and/or snow for the following day - so I plan to skip a day of wall building and gardening to catch up with emails & paperwork instead

 

Spain has had snow all over in the last few weeks - bringing chaos to some roads and cutting off villages in the mountains - but for some reason Guaso is different. They call our village "The Caribbean of Sobrabe" because 99 times out of 100 the bad weather misses us and it's clear and sunny.

 

So we get to work outside and our paperwork is left for Mañana . . .

 

This picture taken from Guaso shows the mist in the valley bellow us and covering the towns of Ainsa and Boltaña.

 

 

 

[Bonus]

So, a month after the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere where we had 9hrs and 4min of daylight, today here in Ainsa/Guaso we have Sunrise at 8:22 and Sunset at 18:00

 

That's 9hrs 38min of Daylight - 34 min more than a month ago . . .summer is coming!

[Bonus]

Reasons to visit the town of Ainsa, in the region of Sobrabe, Aragon, Spain . . . .

 

Ten minutes drive from our village of Guaso, lies the beautiful Medieval Town of Ainsa, with its "Old Town" perched up the hill overlooking the "New Town" below it . . . .

 

 

"The Middle Ages, with all its recollection and rawness, suddenly emerges on reaching Aínsa, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Sobrarbe. A Medieval aftertaste extends from the imposing castle of Aínsa to the streets that in their day were attached to the wall that surrounded the town"

 

 

 

 

[Bonus]

"The high degree of conservation and the spectacularity of the constructions that were created between the XI and XV centuries motivated that as early as 1965 its old town was declared an Artistic Historic Site.

This Artistic Historic Site is a pleasant journey into the past where each step leads to a unique moment."

[Bonus]

"The fortress retains all its power, you can see the pit that made it difficult to assault. The only way to
save it was through a drawbridge that led directly to a huge courtyard in which the troops oncentrated and organized their functions."

 

 

[Bonus]

"Today the brave soldiers have given way to another more peaceful army. Thousands of visitors every weekend come to know the town, which are spellbound from the moment they enter the main square of the twelfth and thirteenth century, which also ends at the Castle.

 

The walls of the castle open to a porticoed square, where each arch is different and houses the parish church. Then, any of the two streets that open to the right and left lead to a journey through the historyof this town that dazzles its visitors."

 

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by Bonus

[Bonus]

"The square, considered one of the most beautiful and best preserved of the Spanish Middle Ages and in it, one feels immensely small.

 

The senses will reach us to perceive everything that tells about stones that house pieces of history of the province of Huesca."

[Bonus]

"With Romanesque essence, the Church of Santa María is one of the most important architectural elements of Aínsa."