The hotel through the season

The hotel in early February with snow on the Sueve Mountains behind the hotel

Asturias (and the whole of the North of Spain) is a region where the weather changes a lot. Not only does it change according to the seasons but it can also change in a short period of time. However the seasons and the weather are what helps give Asturias that magical scenery and special feeling at any time of the year.

The farm in March

So here are a few photos of the farm and the hotel throughout the year. 

The hotel in April 

Our wild flower meadows in May

Enjoying a drink outside the Hotel in July

Autumn at the hotel.

The full gallery of 28 photos “The hotel Through the Seasons” can be seen on this link.

Visiting a Major Cider Producer

"Escanciando" or pouring cider from the vat for everyone to try

With the idea of finding new activities and experiences for our guests to enjoy whilst staying at the hotel, we’ve started visiting a lot of different places so as to be able to recommend what’s available and what each guest might enjoy best.

Cider made from 100% asturian apples

Asturias is famous for its cider; the region’s major drink. For people who want to see how it’s made traditionally we always recommend them to visit the Ruta del Sidra y Queso, a fabulous two hour tour talking about cheese and cider followed by an excellent lunch.

Walking round the instalations at Sidreria Cortina

The original wooden presses in the background have now all been replaced by hydraulic presses.

But it’s also possible to visit a larger scale producer of cider and taste the cider straight out of the vat. Last week we visited Sidrería Cortina in Villaviciosa, they are well organized and we had an interesting tour. After the tour it’s possible to have an excellent menu of the day in their restaurant next door.

Pouring cider from the vat

Explaining why asturian cider has to be drunk as soon as it is poured.

Visits to Sidreria Cortina are on a daily basis in July and August and twice a week the rest of the year. 

The original wooden Vats

Look out for our new information sheets at the hotel with all sorts of exciting activities and experiences waiting for our guests to enjoy

The 3 Senses Gathering

Satish and Ignacio talk for the guests and the radio at the 3 Senses Gathering

Last week we celebrated a most amazing event at the hotel; the 3 Senses Gathering with Satish Kumar. This multi-lingual and intercultural gathering was organized by our son; Sebastian and his partner; Lidia and inspired by Satish Kumar’s life journey and his grand new book; “Soil, Soul and Society.”

Relaxing and talking around the hotel

Relaxing and talking around the hotel

There were various activities for the participants including walks through some of the beautiful Asturian Landscape, creating art, helping with the cooking and in the vegetable garden, as well as meditation and yoga and not to forget, enjoying lots of lovely food.

Eating and talking over the evening meal

Open circle under an ancient yew tree a short walk from the hotel

The major message from Satish is that we are members of a one earth society and caring for the earth and the soul is interrelated.

Ignacio Abella leading an inspiring walk in a beech forest

Ignacio Abella a local author whose works embrace many books on trees including “The Magic Life of trees” accompanied us some of the time and also led an inspiring walk in a local beech forest.

Playing "games" in the forest

At the train station ready to start the pilgrimage to La Ventuca

The culmination of the gathering was on the Saturday with a full day event for all the public at La Ventuca in Coya and included talks by Satish Kumar, Ignacio Abella and Gustavo Duch a writer on food sovereignty. There was also an eco espicha where everyone brought along some food and shared it at lunch time.

Satish talking at the gathering at La Ventuca

Pouring cider at the eco espicha

With over 170 people attending the event on Saturday it was a great success and everyone appeared to enjoy the gathering.

Enjoying the eco espicha 

The National radio programme El Bosque Habitado (The Inhabited Forest) was covering most of the events with different bilingual interviews and talks.

Time to enjoy the coast

We hope to be able to repeat the event, may be next year and bring together again so many wonderful people to share their love and care for the earth.

The participants of the 3 Senses Gathering outside the hotel

For more information on our son's company Gaia Y Sofia which specialises in non formal education click here.

Magnificent in their glory, trees on the farm.

False Acacia trees on the farm in winter

It was a stormy summer’s day and the farm was in her best clothes, magnificent giants guiding the way. I suddenly looked up and saw these beautiful specimens paving the way.

It made me think about the farm, Asturias and how local people have cared for these trees which in return reward them with their ware.

Walnut tree outside the dinig room window

Take the noble walnut tree, not only a delicious fruit in the autumn, but in years past the timber was used for fine furniture. We have the most magnificent tree outside the dining room window. One of the local pastries here is Casadiellas, filled with walnuts and anis.

Walnuts from our farm

Ash trees providing shade for stone stables in the mountain

The Ash trees grow quickly and abundantly, spreading their branches offering shade from the midday sun for the animals and then in the autumn coppiced for extra winter fodder. If you travel in the Pico’s you will see the stone stables surrounded by the ash trees.

Hazelnuts from the farm

Around the hedges are found the Hazel trees with many stems, these in the past were trained to produce fences. The nuts are collected in September, if the boars and badgers don’t get there first... Many a beautiful basket here is made from the hazelnut tree.

Traditional cart made from hazel twigs

As traditions go there is a local Hazelnut fiesta in Infiesto the first weekend of October, then in Arriondas there is the Chestnut fiesta in November.

Catkins on the chesnut trees

We have many chestnut trees on the farm; I was amazed by the beautiful catkins’ on the male trees.

The village people here talk about the famine during the civil war and chestnuts were boiled and eaten as a meal. In some areas, La Molina, you can see the remains of stone like igloos Quires’ made for storing chestnuts in the winter.

Thorns on the Acacia

It is strange to think that nearly all the trees had their uses, even the intrusive Acacia was originally grown for its timber to make the fences around the farm, not one of the friendliest trees with its huge thorns, and if it wasn’t for the animals who trim the young shoots it would take over the farm. I believe this was originally brought in by the people who emigrated to South America and returned to Asturias.

Laurel leaves and flowers

For culinary purposes we have the Laurel tree, the leaves used in many stocks and sauces, the animals will eat a mouthful, and then move on. On Palm Sunday local people take a sprig of laurel to church to be blessed by the priest; this is then given to the godparents, who in return nowadays buy a special cake for the godson or daughter.

Lime tree and fruits

There is a large Lime Tree at one end of the farm, the people here used to collect the flowers to make an infusion; it was supposed to help you relax. We have many cherry trees with sweet and sour cherries, the sour ones called guinda are used here for a liquor, made with anis. A very popular drink in Asturias.

Sweet cherries waiting to be eaten; mmmm!

Blog entry written by Joe

A time to enjoy our creative nature; Collagraph Printmaking.

One of the courses run at the hotel is on Collagraph Printmaking. This Art Work Shop is run by Lidia and this blog entry is written by her about one of the recent courses;

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When our guest Sandy sent me an email to book an art workshop, I had a mixture of feelings. 

First, I was very enthusiastic, as I always feel when it comes to sharing artistic techniques, and painting with others. I love that explosion of creativity, those "unspoken" conversations that take place, with our hands, our imagination. Then, I felt I had to compromise between the spontaneity I like to work with and the structured process of a lesson on a printmaking technique. 

Eventually I got carried away with my initial enthusiasm and started organizing the workshop full of energy; and the 3 hours workshop with Sandy was more than inspiring! it was full of patience, love for all beings and the Asturian land, and full of wonder. 

Do you know the "white paper" fear we all have somehow when we start to paint something, to create something?; 

and how about the fear, at least my fear, to attend an art class full of rules, with a teacher telling you what to do, what is a good result and a bad result?

Well, my most sincere intention in my workshops, is to change that!, to share some

"Magic" with

Collagraph Printmaking.

And that magic happened! and you will discover how..

..A challenge! Sandy was thinking a lot before the workshop, she had some clear ideas on what she wanted to do, and came with a challenge: let's recreate this photo! and I thought, wow!! this will be difficult!.

Collagraph Printmaking technique consists in gluing different materials, organic, recycled materials with different textures into a cardboard model. Materials and shapes will be revealed in a different way, they will absorb the ink and retain it differently, leaving a darker or clearer colour print.  

So with some observation on results everyone can make an idea about what is going to happen, how the print is going to emerge; but for the first time, it is quite a difficult task. 

Usually, we start printing some already made designs, and try creating a simple and purely experimental model. But this time it was different, we had a picture, so we had an expectation on the result,..a real challenge! A cow in the mountain! :)

In a 3 hours workshop, Sandy had time to carefully and slowly design her model with some help, but you know a "teacher" cannot say everything from the beginning, so some little mistakes and big realizations happened, moments to learn and discover the magic of this technique that is like a mirror, like a specular image. The result is always a joyful and creative surprise!

Magic happened! we used a few old pieces of cardboard, some oregano, a piece of old sandpaper (first time I've ever thought of using it!), glue and coffee.  

We created the 5 layers that the landscape of the photograph had, and added volume to the cow with an extra one!..

And after prinking 2 old designs of my own, to get familiar with the printing process, Sandy ended up with 3 beautiful and different versions of her cow in "El Sueve"! (the mountain range that rests behind the hotel)

More information on this Art Workshop can be found here

Recognition as an environmentally-friendly accommodations

English. (En español debajo)

Hotel Posada del Valle in Asturias proudly announces it has been accepted as a Gold level GreenLeader into the TripAdvisor®GreenLeaders™ program, which helps travelers plan greener trips by identifying environmentally-friendly accommodations.

TripAdvisor GreenLeaders have met a set of environmental standards developed for TripAdvisor by a leading environmental consulting firm, with input from expert partners. The more green practices a hotel has in place, the higher its GreenLeader level, which is shown on the property's listing on the TripAdvisor site.

Travelers can now search for accommodations that have a GreenLeaders status on the TripAdvisor site, and view a detailed list of environmentally-friendly practices that they can expect at each location.
 

“TripAdvisor GreenLeaders are leading the hospitality industry in making efforts to improve their environmental footprint," said Jenny Rushmore, director of responsible travel at TripAdvisor. "We greatly applaud these accommodations and are pleased to share their eco-friendly practices with our online audience of more than 260 million travelers who visit
the site each month."

The TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program was developed in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR® program, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the United Nations Environment Programme. For more information, please visit www.tripadvisor.com/GreenLeaders

The Gold level GreenLeader award will join our certificate of excellence awarded by trip advisor for this year

Español 

El Hotel Posada del Valle en Asturias, se enorgullece de anunciar que ha sido elegido como "Gold level Green Leader" - "Líder Verde nivel de oro" por el programa de TripAdvisor®GreenLeaders™ , el cual ayuda a viajeros y turistas a planear sus viajes verdes y sostenibles, identificando alojamientos respetuosos con el medioambiente

Los alojamientos elegidos por TripAdvisor GreenLeaders ("Líderes verdes") cumplen con una serie de estándares medioambientales desarrollados por una consultoría ambiental líder para TripAdvisor, en colaboración con agentes externos independientes. De esta forma, el establecimiento es posicionado en un ranking de excelencia, con un nivel GreenLeader más alto, cuantas más buenas prácticas ambientales se estén implementando. Eta información está accesible para los usuarios y viajeros que pueden consultar el listado en la web de tripAdvisor.

Los viajeros pueden ahora buscar alojamientos con el certificado GreenLeaders en la web de TripAdvisor, así como consultar una lista detallada de sus prácticas medioambientales específicas.

"Los Green Leaders de TripAdvisor son pioneros en liderar la industria del alojamiento sostenible, haciendo un gran esfuerzo en mejorar y reducir su huella ecológica" cita Jenny Rushmore, director de turismo responsable en TripAdvisor. "Aplaudimos enormemente el esfuerzo de estos alojamientos y estamos encantados de compartir sus prácticas ecológicas

con nuestro público, de más de 260 millones de viajeros que visitan nuestra página web cada mes."

El programa GreenLeaders de TripAdvisor ha sido desarrollado en colaboración con el programa de la Agencia de Protección Medioambiental "ENERGY STAR®" y el Consejo de Edificación Sostenible de los EEUU, y con el Programa Medioambiental de Naciones Unidas. Para más información, visite  www.tripadvisor.com/GreenLeaders

Guess what fruit tree this flower is from?

English.

Over the years we have planted lots of different fruit trees on the farm so as to provide a range of home grown fruits for our restaurant. For the first person who can guess what fruit tree this flower is from and let us know writing their answer on the Hotel Face book page we will give a bottle of organic Ribera Del Duero red wine from our carefully selected wine list.

The winner of the wine can come and collect it from the hotel.

Español

A lo largo de los años hemos plantado mucho arboles distintos en la finca con la intención de ofrecer a nuestros huéspedes la mejor variedad de fruta casera. La primera persona en adivinar de que fruta es esta flor y nos lo hace saber con un comentario en el Face book del hotel le obsequiaremos con una botella de vino de Ribera del Duero ecológico de nuestra cuidad carta de vinos.

El ganador puede venir al hotel a recoger su premio.

Preparing for a new season

The hotel in winter with snow on the Sueve mountains.

Although we shut the hotel to guests for five months during the winter there is always plenty to do preparing for the coming season.

One of the biggest jobs we have contracted this winter is the painting of the outside of the hotel including all the woodwork.  Over the years we have painted some sections of the hotel ourselves, those areas which have been easy to reach but there are other areas which haven’t seen a coat of paint in 18 years due to their difficult access! So this year we decided to hire a couple of local painters who our builder recommended to paint and treat all the wood on the outside of the hotel. They started painting in December and hopefully will be finished by early March.

Treating the woodwork on the outside of the hotel

Inside the hotel we (well mostly Joe) has been painting some of the walls as well as recovering the chairs in the dining room. Each year we send some of the sofas and bedroom chairs to be recovered by an upholsterer and this year is no exception. We also have had some of the wooden floors in the bedrooms filed and polished.

Revising walking notes; at the Mirador de Ordiales in the Picos

But the winter work isn’t only about decorating and maintenance within the hotel. It’s also a time when we can reflect on what we are doing.  We can check and revise our walking notes and we can also visit some of our suppliers and check if there are any new products we should be incorporating in our menu. This year we have found an excellent Pale Ale made here in Asturias so that will be on offer alongside the organic beer we have always stocked.

Asturian Pale Ale!!!!!

There is also a lot of work on the farm in the winter; cutting down old trees, mending fences and removing any prickly growth such as brambles which might be starting to grow in the meadows. And the animals always need checking and feeding.

Beetroot seedlings  for  fresh beetroot for late April onwards

Then of course there is the vegetable garden and all the jobs which are necessary so we can have a great supply of fresh produce for the restaurant during the months we are open. Last season’s crops have to be cleared, beds weeded, mulching and sowing seeds, just to name a few of the jobs

Mulching broad beans

Another big job this winter has been the preparation of the new hotel web. We wanted a web which is more visual and better adapted to small screens like mobiles or tablets. We have included a German and French version of the web as well as incorporated an on line booking system. The web will not be static and with time we will be incorporating even more information. Sebastian has been of great help with the web as this has been a major project.

Our sheep and the hotel with the Picos in the distance.

 Yes there is a lot to do over the winter but we do also get time to have some holidays ourselves and relax a bit and what a lovely envornment to relax in!