Sunday Adventures

This morning I woke up and went for a run in El Retiro, a giant park by my house.  It was just what my brain needed and my body wanted.  Or vice versa.  There is definitely more to come later on this park, it is simply awesome, and I am in the process of collecting enough material to do a whole post on it, I've been there 5 times now and I still haven't seen all of it.  But there are so many people running there, and lots of people wearing shirts from races in Madrid.  I am tempted to sign up for maybe a 10k sometime while I'm here.  My goal is to try to run at least 3 times a week, so we'll see how I can keep up on that.


Being outside in the crisp air and windy sunny environment just felt too good after the run and short ab exercise on the grass that I decided to go out exploring. Adventure is out there! But first I had to come home to pack some provisions and add some more layers to my workout attire. I kept on the running clothes, but added my snuggly ear warmer head band, another long sleeve shirt, and my purple hoodie.  Definitely looked like a weirdo for Madrid standards...people don't usually leave the house without a minimum layer of makeup and some cute boots and fashionable clothes.  I also packed some snacks: water, carrots, a tangerine, nuts, and bought a persimmon on the way.  Don't know why I was feeling only orange food... Needless to say I got some really strange looks on the metro dressed in my outfit, with my hood on (did I mention it was freezing today?) and munching on a raw carrot like Bugs Bunny.

Old couple feeding the birds some pan

I made my way to Casa de Campo, another park via the metro.  Took the long way (adventure route) to get there, and got off about 2 stops too early, kind of on purpose, but it was kind of a silly idea.  I walked through a neighborhood semi on the outskirts of town, but I made it eventually to Casa de Campo. The place where I entered was at a cute lake with restaurants around it.  I walked around the lake and into the trails a little bit.  There is also a zoo, amusement park, tennis courts, an arena, running trails, and gardens all in the park.  This park also backs up onto the river that I talked about a few posts ago.  It is a giant park.  A teléferico also runs from the bank of the river into the heart of the park.  Maybe I'll get on it someday.  I definitely want to go back to Casa de Campo to run around in the park, and next time I won't take the adventure route...

I walked around for a little, got my intake of vitamin D, wrote in my moleskine on a sunny bench (thanks Stan) and then headed back home since it was frigid. My chapped lips are definitely reminding me of the arid environment of Madrid.

Another exciting note: Not only did a woman ask me for directions in the metro station today, but I actually helped her! Thats a first!

View of the church from the river

View of the palace from the river

I decided to buy some flowers for Pilar on the way home as a little Sunday gift and to thank her for being an awesome host mom.  We've really bonded in the last few days.  I helped her make dinner, and we were talking about our families, etc... I learned that Sergey is adopted from Russia (hence the Russian name) so I'm pretty sure Pilar has never been married before, since she went to Russia to get Sergey alone. That night we all watched Ratatouille (in Spanish with Spanish subtitles). It really helped my Spanish and I understood pretty much the whole movie.  Yesterday was great too; Pilar had a hole in her sock because she has "Egyptian feet," where her second toe is longer than the other.  Next thing I know, Sergey, Pilar and I all have are shoes and socks off and are comparing feet...  This afternoon I even helped Sergey a little with his English homework.


Last night before school starts, so I decided to stay in with Sergey and Pilar, do a little skyping, reading, and mentally prepare for the semester, which will surely be different than any other semester I've had before...and not only because all my classes will be in Spanish.