Who Knew?

Today I discovered a new park - well, "discovered" in the same way that Columbus "discovered" America - I guess other people knew it was there, and I kind of stumbled across it accidentally, but I still think I should be able to claim rights to it.

Some city worker was spraying the streets this morning and then poured more of that stinky white liquid on the sides of buildings. I'm guessing it is some sort of pest control measure, but I am really sick of it. So, I closed my windows and went to the gym.

There was a very strange fog this morning, almost like San Francisco. It was chilly and the fog was floating through the streets. When I left the gym it was clearing and a beautiful, clear blue sky was being revealed. I went to the bakery and got a few whole wheat rolls and came home and had a snack, which turned into me eating a whole roll with cheese and a fried green pepper. I love fresh bread and hope I will have a bakery near my apartment in Madrid.

I had a skype call scheduled for 3 p.m. and needed to run some errands, one of which was to find a shirt to match my new turquoise shorts that I could bring with me to Morocco. I bought this shirt a few weeks ago in the Juderia - the old Jewish quarter that is made in Nepal - it's green with stripes and is very light cotton, it has a mandarin collar and is button down. It's the perfect shirt to bring to use as a light jacket and worked really well for me in Granada when I went out at night or in the morning. And unlike a jacket, it is light and I can wrap it around my waist when I'm not wearing it. But the color kind of clashes with the turquoise shorts, so I went to the Juderia to find another one, maybe gray or black. And that I did. I also got a blue one just because I liked the color. Now that I have this extra bag, I am not afraid of not being able to pack everything, and I might unload some things before I go to Madrid like my dorky travel shorts that used to have pant legs too that you could zip off but I somehow broke the zipper and now they are just shorts and not nice ones at that, so I don't need them anymore.

I came home and did my skype thing which ended up being really short and suddenly was faced with a whole free afternoon I wasn't planning on. I had done laundry, eaten, shopped and now was feeling like I wanted to take a nap, but instead, I decided to take a bike ride because the weather was just perfect. It was sunny and warm, but not hot, and not humid.

So, I went out and headed for the bike path that runs along the river. When I went for my ride last night, I noticed people taking a path that went across a bridge right past the bus terminal. I decided to see where that led.

I just followed the trail which seemed to connect the places where you can pick up and deposit bikes, many of them located outside of tech companies. On the other side of the river there is this odd collection of science/tech companies, some old remains of some science fair, world's fair, or something, like a rocket and some odd 50's/60's modern looking buildings. There was very little traffic and very few people on the bike path. I kept following it and it took me to the base of this new modern bridge they call the Olympic Bridge (I think). I had taken the bridge before and also been at this very spot. Rather than head up onto the bridge that would take me home, I decided to enter this gate that went to a park, but didn't look all too inviting. I thought maybe it would be a good place to ride a bike.

So I rode through this deserted parking lot type space with overgrown weeds, expecting to see a bunch of homeless people living, and suddenly I entered this park and was amazed at my find. It was a big beautiful park with all kinds of trees, birds flying around, grassy areas, a lake, and trails. It went on and on, and it was great riding around. There were very few people there, a few people walking, some people riding bikes, some kids playing in the playground, some guys in the lake and a few families picnicking, but I felt like I had the whole place to myself. I rode around several times until my butt got sore and headed home, into rush hour traffic and almost being run over by a bus because I was unknowingly riding in the bus lane.

It's a shame I didn't know about this park before because it is very near and is the perfect place to ride to and to ride around in. Oh well.

I did some research yesterday on bike rentals in Madrid and Barcelona and it looks like it will be possible in both places, though not as affordable as Seville has been. But I will definitely rent bikes there. Thanks to Amsterdam, I got the idea to even consider renting a bike here and it has been great. It looks like Madrid has some trails and nice parks and a little more information like maps and things. Unfortunately Seville did not provide me with any information and I had to find things on my own, like the trails and even this park. I think any city that is considering trying to promote bicycles should first visit Amsterdam (well, I guess city officials, since a city can't visit another city) and see how they do it. They have set the standard for bike paths, trails, maps, markings, signs, etc.

So now I am all packed and ready to head out early tomorrow for my Moroccan adventure. Too bad I can't bring my bike.