The whole world walks here! Some of the folks don't own cars (although, many of them do), so they do a ton of walking. The public forms of transportation are so good that you can arrive at almost any destination you desire (in Madrid) within 45-50 minutes,-- one hour tops-- and that's from one end of town to the other.
Just last evening three couples of us went from our place, on the southeast edge of Madrid, to past the center of the old downtown (El Centro) to eat, and took the Metro (subway), making two interchanges (that's where you hop off one line of the Metro, and jump onto another line) and made it to our chosen place to eat within 40 minutes!!
Back to the walking. Sister Bake and I have decided to walk each evening in order to stay in shape. We have discovered some real nice walking/biking paths in our adventures out from our piso. The leaders of the city have paid a great deal of attention to this, and as a result, they have developed some real nice paths to accommodate those so inclined.
You can see from the picture that the path is divided: the walkers have about 6 feet, and the bikers have another 10-12 feet. Most of the paths are well-landscaped, with great trees and shrubs and flowers lining the way. And. . . if you choose your way wisely, you can generally find some nice shade to help keep the heat to a tolerable level. They take this business very seriously, as you can see from the next picture. This is another location on the same path as above. It takes you over an nasty freeway.
When we go out to walk, we always run into (not literally!!) tons of folks doing the same thing. Some are just strolling, while others are giving it some umph, like we do. We have 4-5 real good loops that we use, the smallest being right around 3 miles, and the longest being about 4 1/2 miles.
HONEST!! It is good for us to get out into the fresh air and to examine our surrounding, and the benefits to the health are already being noticed.
Not only are the paths great, but so also are the areas they surround and pass by. They take this to the next level at times, in order to make their fair city a nice place to experience. Fountains, and courtyards and areas of grass and sand make the work (our walks) all worthwhile. Below, see some examples:
They have this weird bird here. It is black and white; about a foot or so long, maybe a little more; and makes this strange squawky noise when it tries to scold us as we walk along. The other day we were on one of our longer walks, and I noticed this bird up on one of the lightposts. He was just talking his head off. It sounded a little like one of our magpies, but deeper and more throaty, so I asked Sister Bake if she thought it sounded like our magpie, only a little different. Her answer was an instant classic: "That's because he's speaking Spanish!!" Good One!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, let's talk driving for a minute or two. Parking anywhere in Madrid is a premium!!. Most of the cars are very small for two reasons: they need more room to park, and the cars get better mileage. Paco has wanted me to begin driving to some our group meetings, but I am skeptical of my ability to not run into someone, especially when using the roundabouts. That, my friend, in an adventure!!.
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| Can any of you out there identify this thing for me?? |
It is legal to double-park in a lot of areas, as long as you put on your blinkers. I have seen it where there are several cars in a row, double-parked, and the drivers are sitting along the sidewalk, under the canopy, having a beer and a sandwich with one of their friends. Yeh, I am serious!! If you think I am crazy, take a look at this:
All the cars on the left of this picture are double-parked!! The next picture shows the need for the smaller cars.
If I were to get a mission car, I'm not sure if I could find a place to park the thing!
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| Things can get a little tight when parking!! |
The roundabouts are something else. I know they work, but we are still getting used to them, even when we take our walks. You do not cross the street at the corners here. You go down the street to the side just a little, and there you will find the cross-walk. Do you know why you cannot cross at the corners? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Any guesses? . . . . . . . . . .. Answer: THERE ARE NO CORNERS!!!
But, you can also double-park at the corner!! Try that in the US and see what it gets you!!
This last picture sort of takes us back to where we began--how they like to keep some open spaces and try to make things as 'livable' as possible. Even when the majority of the room here in Madrid is covered with places for the people to live, they make every effort to make it pleasant for the inhabitants. This picture is taken from our front room window, four floors up, down into the courtyard that connects our apartment building with the one next door.. When I say fourth floor, I really mean the fifth one up--they don't count the bottom one. That's the 'base'(baw-say)--the base. We actually live on the fifth floor, but here, it is called the fourth. Every night a group of little, old ladies comes out and sits on the bench and just passes the evening there together. One of these nights we are going to make some cookies and go out and meet our neighbors. We'll see how that goes.
I got called on today in Sunday School to answer a question. At first, I did not know what he really wanted, but when he repeated the question, I was able to give an 'adequate' answer. I just need to forget about how many mistakes I know I will make, when I try to speak in Spanish, and just talk. Sister Bake is making strides also in learning the language. It is a tricky business. She is doing better and better every few days. I am proud of the way she is 'fighting the fight'! We are learning our jobs better and better each week, also. Soon, I hope, we will be moving along at a good clip, with the language and the service we render, and we will feel like we are actually contributing something of value.
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