River and Forest by Bike

Just when I thought I was getting to know Madrid quite well, maybe that the shine had come off it a little, I went for a little explore in the warm evening air on my bike in my new free time now that I quit my evening job and discovered a whole new aspect of the city, right on my doorstep.

Little chapel thing

I cycled down to the river, past the little chapel thing not far from my apartment and north along the lovely recently landscaped pathways with trees on either side, what look like amazing kids adventure playgrounds, and the Palace and Cathedral glowing in the sun overlooking them from the top of the hill to the east. There's a lot of work going on further south where they're building a park around the river too. Actually, I say river but it's not really a proper river, the Manazares, not like the Thames or the Seine, it's just a trickle really but they block it up with wears to make it look bigger. I cycled further up the river, with the forest a couple of streets away on my left, under the cable car line that goes out to Casa de Campo over people's houses (see below), past quiet little fishing spots and over little footbridges, all overlooked by the ubiquitous four- or five-story apartment blocks. Suddenly everything started looking quite familiar and I realised that I had got to the place the bus I take to work in the suburbs leaves the city proper. I'm still continually surprised by how small the city centre is and how close together everything is! That'll make a nice 10 minute cycle, rather than a sweaty 20 mins on the metro when the weather's nicer.

I turned back and went back down opposite Principe Pio and turned off into Casa de Campo, the big forest in the west of the city. (I wrote about Casa de Campo before, but that was the actual metro stop). I cycled up through the trees on a potholed road and stumbled across the lake which I'd heard about but never been to, with a huge jet of water shooting into the air. My flatmate had said he had been there on the metro (Lago) but that there wasn't much to see apart from a load of prostitutes hanging around in the trees, but went I went there it was really nice. Beautiful scene with people canoeing on the lake and restaurants around the edge. It's like being in the country apart from you can see the city landmarks in the background. No prostitutes to be seen though, I think he might have got his words mixed up - "No Lee, those are parrots mate!"

 

I continued going uphill, getting quite out of puff (it's been a while since I rode a bike, ok?) past rabbits casually lolloping about in the scrub-like foliage and finally reached a plateau as the sun was hazily setting. Looking back over the city in the dusk was maybe one of my highlights of living here so far. It was a lovely moment of tranquility that I think I needed after dashing around the busy city on packed buses and metro's for months. In fact, I can't believe it's taken me so long to find this place. It'll be fantastic in summer too, and only about a 10 minute cycle from my flat. I was so busy looking back at the city that it took me a while to notice the dark haze of the mountains to the north, which on a clearer day there'd be a great view of too. Speeding back down the hill through pockets of warmer and cooler air towards the city justified the €90 I spent on the bike all by itself.

*****

I'd love to leave you with that image, but I feel I should write something about the poor American lad that went missing last week just around the corner from my house. Missing posters were posted all over the city and trails played on the metro TV channel after Austin Taylor Bice, an American student, dissappeared on a night out after being turned away from a club next to the Manzanares for being drunk. Sadly, authorities found his body nearby on Tuesday after draining a section of the river, and it appears he fell in. My heart goes out to his family and friends who showed how much he was cared for with their efforts to locate him.