Retiro

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Met up with David and Greg and went to the El Polideportivo, which is the municipal sports complex and gym. We signed up for a bono (pass) for use of the facilities. They're pretty dated, but the fact that I had to pay for the pass forces me to exercise. The past week has had no schedule, so working out was hard. Tomorrow starts my first week at school. Classes start at 12.30 so I’ll be able to work out before than for a good amount of time. After getting los bonos, the three of us went to VIPS, a popular restaurant chain in Madrid. VIPS is like a fancy Denny's, having salads, sandwiches, etc. The food was so good. We all had salads just to prove to our selves that vegetables not drenched in oil, fat, or non-vegetarian liquids do exist. Next we went to El Retiro, the Central Park of Madrid. It was quite beautiful. NYU set each tour group up with a Madrilena, a Madrid citizen to connect with. So our group of a dozen people sat in a cafe on a small narrow road near Atocha and talked for hours in Spanish. I came back to my room and had dinner with Maria and Lindsay. Its so nice being able to sit down every night with a family and talk about our days. Each of us has their own seat and we eat a bit past 9 every night. I look foward to it every day. The Del Rio family has to be the nicest family I have ever met, besides my own of course!!! Tomorrow is Paloma's birthday and Lindsay and I are going to get her some gifts.

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Photos

Calle de Alfonso XII
A beautiful street bordering the park

El Retiro Metro Stop
Here's the Metro Stop for the park

El Estanque
"The Pond" is very fun to boat in.

The Gardens
El Retiro has beautiful gardens just like this one. Actually, the park used to have a palace on it, but was destroyed. The garden you are looking at is the only remaining part of the property from that era.

More green
By the way they call the park "los pulmones de Madrid", which means the lungs of Madrid.