When living in a big city, you need to constantly be on your guard. Not because anything bad is going to happen, but rather because the city can be fast-paced and no one particularly cares whether or not you make it to class ?in time.
It’s both exhilarating and exhausting, and because everything is so far away, we are constantly moving — walking, running and everything in between. I come home at the end of the day and sleep the hardest I’ve ever slept ?before.
Luckily, Madrid offers a few escapes.
Madrid is situated in a large and dry mountain valley in the center of Spain, and Spain itself has several mountain ranges that attract hikers from all over Europe. There are even some parks in the outskirts of the city.
This weekend we decided to take advantage of it.
We went farther out by train to a tiny pueblo at the base of a mountain. Spaniards like to stay relatively active, so the hiking trails around Madrid, both near and far, are always full of families and groups.
Many come to camp as well, and occasionally someone with an entirely Patagonia-based outfit and trekking poles would power walk by and make us, with our school backpacks and dirty sneakers, feel a little less fit than we initially thought.
Madrid’s environment and temperatures are very different from the Midwest. For the most part the air in the Midwest is very wet, as evidenced by humid, sticky summers and rainy winters. Two-thirds of Indiana was also flattened by a glacier millions of years ago, so we don’t really do “uphill.” Also, as everyone knows, there’s corn and not much else.
In the parks and pueblos in and around Madrid, however, the weather and terrain can vary enormously.
At one point we came upon an area similar to the Redwood forests in California. After walking just an hour more we were situated in front of a lake with pine trees. On the way back we walked through what looked like Montana, until we hit a plateau and it became more like a desert: more arid, with plants lower to the ground.
But more so, it allowed us to get out of the city for a minute.
Madrid, while never boring, is a big city, and a big city can begin to take its toll. The air is dirty with pollution, and the metros are crowded.
It was nice to be able to get out with friends and explore.
It’s also proven that being in nature helps your mental and physical health, so I recommend trying to get out and hike somewhere as often as you can.
We were able to take advantage of something the Spanish really enjoy doing. When I came home my roommate expressed jealousy that he didn’t have time to go hiking since he and his friends in León camped nearly every weekend.
I’ve found here that sometimes exploring the culture doesn’t mean the history or the food.
Sometimes it just means participating in the way the world works, when the world is new.
ewnning@indiana.edu
