
It's Good to Be Moving Again
I was never a creature that liked to be caged and kept in the same place for too long. The lockdown showed most of us how terrible such life would be, when you can only walk around your home, from one end of the apartment, to the other (I'm excluding the lucky few with gardens and terraced). Personally it me the hardest when I realised that it's exactly what all the animals in zoos feel like but instead of 4 months we are talking years. Some people will argue that since they were caged since birth it's what they're used to. I don't think so. Even if I were to believe in it, it takes much more than one generation locked in a cage to remove the inherent need to be free. I was secretly hoping that this lockdown might have a positive impact, at least on some people, if they come to the same realisation. The rest probably won't give a fuck. I do, hence I stay away from them...4 months spent in one place is definitely too much for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't have to change a continent every six months, though it would be terrific, wouldn't it? Being able to get on a train or a bus to a city 20km away can give you as much pleasure as going 1000km away, provided that you adopt the right attitude. When you can't leave at all, the appeal of the hills 5km from you grows every day to a point where you use your 1-hour slot for walking outside to go to those hills and hide yourself away from the world from 4 hours. After all if nobody saw you during the other 3 hours, it doesn't count, does it?
I forgot that at times you get the not-so-awesome experiences, especially when the probability of a person in front of you reclining their seat is so low and yet it ends up being the only person doing it. Thankfully Alsa has buses with enough room for my long legs. Thankfully I didn't have any food or drinks at my little table, not that the person in front of me would care. While travelling, you have to be prepared that you will encounter people who live in their world without so much of a second thought to anybody else's comfort. One of the many things in life you just have to survive.
First Impression
To be honest, I am not a fan of first impressions anymore. Whether it be people or places, what counts is how long the impression lasts after you leave, how much you talk about it, and with how much passion. I decided to walk from the bus station to my place in Zaragoza. Walking for 45 minutes, in 30°+ weather, with a bloody mask on your face, turned out to be a challenge. Good workout though! The mask makes things harder, there is no doubt about that.What I liked the most about Zaragoza, even before I had arrived, was the fact that there's a river going through it. I love water. Even if humans are animals, I am more like a plant. Give me sun, give me water, and I will be a happy being.
Ebro is the second longest river in the Iberian peninsula with the length of 928km and begins in the region of Cantabria about 80km south from Santander. I will be able to see this river again in Logroño, therefore I don't have to say goodbye just yet :)

The Walk
Wherever I am, I always try to spend at least one day, or most of one day, to have a really long, detailed walk around a city and/or its outskirts. Such a walk always gives me a great opportunity to see different neighbourhoods, sometimes meet unexpected people, and also do what I like the most - observe, walk, and learn about places and people's history.I like parks. Parks are great, don't you agree? When you live in a city, those round or rectangular, small or large green oases bring what you need the most - nature, peace, and also a lot of dogs to play with :) Everything amidst the chaos of a concrete/brick jungle. When I go for my walks it is never along the route of museums or bars, it is always along the green spaces.
In Zaragoza I managed to visit: Parque Miraflores, Pignatelli Park, Parque Grande José Antonio Labordeta, Jardín Botánico, Parque OliverParque de la Sedetania, and Parque del Tío Jorge. Some of them are just tiny parks within a neighbourhood or, like Parque Grande's name suggests, a big one for everybody. Thankfully Tuesday midday is not really a time for people to want to have a walk.


After I had left the park and walked for about 700m I noticed these amazing sculptures made out of, well, everything. I'm not much of an art person. I can appreciate somebody's talent, yes, but put me in an art museum to look at somebody's squares and circles, and I will get bored quicker than I can blink. And I can blink pretty fast. This is different. Not only because it was hidden, which means you actually had to make an effort to see it but also the fact that the sculptures were so random. Each character came with a message, a description of what's their name, where they came from, and sometimes a little bit of a story.