Parque de Dehesa de la Villa

It is official we are going to move to a new apartment in Madrid at the end of November! We have not found a place yet but are actively looking. Our current place is too small, has no balcony, and the smallest  kitchen imaginable. Now that the weather is cooling down, it is more important then ever to explore the city to see which neighborhoods we might like to live in. Since we also have to be able to afford to live there, we need several options.

A good way to explore the city is to see the various parks and glimpse the neighborhoods surrounding them. The park, Parque de Dehesa de la Villa, we saw this past weekend was definitely off the tourist's beaten track. From the people we saw running, playing squash, walking, and biking, it was a very Spanish neighbor and got more then my usual stares. I am beginning not to mind much anymore, thank goodness!

Cool wall art, metal strips against a whitewashed wall.

 This park is only one bus ride away from us, and I am smitten. 

A nice, typical (old), Spanish University building.

 It is a gorgeous park. The first part is just umbrella pines with dirt paths criss-crossing underneath them. The whole park smells of pines and when I hear the pine needles crunch underfoot I am reminded of home. I love to small that sweet vanilla-y scent of a pine trunk.

This was odd. It was sitting in the middle of a path. It can not mean "exit" because that is Salida  in Spanish.

 Then you start seeing a sprinkling of other trees planted here and there, most of which are not doing to well this year because of the drought. The Eucalyptus was doing well, and I found a nice branch to hopefully whittle into a support spindle.

In this part of the park there was not a lot of people, and if you carefully did not look towards the street it felt like you where hiking in the country.

Madrid is a city that is full of surprise hills. When you are walking you generally do not notice that the city is built on a series of hills, until you come to a vista like this. 

Looking at the South-West of the city

Ahh, pine trees and mountains, what could be better?

My photos are probably making Madrid look deceptively green, it has not rained a drop in months. If you need proof chick on the picture below to see the fact that that cactus is in severe need of water.

Looking toward Moncloa and a university

The Southern part of the park has a bike/jogging trail and sees a lot more activity. It would be a very nice park to live near.

It was a nice park and we hope to go again.