Feelings of the Day: Slower is a gear we often don’t use enough of. Sure it's fine to get a task done quickly and well, but if that means you also have to move onto the next task and also complete it quickly, you will burn out that gear in your own internal engine. Some people’s slow gear is sitting in front of the TV for hours, instead of engaging in good conversation, walks amongst nature, or just reading a good book. Yoga, Tai Chi, and meditation can help you find that low gear on your own and in just about any place. Perhaps we should be finding our slower gears with good purposes more often.
Full Day’s Events: Today was restful, of sorts, on this first full day returning to Almazan. After unpacking the rest of the items I needed, and getting my things settled in the hacienda for the next week and a half, we went on a multi-kilometre walk through the Arboleda park beside the Duero river. In Spanish the word arboleda is defined as a grove or wooded area smaller than a forest. We also examined the main bridge going over the river and its progress at being refurbished.
I have walked through this wonderful town park and recreation area before, when I was here with my wife. I am very enamoured of this multi-use park: biking/walking trail, rougher inner trail with exercise stations, kids' playground, small soccer practice area, basketball court, tennis court, benches, tall trees, indoor gym, outdoor event area (mainly for soccer), indoor event area, electric bike rental, washrooms, bar, witches tower, jungle gym, caravan site, and outdoor BBQ and picnic area. I am sure I am missing some things, but for a town of just over 5000 this wonderful park is quite an accomplishment and resource for the community. Whenever I’ve walked here, there are locals of all ages taking advantage of this large greenspace that offers so much. If only Canadian towns of the same size put as much effort into public spaces perhaps, we would be a happier and healthier society.
Once the walk was done it was time to visit the Tuesday market, also along the Duero River but on the main town side. We visited it before and it has a half dozen or so vegetable, fruit, olive, and nut sellers. It's fun to see all the delicious looking goods and interesting to observe the folks who spend a significant time waiting for their turn. Intermixed in the market experience is the friendly conversations between the buyers and the sellers. There is no whizz-bang sale and onto the next customer. Instead, it is slow friendly conversation, about this and that, as items and quantities are requested, weighed, bagged, and handed over. The magic is that nobody else minds as it's part of the ritual of specialty market shopping. The same thing happens in the shops of the butchers, bakers, pastilliers, bars, and other establishments in the small towns of Spain. This is another thing that would be a good thing to reintroduce in Canadian society.
Another shopping visit was to Soria to the superb wine merchant of El Almacen de Pepe, a fruit and vegetable establishment, and the mega grocery store Le Clerc to get what we couldn’t find that day before. For lunch we travelled to Bar Los Alamos for an excellent egg and potato with ham pie (tortilla with jamon) and the interesting flavour of fried pig strips (torreznos or chicharrónes). The owner of the bar was very friendly and interacted with everyone with grace and kindness. He even had some candy, behind the bar, to give to kids.
For the rest of the day we enjoyed each other's calm presence, discussed what we had to do and what we would like to do, and moved onto chilling and chatting. I also wrote in my travel diary and read. Later we walked through the park again and listened to a band practice outside the city walls for something I would be seeing over the next several days. It was nice to be at a slower pace for a day. 7.8km and 15 flights walked.
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