Sierra de Gredos

After six months of noise, crowds, and just the general intensity of the city this country girl had to escape for a little while.  So, I signed up for a couple of days on horseback in the mountains.

I arrived at 2 p.m. the day before we started riding, and it pretty much took me the whole day to relax.  I didn't realize how wound up I was.  The silence of the countryside was initially unnerving, the fresh air disconcerting, and I just kept pacing back and forth.  Finally, I had to put my foot down and tell myself to take a seat, read my book, and watch the tractors drive by :).  By the next morning, the city had been mostly detoxed from my system and I was ready to ride.  

I came back from the weekend sore, but ready to get back to language classes and with a significantly improved attitude.  So, the lesson I learned is that, for the sake of sanity, I need to make an effort to get out of the city more often than every six months.  

Hadn't seen a tractor in a while!

Day 1:  Sitting on my horse (Ur) and seeing no trace of civilization for the
first time in months! So great.

Day 2:  Cruising past cows with my buddy Cisco :).