ger of things to come.
After several minutes of searching,
we reunited and completed our stroll
past a boating lake, and many statues
and monuments. By then it was too
late to go to the Botanical Gardens,
but no matter, we were getting hun-
gry and decided to find a place for
dinner. Early by Madrid standards,
we had fun wandering through the
neighbourhood until we found a side-
walk restaurant on a random street
where we enjoyed a selection of local
foods and wines; laughing and watch-
ing the locals pass by until it was time
to turn in. We intended to be up and
out reasonably early to avoid Madrid
traffic in the morning.
We were modestly successful. One
of Our Number had overslept. No
matter, Brian led us around rounda-
bouts to the four lane A-6. We made
good speed and soon left the city
traffic behind us. Despite a little
TRAVERSE 75
confusion at the exit to Torrelodones,
we were happily cruising through
pastures filled with cattle, goats and
unusual rock formations in the foot-
hills of the Parque Regional Cuenca
Alta Manzanares, with snow capped
mountains rising to our west.
We stopped for a shepherd whose
large flock occupied the road while
crossing a bridge. It was great fun
watching his sheep dogs at work.
Then we really began to climb, with