Baptism by Vondel

11:08am (@home)

I've gotten to know Vondelpark pretty well by running through it. I have my 'mile markers' of sorts. There's a mishmosh of trams crossings right around the corner from the park. I swear one day one of those silent metal street creatures is going to eat me. At the entrance of the park there is always, ALWAYS (this morning at 10am) a group of people toking on the benches near the entrance to the park. Then there's the street musician(s) that play under the ugly overpass next - best acoustics I assume. This is also the spot were park strollers huddle to let the rain pass as it rains here every 10 minutes. [[Rain would normally stop me from a run, but not here. Here you can be fairly confident it will end in a few minutes.]]

Then theres the Film Museum (that I still need to tackle)and an outdoor cafe where people were reading their newspapers and having their morning coffee today. From there you enter the back loop of the park, which is actually a really peaceful (iffy by night) part. Just wooded areas, flat paths, and back views of incredible homes that line the park. Lots of local dog walking here and thus, a lot of dancing along the paths.

Wrap around the corner to the southwest side of the park and this is kind of the main thoroughfare. Fast paced. People rollerblading, biking, walking, running, jumping jack-ing, eating on benches, etc. Vondel highway. Some cool points of interest - sculptures, fallen trees, ponds... [[There's an area to the park that is overgrown and shut down. There is a huge sign in Dutch that sits in the middle of it. I still haven't figured out what it says exactly, but theres a little "trash dude" cartoon mascot thats saying something and I believe its along the lines of "too much trash so we had to shut it down." Hmm...punishment for dirty parkgoers?]] Back out the front of the park and onto the tram tracks up into the Leidesplein.

Sun through the rain today. 48º.