gulliver: giant playground man

My most recent Valencian adventure was climbing the arm of Gulliver, a giant man who (according to the story of Gulliver) was tied to the ground- and you will need to read Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift to find out the rest.  In Valencia, Gulliver is a playground that is visited by many children throughout the day, and is crawling with them on Sunday afternoons.  

From the ground, I previously thought this place was some kind of water park, because it was always closed when I walked by and looked to have a large number of slides.  These slides are actually Gulliver's clothing, and are definitely bigger and steeper than any slides I've encountered in the U.S.  Gulliver would have "liability" written all over him in the U.S.  


Tomorrow is the "huelga general" in Spain, which means "general strike."  Throughout the country people are protesting against the price increases in electricity, which are set to rise in October.  No one really knows what will happen tomorrow, since this is a pretty rare thing to happen.  There are scheduled marches for the protestors on specified routes, so we've been advised to stay away from those routes.  There are fliers on the ground everywhere and stickers on lightposts in the shape of a footprint telling people to go to the strike.  There will be "servicios minimos" all day tomorrow, which basically means that only a very small amount of public transportation will be available and a lot of stores and restaurants will be closed.  25% of buses and trains will be running, so I plan on not taking a bus anywhere tomorrow (not much of a problem since I only take the bus to the track).  


Unfortunately, it turns out that I won't be going to the fútbol game against Manchester United tomorrow night.  They were all sold out of the cheaper tickets and I wasn't about to buy one for 70 euro from the guy on the street selling them.  It's okay though since there are games pretty much every Sunday, my friends and I will definitely find one to go to soon.  I'm planning on going to watch a local Flamenco show instead.  It's a group activity so we get a discount and drinks provided with the entrance fee.  


One last thought for tonight- after my workout at the track today I met two 800 runners! They are part of the track club here and also compete for a Valencian team.  They are 18 and 24 years old and the older one runs a 2:08 800.  They invited me to workout with them anytime I'm at the track, which I will definitely do.  It's hard running by myself all the time and it will be really fun to learn some new things that I've seen them doing previously (like different strength training and body circuits).  More Spanish friends!  :)