What you can find from a mistake

While Jonathan was out of town last week I did a lot of exploring and learning the city. I kinda think of it like a playing a little game with myself and the map.... I try to figure out where I am, (street signs and addresses are not Europe's strong point) where I want to go and see what I find along the way. There are always lots of surprises and today was not any different.

This particular outing had a purpose attached to it, I was scouting a gym that I was going to meet a friend at the following day to swim. The gym is quite a ways from where were are staying so I thought I would go and find it the day before and figure out 2 things.... how long will it take me to get there and where is it? So the game began....

On the way I found a lot of great things to amuse myself with..... shopping, a candy store that actually had my favorite jelly bellys (cherry, watermelon and green apple) and a store that rivals Target called the Corte de Ingles. They have everything from Leather jackets to groceries.
Except that it isn't as inexpensive.

About an hour or so in I think I find the gym. I am outside a building that has in big black letters GEIG (the gyms name) so I walk in to check it out. Instead of finding weights and a swimming pool and I find a dancing roller skating team. Yes, I said roller skating not roller blading team. It's like I turned back the clock like 3o years! I stopped dead in my tracks and just stood there.

Here is a group of about 25 women and 1 man (he was the most dramatic of the bunch) skating around a wooden roller rink, DANCING! They had the old 4 wheel side by side roller skates on and you would have never been able to tell cause by the way they were dancing you would have thought they were on ice skates. They all had these cute short skirts on, with leg warmers and the skates all had a 2 inch heel on them with nude spandex covers on them so they wouldn't stand out.

The group was like a cross between ballerinas and a marching band. They had grace and elegance while crossing paths, skating backwards, creating these complex formations and changing direction at the drop of a hat. I was so astounded I sat down in the theatre style seating just to take it all in. I got to see the entire routine. There was drama, clapping and grunting they were giving it their all for their coach sitting in the stands. The routine lasted about 10 minutes. It was amazing. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

By now I am thinking that I made a mistake and was possibly in the wrong building. :) It was true, the gym was one building over. But somehow when I look at these pictures again...I just don't think it was a mistake.