madison

We were in the gloriously air conditioned dorms at the University of Wisconsin Madison for today's rest day. And it was just one of those days where everything went right.

I walked outside in the morning with a list of things to buy -- spare tire tubes, chamois butter, hair conditioner, snacks for dinner (I somehow always manage to end up at the end of rest days with no food in the dorm but too tired to go back out for dinner), and coffee -- and managed to find shops for all of them within a two block radius of the dorm. While running errands, I ran into Kathleen who said she had an extra bottle of conditioner I could have. I then ran into James who said that he had an extra bottle of chamois butter I could have. The bicycle tubes were on sale, and the coffee was good. It was an excellent start to the day. :o)

While I gave my bicycle a little bath, I decided that I should spent most of the day helping the day to earn its title as a rest day. Lizzie, one of my roommates in England, used to live in Madison and gave me the inside scoop on all sorts of things to do there. I explored the town and ate an amazing salad at The Old Fashioned restaurant followed by coffee on the porch at Barrique's coffee and wine bar. I then wandered over to the University Union patio and spent some time looking out at Lake Mendota and soaking up sun.



I found Madison to be a fun city with a great vibe, bustling with activity and filled with all sorts of quirky shops and interesting people. In thinking through career options, I'm leaning away from an academic career, but the thought of living in a cool college town like Madison is making me reconsider. Additionally, there are many bicycle lanes and the town is nearly over run with bicyclers (in a good way :o)). However, I did encounter this lovely city in the summer time, and I imagine it might be a slightly different place in the winter (in January, the average low is 5°F -- I would certainly die).