Retiro Park.
Palacio de Fomento, Madrid
Next day we had breakfast sitting out on our balcony, then I went out sightseeing on my own again. This time, though, I must admit I felt really tired. It was our last full day and I had been active every day of the holiday so far. Although there were lots more areas of Madrid to explore, I really wanted to do something easy, so I decided to concentrate on Retiro Park. This was my favourite place in Madrid on our first visit and it wasn't very far from our hotel. I told Peter I would take him there later, too.
On the walk to the park I passed an open air market selling books. There were some attractive buildings around.
Book stalls.
Book stalls.
Attractive buildings.
Retiro Park was at one time the private grounds of the seventeenth century Buen Retiro Palace. After the Glorious Revolution of 1868 the Spanish royal family were deposed and Retiro became a public park. It's huge, covering around 350 acres and there are many things to see here.
I could see the entrance to the park in front of me, though Google Maps was telling me to go a different way. I ignored Google Maps. Inside the park there was 'do not enter tape' up everywhere. I actually wondered if I had come in a disused entrance or something, but it turned out there was tape up everywhere in the park. It looked really messy. I think there must have been a storm or something and it was necessary to check the trees for broken branches. Everyone was just going under or over the tape, so eventually I did, too.
At the top of the road I was walking on, I came to the fountain of the fallen angel, Fuente del Ángel Caído. Not many Catholic countries, or indeed, non-Catholic countries have a statue of the devil, but Spain does. This bronze and stone fountain, created by sculptors Ricardo Bellver and Francisco Jareño y Alarcón, depicts Lucifer at the moment when God is so angry with him, he casts him out of heaven and Lucifer hurtles down to Earth. Apparently this statue is located at 666m above sea level. For a while at any rate, groups of Satanists were said to congregate here. I was here all by myself and I'm definitely not a Satanist, so I can't vouch for that.
The Fallen Angel.
The Fallen Angel.
Walking further on I soon arrived at one of the Retiro's most beautiful attractions the Rosaleda, or rose garden. When we visited in December, I found one or two roses blooming here. In October there were lots. Apparently there are more than four thousand rose bushes here. There are also ponds, fountains and statues.
The rose garden.
The rose garden.
Pond in the rose garden.
Pond in the Rose garden.
Fountain
Monument to Benito Pérez Galdós, a Spanish realist novelist.
Monument to Dr. Manuel Tolosa Latour, a Spanish pediatrician who dedicated his life to children's medicine.
Pink rose.
Pink roses.
Cream and pink rose.
I took a look at the park maps and decided to make my way towards water. On the way I passed The Palacio de Velázquez, an exhibition hall covered in beautiful tiles.
Palacio de Velázquez.
Tiles.
The first pond I reached was next to the Palacio de Crista. This nineteenth century glass and iron building was inspired by London's Crystal Palace. Sometimes The Reina Sofía Museum hosts exhibitions here. Some parts of the Crystal Palace were being renovated. There were beautiful black swans swimming in the lake.
The lake.
Black swans.
Black swans.
The Crystal Palace.
Selfie by the lake.
I couldn't help but notice all the beautiful autumnal colours in the park. They were spectacular and I think Autumn has only just begun.
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory
Autumn's glory.
Autumn's glory
I continued walking until I reached Retiro's biggest lake, the Estanque Grande or Great Pond, which was built between 1634 and 1636 by the architect, Cristobal de Aguilera. When Retiro was a royal retreat, there were water shows and mock naval battles held here. The king and queen would sail across to an island in the centre of the lake where musical and theatrical performances were held. This island was later submerged in the lake waters.
The lake.
A Pigeon's view of the lake.
The lake.
In 1902 an amazing monument dedicated to Alfonso XII was built on the edge of the lake. It was designed by José Grases Riera and built by Teodoro Anasagasti. There's an equestrian statue of the king here that was created by Mariano Benlliure.
The Monument to Alfonso XII.
The Monument to Alfonso XII.
Close up of the monument.
Part of the monument.
It's possible to rent a rowing boat or go canoeing here. There were lots of people out on the water, or strolling around the lake, or posing for selfies. It really is beautiful here.
Embarcadero del Retiro, boathouse.
Boats on the lake.
Girl in a beautiful dress.
At this point I exited the park briefly, because I wanted to take a look at an archway called The Puerta de Alcalá, which used to be a gateway through Madrid's City walls.
The Puerta de Alcalá.
The Puerta de Alcalá.
After viewing the archway, I went back into the park and found the Fuente de los Galápagos or Fountain of Galapagos. This was designed by Francisco Javier de Mariátegui to celebrate the birth of the future Queen Isabella II of Spain. It was completed in 1832.
Fuente de los Galápagos.
The Fuente de los Galápagos.
There are some cafes between this fountain and the Great Pond.
Cafe.
Next I walked to the Paseo de las Estatuas, or Promenade of Statues, which is lined on one side with statues of kings, and on the other, with statues of queens.
Paseo de las Estatuas or Promenade of Statues.
Statue of Juana I of Castile, also known as Joanna the Mad, daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Berenguela of Castile.
Chintila, a Visigothic king who ruled Hispania from 636 to 639.
I found another statue sitting all alone in the middle of nowhere, apparently it used to be part of a fountain, and I came across another small pond with a fountain called the Fountain of the Ochavado Pond.
All by myself.
The Fountain of the Ochavado Pond.
The Fountain of the Ochavado Pond.
The final part of the park I visited was the Plaza del Parterre, a formal garden laid out according to geometric principles, featuring clipped hedges, statues and fountains.
Plaza del Parterre.
Looking across the Plaza del Parterre.
Looking across the Plaza del Parterre.
Fountain.
Monument dedicated to the Spanish playwright and Nobel laureate Jacinto Benavente.
Close up.
I walked back home to get Peter, but stopped to take a look at a few things on the way such as: The Palacio de Fomento - home to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Prado, the Conservatory of Music, Atocha Station, the Fountain of the Artichoke and a statue of Pío Baroja, a Spanish writer from the Basque region.
Palacio de Fomento.
Prado Museum.
Atocha Station.
Royal Higher Conservatory of Music of Madrid.
The Fountain of the Artichoke.
Pío Baroja, a Spanish writer from the Basque region.
I took Peter out for a while, but the crowds, busy roads and hills meant it wasn't easy. One thing I would like to point out is that nowhere in Spain did anyone ever try to bother or hassle us. They tended just to leave us alone, which is fine by me, but every time I ran into difficulty with Peter's wheelchair, and that was quite often, people instantly rushed from everywhere to help us. I've read all these stories of how sick of tourists Spaniards are, but I still felt most people were actually very kind.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
Peter out and about.
There were so many restaurants around our hotel. We selected one and I went in and attempted to order in Spanish. I made so many mistakes, yet the waiter understood everything I asked for and we were given exactly the right food. I was impressed.
Peter at dinner with cute baby in the background.
Our tasty but unhealthy food.
Cheesy ham fries and chicken strips.
Cheesy Cheetos.
Next day we had to check out and go to the airport. I realised I had forgotten to photograph our room or balcony. A staff member in the hotel helped us to get our luggage downstairs. We ordered an Uber and headed off.
Room and balcony.
View from our balcony.
View from our balcony.
Me on our balcony.
Me on our balcony.
View from the hotel.
At the airport, check in was fine, but passenger assistance was a bit chaotic. Madrid Airport is huge. Although we had arrived really early, we only made it to the lounge twenty minutes before boarding. I ran around mentally getting us food and drink, but it turned out the flight was a bit delayed and I could have relaxed.
Lounge.
Lounge.
I couldn't sleep on the flight. I watched documentaries about mysterious legends in The United States, such as haunted hotels, ghost towns, sea monsters and werewolves.
We had nine hours sitting around in Doha, which just about killed me, though since I had eaten nothing on the plane I had excellent lentil soup and chicken biryani in the silver lounge here.
On the next flight, I watched back to back episodes of 'Tracker' where a reward seeker hunts down missing people.
It was wonderful to finally get off the plane. We got a very friendly passenger assistance guy who was a Mainlander and lived in Zuhai. We remembered our bus left from Terminal 2, stance 8 now. We had both really loved Spain and want to go back, but it was good to be home.
This featured blog entry was written by irenevt from the blog A Trip To Spain..
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