Retiro Park- El Parque del Buen Retiro
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Wow! What can I say? Retiro Park is like a city of its own. Inside the park there are two palaces, an art museum, an enormous pavilion, a rose garden, and countless monuments. The best part of Retiro park is that it is within three minutes walking from Estudio Sampere, the language school APSU students attend in Madrid. Each day after classes, students head over to the park to eat their lunches, write in their journals, and complete their homework assignments. On any given day, but especially Sundays, you can find hundreds of people enjoying the park. There are trails for joggers, paddle boats, restaurants, and during May a large book festival. This festival is quite famous in Spain and is attended by well-known celebrities and usually the King or Queen of Spain. This year’s festival had an art exhibit lining the corridors that recognized the importance of water worldwide in photographs. It was interesting to see the many different ways that world cultures interact, protect, and abuse their water sources. A local artist was a favorite attraction in the park. This young man created beautiful landscape pieces using torn pieces of cardstock and spray paint in under 10 minutes in full view of the crowd. On Sundays, the park is full of families, children riding their tricycles, lovers lounging in the shade of the trees, and friends chatting and enjoying the view from outdoor cafes. Retiro Park is truly one of Madrid’s treasures!
June 19th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Hi there!
I saw just how beautiful this park is..and let me tell you..it is really hard to describe it in words, but you did a great job! There is just SO much going on at this park, at any given moment.. it’s great for a lazy Sunday, or in the afternoon if you want to go for a run…or a great spot for a picnic! There are just SO many options- it’s a really cool place! That’s great that you can go there directly after class to study, must be nice and relaxing