El Bueno Retiro

Retiro (s.): Lugar tranquilo y apartado de la gente. (English translation: Tranquil place away from people).  Altough there is never a dearth of people in El Retiro, and I don't know if I would describe it as tranquil, I think this name is fitting.  El Retiro is an awesome place. Just two minutes from my house, El Reitro has proven to be the perfect escape.  

I don't know if I've gushed about this city enough, but I know one thing I haven't mentioned nearly enough is El Retiro.  Its like the central park of Madrid, and I live right next to it! 


So far, I've been there about 5 times (that was when I wrote this a long time ago, by now I've been there a bunch more!) and I've found 2 art exhibits, a lake, 4 ponds, cool columns that look like the perfect place to take wedding photos, 3 cafes, a dog park, numerous play grounds, statues, open space with grass to do abs (yup I did it too!), flowers, trees, cobblestone paths, a rose garden (dead in winter), a memorial to the train bombings, soccer fields, tennis courts, a fountain, an awesome trail around the perimeter to run around... 

Of the people I've seen there; old women selling rosemary, roller bladders, long boarders, kids, teenagers, babies, people doing yoga, marathon runners, couples making out (its a common occurrence in Madrid), old people walking, families strolling with strollers, couples running, fat people breaking a huge sweat, skinny people breaking a huge sweat, picnickers, people doing tai chi, boys playing soccer (this is where Sergey has his soccer practice and soccer games), women gossiping, people reading, photographers, bikers...

Roller-blading lesson

The animals I've seen in El Retiro; peacocks, birds, dogs (so. many. dogs.), geese, fish, children...

My favorite part of El Retiro is the trail around the entire perimeter. It is the perfect length for an afternoon/night jog, maybe 3ish miles, which takes me more or less a half hour to complete. Today I checked out El Retiro during the day (early actually, at like 12 pm), but its cool to run there any time of day.  Running at 9 or 9:30 pm is normal in the park and you won't ever be there alone, even on a Saturday night.  Yes mom, I ran there at night. No, I did not talk to strangers. Yes, I felt safe, Pilar even said it was safe. Yes I will do it again, and yes, I know you are still going to be uncomfortable with this. :)

Me and Jenna at the lake

There is a central lake and a cool monument of something, where you can rent row boats and row around. I haven't done it yet (I'm still waiting to meet my Spanish boyfriend so he can take me there and it will be romantic ;)  This location is absolutely beautiful all times of day, sunset, the afternoon, the morning.  People are also ALWAYS there.  There are "love locks" on the railing, which i guess is a thing where couples engrave their names on a lock and stick it on something cool or romantic, that way, they'll be together forever or something like that...again, still waiting for that Spanish boyfriend...

Today I went on a Sunday at around 12, and the park was packed.  Families on picnics, people running/biking/dog walking/roller blading, exercising in general.  

The park just winds and goes on forever. It bends into nooks and crannies and walled spaces.  Today, I ended up inside of a fenced in enclosure and had no idea how I got in there, or how to get out. There were whimsical ivy-covered columns and a picturesque old brick building (I decided that when I marry my future Spanish boyfriend that I still haven't found, we will take our wedding pictures here.)  There were also some peacocks roaming around. What?! I wish I had my camera, but unfortunately I don't bring it on runs with me, so I miss out on a lot of photo ops. Hence, these pictures being from when I've passed through with friends. I actually went back today (a different day) with my camera and got some pics!

So just imagine me in a white dress with Mr. Spain on my arm...

There are ponds with white geese (Omi, I know they're not swans like at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but you would love them).  


Another day when I was at the park I managed to find the 2 art exhibits, put on by the Reina Sofia, a museum in Madrid that houses many of Dalí's paintings as well as Picasso's Guernica. One exhibit was in the crystal palace, big open space with all glass walls and a glass roof.  The exhibit was indigo colored fiber-glass panels with little punctuations printed on it.  The panels covered the entire space.  It gave the crystal palace a really cool bluish glow. The other exhibit was of some Dutch artists, and was semi contemporary modern art paintings and stuff.  (Can you tell I'm not the biggest art aficionado?) But the exhibits were still really cool, mostly because they're in a park!

I'm really excited to see the rose garden come spring time, but until then, I will definitely keep enjoying all that El Retiro has to offer, with my goal of at least 3 runs a week, hopefully not all of them at 9 pm to make mama happy.


The other day, I walked through the with Pilar and Sergey. It was evening time, just around sunset, and it was sooooo cold!  But definitely well worth the trip because Pilar showed me 2 places I had yet to see! The first was the soccer courts, where Sergey practices soccer (Friday evenings) and plays his soccer games (Saturday mornings).  I am going to go watch a game in a few weeks! I think he was excited that I wanted to come.

Sergey playing soccer

Ballin' host brother

Pilar also showed me the memorial for the train bombing that happened here in 2004.  The station (Atocha) is really close to where I live, and there is a monument there too.  Pilar says its muy fea (really ugly) and I agree.  It looks like a water tower; its a big cylinder covered in white tiles, very modern looking.  But the monument in El Retiro is beautiful.  It is a little hill with a winding path in a spiral leading to the top.  All around are torpedo trees, one for each person who was killed in the bombing. There are also some small olive trees (like the ones we have at home) which Pilar thinks are there because they are very symbolic of Spain.  The hill is surrounded by a little river/pond and you have to cross a bridge to get to the hill.  

Me and Pilar

The monument was really tastefully constructed, and Pilar said that people come and put flowers there at the anniversary of the bombing.  Sergey was being silly and climbing all around the monument and then when Pilar yelled at him for not being serious, he started to fake cry.  Sometimes I forget that he is only 13 and what it was like to be a 13 year old.  But he's definitely fun to hang out with, and I think we're bonding a little more.

Atocha bombing memorial.  Picture doesn't do it justice, you would need an aerial shot.  

This afternoon (yet a different day!) I went and did some homework in the park.  It. was. awesome.  I found a nice sunny spot and enjoyed the 13 degree weather and sun.  GOTCHYA! 13 degrees celsius, which is about 55 F.  Anyway, it was soooo lovely, and since I am currently suffering a terrible shin splint on my right leg, this is the only kind of retiro-ing I will be doing for awhile. 

Map of Retiro. My neighborhood is the top right corner of this map, which is really the south east corner of the park.