Morning in the Retiro Gardens

We took a short bus ride up to Retiro Park, the largest one  in Madrid, originally belonging to the King of Spain. It's a lovely green space and it was spectacular today as the leaves are beginning to change and the air was warm, verging on hot, and there were not that many people there.

You can see that it's got some lovely old buildings, statuary and walkways.

The centrepiece is the lake where people of all ages were renting rowboats and drifting around on the water. Or hanging out on the steps with the ducks.









It's a civilized place with lots of open air restaurants serving ice cream, lunches, and drinks. We enjoyed walking around and then a lunch of wraps and beer. I have discovered a beer that I like here. It's Amstel con limon, actually I guess it's a shandy made with half beer and half lemonade. I find it pleasant and refreshing.

After lunch we headed down through a very elegant area to the Prado Museum where we spent an hour or so seeing some amazing European art from the 14th to the 18th Century.

It's art that reflects its time in the subject matter. Paintings of Mary and the baby, saints and devils, battles, court portraits, and Biblical legends aren't really our cup of tea. But we totally admire the artistry and skill that went into them. 

I saw a number of paintings that I've studied in my art history books and that was a thrill. But after a couple of hours we were saturated and took rest at a lovely sidewalk cafe.

I've been enjoying the use of the Ipad Mini, with a sim card that I bought in England. It allows me roaming in Europe so I can check the internet, skype with people, and find my way around anywhere even without wifi. What a bonus for traveling. Today I was able to chat with son Jamie via Facetime from this cafe.

Madrid is such a lovely city. I walked around this neighbourhood after dinner and saw people of all ages on the sidewalks, walking with their well-behaved dogs, or hand in hand with their elderly parents, or with their kids. On just about every corner there's a little playground area for children. This neighbourhood is residential and peaceful. There's not that much traffic either, because there's an excellent bus and metro system.  We're really enjoying our time here.