Madrid - Parque del Buen Retiro

I know that I haven't posted in a long time and that's primarily been because I haven't had a whole lot to write about. But Madrid is definitely worth writing about, more worth writing about than I can manage in this little blog of mine, but at the very least, I can share my own experience. This is the first in a brief series describing the things I've seen, as much for my own sense of memory as for yours.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is an enormous and beautiful park, one which was essentially built around the Palacio del Buen Retiro. Although most of the palace buildings are gone now, the few that remain (like the Museo del Ejercito) are used to house museum collections. The park itself is wonderful. It's over 350 acres and although it's been around for several centuries (from the 1630's) it's only been open to the public since 1868. It has now become the green heart of Madrid, where ice cream vendors and puppet shows line the main walk by the pond and people come to relax amid the greenery. I was lucky enough to be there on the day of San Isidro, so the park was particularly crowded that day. Of course, it's never really too crowded to find a bit of grass to lay on.

This was one of the performers next to the Estanque. I've seen guys juggling flaming torches before and I've even seen them do it while on a unicycle, but I have never seen a guy juggling torches on a unicycle in a hot pink spangly mini-skirt. Ah, the small and simple pleasures of life.

These are a few photos of the Crystal Palace, which was erected in 1887 and based on the one in London.

This walkway was the first thing I saw upon entering the Parque. The estanque lies at the end of it.

This is the statue of Kind Alfonso XII next to the estanque.

I have to admit, I took the picture primarily because of the bird, but the statue is pretty cool too.

You'll find these statues all over the Parque and all over Madrid in fact. They are the statues of all of the kings and queens of Spain, dating back into the roots of the country. The story behind the statues is somewhat less glamourous than the statues themselves. They were cast over a five year period in order to decorate the roof of the Palacio. But clearly, whoever came up with the idea didn't think it all the way through. They realized, after making all of statues, that placing them all on the roof of the palace would cause the roof to cave in. As a result, the statues were dispersed throughout the city. If they looked unfinished, it is because they were intended to be viewed from a distance.

This is the famous (or perhaps infamous) statue of the Fallen Angel, not for anything that has happened around it, but for what it represents. La Estatua del Angel Caido stands down a long green walkway from the estanque and King Alfonso's statue. Built in 1877 by Ricardo Bellver, it is one of the only statues of Satan in Europe. Inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost (where Satan is actually more of a hero), the statue represents Satan just as he is being cast down from heaven.

The parque is in the middle of Madrid, next to all of the major museums, where both tourists (like me) and Madrileños can come to relax, eat ice cream, watch puppet shows, row on the pond and look at Satan. If I get the chance to go to Madrid again, I will definitely be visiting the Parque del Buen Retiro.