After our first excursion to Zaragoza, we took a rest to explore more of our hub city. Madrid is a BIG city — bigger than we typically choose to be the hub. But it is beautiful and full of history, so there’s a lot more to do on our off days.
We began by taking a short 20-minute walk east from our apartment in Puerta Sol to visit Retiro Park. This is an enormous public garden in the center of the city, similar to New York City’s Central Park. We strolled around the shady, wooded grounds for an hour or so. The weather was clear and temperate. Unlike the prior several weeks in Spain when the temps approached 40 degrees Celsius (100+ Fahrenheit).
The Palacio de Cristal (Crystal Palace) was, unfortunately, closed for renovation and obscured by scaffolding. But we enjoyed walking around the many paths and watching the people. The rose garden was a little heat-stressed, but we could still imagine how beautiful it would be in the Springtime and enjoy the fragrances wafting through it.
When we arrived at the central pond where the Monument of Alfonso XII stands, it was time for a rest and a little refreshment at one of the cafes there. We snagged the perfect table overlooking the water and watched the row boaters bob around the lake for an hour or two.
Oh, and there might have been a pitcher or two of icy cold sangria.
We took a slightly longer route back to our neighborhood and began scouting for a place for dinner. We were all kind of tired of tapas and jamón, so we settled on comfort food: tacos and beer. There’s a little nondescript taco bar just a few steps from where we live, and the tacos were delicious. We’ve found that Arkansas tacos are blander and under-spiced compared to Texas tacos, and the ones we found in Madrid were just right.
