Archives for “Relaxing” tag

I live close to the inmensely popular El Retiro park, so I often go there to take a walk, breathe some fresh air, and watch how the year’s seasons go by, as colorful foliage falls from trees and grows back again along with the smell of flowers invading your senses.

During summer, the park is overrun with locals and tourists alike enjoying the great weather. One of its most famous spots, the pond by the Alfonso XII monument, ends up being crammed with rowing boats. It’s quite a nice way to spend some relaxing time.

I did it once, when I was a small child, and my rowing skills weren’t any good at all, so whenever I took the oars, we would just sail around in circles. For a few years, I’ve been wanting to go back and see if I’m better at it now, but I guess the fact that it’s so close to my home got in the way. Not anymore! Last year I had a go at it again with my wife, and we deeply enjoyed it. It’s a lot of fun, including maneuvering around other boats and laughing at your own rowing abilities. And yes, I’ve gotten a bit better at it.

Before our stint in paddling, we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about in the park, where there are some nice spots for that. For example, the Crystal Palace (check the Crystal Palace article) is one of my favorite places there.

I have fond memories of traveling in Madrid’s teleférico (cable car) when I was a boy, particularly when it was a special way of getting to the amusement park located in Casa de Campo, the largest park within the city limits. It was quite the start of a day, leading up to plenty of excitement at the amusement park!

Although that’s probably one of the reasons why I still like taking it every once in a while, and why I take friends there as well, it would be unfair to say it’s the only argument. It’s a laid back way of traveling to one of the most relaxing places in Madrid while looking at some impressive views of the cityscape. During the approximately 10 minutes of this trip, you fly over the Manzanares river, with the Royal Palace, the Almudena Cathedral and other iconic landmarks in the background.

Once in Casa de Campo, there is plenty of stuff to do. Besides the aforementioned amusement park, you can row a boat in the park’s lake (close to the aptly-named Lago metro station), visit the zoo, or just enjoy the more than 1700 hectares of green land.  

I recommend buying a one-way trip, as it’s easier to catch the metro back if you end up walking around Casa de Campo (which you should do!). There are three metro stops nearby: Lago, Batán and Casa de Campo.

Just below the Rosales cable car station (check the Teleférico de Rosales article) lies one of Madrid’s botanical secrets: the rose garden of Parque del Oeste (Western Park). It’s a quiet hideaway which few people visit, that during spring and summer, boasts a colorful display of more than 500 different types of roses, along with water fountains, ponds and sculptures.

Built in the 50′s to create a rose garden with more scientific basis than the existing one in El Retiro park, it has hosted for more than five decades an international rose competition in May, making this the best month to visit the garden.

I enjoy walking around Parque del Oeste, as it feels less commercial than El Retiro, and it has some beautiful spots like the Debod Temple (check the Templo de Debod article), my favorite place to watch the sunset in Madrid. The rose garden is among my favorite parts of the park, and I love the fact that you can have it almost for yourself most of the time. It’s also a great place to visit with your significant other, as the thousands of blooming roses make it very romantic.

Away from all of the tourist noise and the large crowds that gather every day at the front gates of the royal palace, you have this gem of a spot to enjoy some very nice views of Madrid’s Royal Palace. I like to think of this view as the epic center of Madrid, where the Moors had set up their fortress, and named the area Magerit, later on to be translated in Spanish to the Madrid, as we know it today.

From this same spot but shifting to your right, you’ll find probably one of Madrid’s most famous viaducts. Mentioned in Spanish popular songs in the form of coplas as a place of tragedy, and it has been highlighted in a number of Spanish films as well. 

This spot was shown to me by a photographer buff many years ago, and ever since then, I try to bring my friends from out of town to this very same place when they come to visit Madrid.  

On good sunny day, the two or three bars that operate on this street will set up an al fresco dining area, which is great for lunch, dinner or an afternoon snack.  On the other hand, if you do not wish to pay the luxury prices they charge, you have a a terrific park to chill out and enjoy a picnic 20 meters away, so there are plenty of options for everyone.  

Most importantly, get away from the crowds and enjoy the views.

If you have watched association football (i.e. the one in which you actually hit the ball with your feet most of the time) at any point, you probably know that Madrid is home to one of the world’s most famous clubs, Real Madrid. Its stadium features the fourth most-visited museum in the city, but this website is about what locals do, and we don’t go there unless we’re showing a visiting friend around.

What many locals do is watch Real Madrid play football, often against the continent’s best teams. This year, for example, its opponents in the Champions League group stage were three reigning league champions: Manchester City, Ajax, and Borussia Dortmund.

Many Madrilenians grow up loving either Real Madrid or Atlético de Madrid, another of the city’s teams and also one of Spain’s greats. I grew up loving the first one, but I didn’t watch a game at the stadium until I was 22 years old, with my wife, Natalie. She wasn’t too much into football, but the atmosphere at the match was so special that ever since, she loves attending football matches.

If you’d also like to experience this atmosphere, go watch any of the town’s teams, especially during an European match, but do yourself a favor and buy the tickets from the official website, which will save you a lot of money. And do me a favor, and once you’re in the stadium, don’t be a tourist: scream and shout like the rest of the locals.