We had made sandwiches at the breakfast buffet and snuck them out for our lunches. Nothing goes better with picnic than picnic in the park. We hopped off the bus at Parque de El Retiro. This grand park reminded us of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. There is a pond with row boats, an art museum, an ornate glassed in garden, multiple fountains, buskers and miles and miles of paths. Above is a picture of two bagpipers that we watched as we ate our sandwiches. At first we thought they were practicing or that they were not that good. They stopped blowing into the bagpipes, as people dropped coins into their box, so they could thank them. When they stopped blowing, the pipes dropped a half octave and the sound was discordant. This happened at odd intervals so that is why we thought they were playing poorly. We also saw an accordion player, a saxophone player, a puppet show, various fuzzys, Mickey and Minnie were also part of the show just like in Times Square. We saw multiple birds in the trees and in the ponds. We spent at least three hours wandering around this park and could have spent more time but for the residual jet lag creeping up on us.
Quite the fine building across from the entrance to the park
One of the few gates into the park, later we had to walk extra to find an exit
Very cool trees
Are they trimmed to look like this?
Behold the mask!
Th accordion player had an umbrella to sit under, that is why he is so shaded
It was a bit nippy in the shade but toasty in the sun
Looks like coral stone
Row row row your boat
Fishes in the pond
Everybody loves a sunny Sunday
Play that saxophone
The black backed gulls love this pond
The Art Museum
We saw bike tours, mono-wheel tours, and walking tours
Fancy tile work
The legendary Elf Gardener of Retiro Park could make the gardens bloom in the fall but could only be seen by couples truly in love.
At first I thought that this was an Egyptian obelisk, but it turned out to be church spires
These Monk Parakeets were elusive
The topiary crew worked overtime
Wire Haired Fox Terriers
The back of the Art Museum
Very tall ceiling
All the art was painted by Manolo Quejido
40 years of works
Watermelon People
Social inequity
Bright Ideas
Surrealist works
Social Commentary
Pop Art
Decorations on the outside of the building
A couple of Griffins flank the entrance
Big fountain down the path
A fun free art experience
Turtles love the sun too
The line to get into the garden stretched around the building
Eurasian Moorhen
Love the glass roof
A statue to a bagpiper, who knew it was a Spanish thing?
A white tree in bloom
Another cool garden
With Peacocks!
Incredible iridescence
And Peahens
It is a tiny maze for birds!
"Thing" from the Addams Family is out for a day in the park
The fanciest of duck houses
Monk Parakeets
A street clown or street art , you decide
Heading back to the hotel for dinner and an early turn in, we fly again tomorrow
