Walked through El Retiro on the way home. This stretch of land is probably the most beautiful city park I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. El Retiro sits on a huge plot of land just west of el Museo del Prado. Rosalie and I kind of stumbled upon it while looking to kill some time, and our subsequent walk proved to be two of the best hours I’ve ever had on one of these trips. What an amazing, beautiful green space in the middle of a city, filled with happy people, adorable dogs, blessed out children, elders strolling around blissfully, and hordes of happy madrileños enjoying a patch of inimitably pristine green earth... 
Although I knew nothing about it at the time, I came to the back to the hotel and did some digging around online to figure out exactly how that space came to exist. El Retiro was a playground for the royals and nobility, and for centuries was inaccessible to normal folks. About two hundred years ago King Carlos III opened up the park to the public, and the carefully tended gardens and sculpted landscape has been a treasured part of the city ever since. The place was full of people walking dogs, boating, drinking wine, sharing picnics, making memories, and examining the incredible architecture and monuments filling the park. Among the highlights: Europe's only statue honoring Lucifer as a fallen angel, a Crystal Palace for the King, insane oversized amusing cubist sculptures, and a boating lake filled with row boats and canoes. Spent a few idyllic hours here soaking in the warm sun and breathing the cleanest, most fragrant air I can remember...
...inhale...exhale...ahhhhhhhhhhhh..........
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