Spain Holidays Travel

Archive for the ‘Spain travel tips’ Category

The hallmark of any great city is its urban park! Commonly located at the center of its core, urban parks play a significant role in providing traffic-choked cities with much-needed green lungs. As well as recreation, sporting and cultural venues for residents and visitors alike. Here’s a look at some of the larger urban parks from across the world, as seen in through the lens of Google Earth.

The Buen Retiro Park (Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro, literally “Gardens” or “Park of the Pleasant Retreat”, or simply El Retiro) is the largest park of the city of Madrid, Spain.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is a spectacular urban oasis of 1.4 km2 (350 acres) ( 130 hectares) park of aromatic bay leaf trees, ponds, rose gardens, stunning fountains and museums, at the edge of the city center, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado Museum. The Retiro Park features the former grounds of Real Sitio del Buen Retiro Palace, a 17th century weekend palace of King Philips IV. Although the original palace has since been torn down, two remaining palace buildings remain within the park, which now serve as museums. The main park entrance sits behind the Alcala Gate in the Plaza de la Independence.

The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is the most popular park in Madrid. It can get crowded during weekends when many Madrilenian families go for a stroll in the park and street musicians, sidewalk painters, fortune tellers, jugglers and street performers animate the crowd.

Features of the Park

Close to the northern entrance of the park is the Estanque del Retiro (“Retiro Pond”), a large artificial pond. Next to it is the monument to King Alfonso XII, featuring a semicircular colonnade and an equestrian statue of the monarch on the top of a tall central core.

The Rosaleda rose garden, among the many rose bushes of all kinds stands the Fountain of the Falling Angel, erected in 1922, whose main sculpture El Angel Caído (at the top) is a work by Ricardo Bellver (1845–1924) inspired by a passage from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which represents Lucifer falling from Heaven. It is claimed that this statue is the only known public monument of the devil.

The Artichoke fountain has been a beloved Madrid landmark since architect; Ventura Rodriguez constructed it from granite and white stone in 1781. Originally located in the Glorieta de Atocha, a busy Madrid street, it was relocated to the Retiro Park because all the attention it garnered caused traffic problems. The fountain features an elaborate baroque design complete with tritons, Greek gods and of course, an artichoke.

The few remaining buildings of the Buen Retiro Palace, including Casón del Buen Retiro and the Museo del Ejército, now house museum collections. The Casón has a collection of 19th and 20th century paintings, including art by the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla. The Ejército is one of Spain’s foremost Army museums and it houses “La Tizona” the sword of the famous Spanish warrior El Cid. There are displays of armor, a cross carried by Christopher Columbus on his sea voyage to the New World and other artifacts.

Since assuming its role as a public park the late 19th century, the “Parque del Retiro” has been used as a venue for various international exhibitions. Several emblematic buildings have remained as testimony to such events, including the Minig building, popularly known as the Velázquez Palace (1884) by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, and the Palacio de Cristal (“Crystal Palace”), a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London, undoubtedly the gardens’ most extraordinary building.

Built along with its artificial pond in 1887 by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco for the Philippine Islands Exhibitions, it was first used to display flower species indigenous to the islands. The landscape-style gardens located in the former “Campo Grande” are also a reminder of the international exhibitions that have taken place here in the past.

The Paseo de la Argentina, also popularly known as Paseo de las Estatuas (“Statue Walk”), is decorated with some of the statues of kings from the Royal Palace, sculpted between 1750 and 1753. There are now art galleries in the Crystal Palace, Palacio de Velázquez, and Casa de Vacas.

In the Retiro Park is also the Forest of the Departed (Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial monument to commemorate the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks.

Activities

From late May through early October, every Sunday at midday, the Banda Sinfónica de Madrid gives free concerts from the bandstand in the park near the Calle d’Alcala. Manuel Lillo Torregrosa composed ‘Kiosko del Retiro’ to this bandstand. The Park also features an annual Book Fair.

Around the lake, Retiro Pond, many puppet shows perform, and all manner of street performers and fortune tellers. Rowboats can be rented to paddle about the Estanque, and horse-drawn carriages are available.

Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. But it wasn’t always this democratic, as in the 17th century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally dressed to enter.

Tourist Accommodation Near the Retiro Park-

• Hotels

• Apartments & Aparthotels

• Hostals (small hotels) & Youth Hostels

 A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid’s premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.

The Plaza Mayor was built during the Habsburg period and is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few Spanish blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta Del Sol.

As you walk down Calle Mayor from Puerta Del Sol towards the Royal Palace, you might think Read the rest of this entry »

Most visitors to Málaga go to the Picasso museum and his house, as the painter is the most famous son of the city, but there’s a new art museum now which focuses on Andalucian art – the Museo Carmen Thyssen.

The Museo Picasso Málaga is a museum in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, the city where artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born. One of the world’s many Picasso museums, Read the rest of this entry »

Nestled on the southern coast of Tenerife you’ll find the lively resort of the Golf del Sur which is a haven for erm, you’ve guessed it…golfers! It stands out as a lush verdant area, and while it may be close to Read the rest of this entry »

The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Spanish pronunciation: [esˈtaðjo sanˈtjaɣo βernaˈβeu]) is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators.

The legendary stadium of Santiago Bernabéu, home to Real Madrid, is the city’s most popular tourist attraction, ahead of the Prado Museum! The tour includes a visit of the changing rooms, the presidential balcony, the stands, the substitutes’ and coaches’ benches, the press room, Read the rest of this entry »

Costa Adeje is a newest up-market resort area on the southern coast of Tenerife, which is swathe of plush hotels and modern attractions to the discerning traveler who enjoys attractive, Read the rest of this entry »

Puerto del la Cruz is one of the top destinations in the Canary Islands. Located in the north of Tenerife, this attractive and bustling resort has been a firm favourite with tourists for several decades. Today it remains as popular as ever. It is nestled in the beautiful region of Read the rest of this entry »

Playa de las Américas, near Tenerife’s southwestern tip, is a lively, upbeat resort built in the 1960s on the south coast of the island, is the party capital of Tenerife, the most important aspect to remember.Thousands of revellers live it up in this vibrant and colourful holiday destination that is Read the rest of this entry »

Marbella is located in the Spanish region of Andalucia on the Costa del Sol. It’s classy, it’s glitzy and it simply oozes coastal charisma. Modern day Marbella is Spain’s answer to St Tropez – a favoured haunt of the rich, Read the rest of this entry »