El Otoño – Fall

While walking down the lovely streets of Madrid today I realized something, it’s fall! Having grown up in the Boston area, I always thought that the leaves changed in the beginning of October, but as I saw today that is not always true. When you mix falling leaves, fresh air and a light jacket you get the perfect day for a walk in Madrid, so that is exactly what I did. While walking from my host family’s house to El Parque del Buen Retiro, one of the largest parks that Madrid has to offer, I was able to visit some of my favorite places around the city such as La Plaza de Colón and La Plaza de Cibeles. La Plaza de Colón is one of my favorites because it is a very relaxing place equipped with fountains, murals, an underground theatre as well as an enormous Spanish flag! Not only that, but the entire plaza is dedicated to Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) with a statue in his honor and about four or five murals that depict his voyages to the new world. As for La Plaza de Cibeles, it is simply an enormous building like none I have seen before…and on top of that, it’s the post office!!! Anyways, getting back to El Retiro, the park is a very relaxing place where I usually go to walk around. There are flowers, a small lake where you can rent rowboats (They cost about €4), El Palacio de Cristal (Where normally they hold different art exhibitions throughout the year) and an abundance of trees and fresh air with pathways (So I do not get lost)! Normally on Saturdays there are tons of people in the park, either selling crafts or taking advantage of the fresh air and you can go and partake in this small piece of Spanish culture. My friends and I usually end up in the park during the weekend to walk around and get some fresh air instead of being cooped up inside all day, but that’s just us!

As for now I have to go finish packing for the school trip to Lisbon this weekend…

¡Hasta Luego!