I heart Retiro Park!!

Day 14

Today was my last full day in Spain so I had to start it off when one last run here. I knew I wanted to hit up Retiro Park again at sunrise so I did just that. I didn't have to set an alarm this morning but I wanted to 1) see the sunrise again 2) beat the heat. I had another awesome, smile-filled run in the park and really think this is one of the best parks I have ever run in. It might take a close second to Central Park.

Post-run I didn't have to rush to do anything which was nice. I had a nice leisurely breakfast, washed my running clothes one last time (hopefully), and tried to figure out what to see today. I looked in my Spain travel book because I had seen everything on my checklist. I found one thing in there I wanted to see so decided perhaps I would go see the University if not too far. I went down the front desk to ask for some ideas with my map. Everything the front desk guy told me to see in the city I had seen. He was super impressed with all the ground I covered the last two days so he asked a colleague and she also said I had seen all the good stuff except one museum that I wasn't thrilled to go to and said the University was a train and bus ride away so I passed on that and decided I would explore Retiro Park a little more and then maybe do a little wandering and shopping. I could always just relax and lay in the sun in the park too. I soooo wish there was a beach here. Barcelona-1, Madrid-0 on that front. 

Before going to the park I walked to Caixa Forum which I had read had a vertical garden. It was super close to my hotel so I walked over quickly, snapped a few pics, and made my way back to the park. I just kind of wandered the different paths. This park is fucking huge. (I never got to look stuff up about it last night and the size and distances of running paths, but really do intend to do so!) I saw some very cool trees that look like they were groomed by Edward Scissorhands based on their shape. I also stumbled on this art exhibition by Federico Guzman "Tuiza. Las Culturas de la jaima."  that was like this giant middle eastern tent made of different, brightly colored and patterned tapestries. It was located in a solarium like structure called the Palacio De Cristal and was very cool, and out of the ordinary to see. Then I just continued wandering around the park. I walked around there for about an hour and then decided to head to the center of the city and take advantage of the Rebajas! Rebajas has been going on in every major city I've been to so far and I've barely even looked in any stores. It's giant sales at every store and happens at the start of summer. I went to another, enormous El Corte Inglés and went right to shoes and activewear, naturally. I ended up buying two pairs of under armour mesh shorts, or as I call them, my "everyday shorts" with pockets (score) and a Nike tank top. All of that was under 60 euro. It's really the first thing I've bought on this trip besides food and toothpaste and a few little gifts for people. That's really it. 

After my purchase, I walked around a bit going up and down some side streets I hadn't been down and went in a few Spanish clothing chains like Pull and Bear and Lefties. Both had cheap clothes that were hideous so needless to say, I bought nothing else. I walked back to the hotel and then decided to go the park by the Prado museum and lay out in the sun a bit. I was going to go to Retiro and do this but I didn't see at big open spaces to do this when I was there and even though no one was sitting out on the hill by the museum, I set up my little towel and took turns people watching and laying down. I figured if it wasn't allowed, the cops would come tell me; there were plenty of them around. I stayed out for like an hour then went back to the hotel hydrate and lay around. There have been so few times I've been able to do that and since I went out tonight and am starting a new adventure with Prague tomorrow, I knew I'd want to rest up a bit now since I may not have the time in the days to come. I watched some Broad City and took a nice little nap.

When I woke up it was time to get ready go out. I was going out for drinks with the couple from New Zealand. My cousin had recommended a place for us that she loved, El Tigre, that has cheap drinks and free tapas with all drink orders. How could we pass that up? When we got there, the place was
pretty small but crowded. It seemed like a good mix of Spaniards and expats. I actually ended up talking to a girl from Naperville who had overheard me talking and recognized my accent. After a couple beers there with our free tapas we wanted to move on to another bar. It was hard to find another bar with a decent crowd and then we passed another El Tigre so went in there for some more beer and free tapas. After that round, we gave searching for another bar one more go and came up empty handed. We ended up at some mediocre bar, but with 3 euro beers it was okay in our book! Overall, it was great to get out and drink and be social. I haven't really had that in two weeks and was missing it a bit. I really like the New Zealand couple so it was fun to hang with them again in a more social situation. Unfortunately they couldn't even play wingman for me though because the "talent" out here was less than to be desired. We ended up going home around one a little disappointed in our bar options but I had still had fun! It was a solid end to the Portugal/Spain portion of my trip. With only a few more days of vacay, I need to take it all in and continue to get the most out of this experience!