Parks in Madrid

We have been exploring some of the great parks and gardens in Madrid today. The Botanical Gardens are very impressive with a huge collection from all over the world, all of which carry labels with the botanical name and place of origin. They were designed in 1781 so many of the trees have reached enormous heights. We came across this group of Australian Grass Trees growing very happily.

Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering around the Parque del Retiro which in the 17th Century was the private playground of the royal family. At the northern end is a large lake where you can hire row boats. But the surprise of the day was the Palacio de Cristal built in 1851 in iron and glass after the style of Crystal Palace in London.

The lake in the front is seething with tortoises who all wanted to take advantage of the sun today.

In another part of the park we caught these three cats napping in the sun as well.

 

At the exit to the park near the back of the Prado Museum we came across these highly sculptured trees, which looked rather strange.