Tuesday, 16 April 2024

Last Days in Madrid: Parks and Gardens to Relax

The course is ending and you will probably be finishing your papers and preparing for your final exams. For these days it is always good to have a park close at hand to shake off the stress... and El Parque del Retiro is sometimes crowded.

In this post, we are going to suggest some secret places of Madrid where you can have a break in these busy days.

  



Before we leave the Retiro, we would like to ask you something: do you know the Retiro Rose Garden? This area is much quieter than the rest, it is in the south, near the Statue of the Fallen Angel. There you can enjoy roses, ponds, fountains, gazebos... Also worth visiting are the peaceful Cecilio Rodríguez gardens in the southeastern part of the Retiro (Metro Retiro, line 2), where you can see peacocks enjoying the spring. 

It is the turn of a small forgotten and beautiful garden, in Plaza de la Paja 6 (Metro La Latina, line 5): Prince of Anglona Gardens. It was created around 1750 and is one of the few noble gardens from the 18th century that are preserved. It has several benches where you can sit and enjoy the tranquility of the place.

Another unknown garden is the "Huerto de las monjas" ("Nuns' Orchard)". It was protected by the walls of a convent of nuns who also used it as a garden. It is accessed after crossing a passage of modern buildings at number 7 Sacramento Street (Metro La Latina, line 5, and Metro Ópera, line 2 and 5). In 1972 the religious building was demolished to build housing blocks although, luckily, the garden remained intact. It is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Our last garden today is located on the 4,200 square meter plot where the old convent of San Francisco was.  Its name is "Jardines de San Francisco". Until 2007 it had no use and it was in that year when the Madrid City Council converted the space into a dahlia themed garden. Later, in 2016, rose bushes were chosen due to their great capacity to adapt to the Madrid climate. The park is located in an area called “Las Vistillas” because it is the highest in Madrid de los Austrias and its viewpoint has become one of the busiest places to see sunsets in the city. You can find it on Gran Vía de San Francisco 29, metro La Latina, line 5).

These are just some examples, you can find multiple secret places if you explore Madrid. Enjoy spring while preparing your exams!

Tuesday, 9 April 2024

A Little Bit of Everything for This Week

URBAN ART: The Lavapiés neighborhood celebrates a new edition of CALLE, Festival of artistic interventions in Lavapiés. An initiative that allows the residents of the neighborhood, and visitors, to enjoy the art on facades, shop windows and other outdoor spaces of the neighborhood's businesses (Metro Lavapiés, Line 3)

https://enlavapies.com/calle-2024/ 

  



WEEKEND MARKET: Essential weekend market with many design stalls inside a jewel of industrial architecture: the Railway Museum. Paseo de las Delicias 61 (Metro Delicias, Line 3)


 

ELECTRONIC MUSIC (translated text from https://www.esmadrid.com/agenda/electronica-abril-casa-encendida: "La Casa Encendida celebrates a new edition of its most emblematic festival, "Electrónica en Abril", which this year takes place from April 9 to 14. An event that continues to focus on the sounds that make up the sound revolution, a festival with synthetic and avant-garde roots that for 20 editions has allowed us to discover the latest trends in a genre that is constantly changing.

The cycle is curated for the third and final year by Jokkoo, a Barcelona musical collective specialized in electronics from the African continent and its diaspora that is committed to artists with diverse roots, a strong sonic identity and a singular approach when creating inspired projects. largely due to their cultures of origin".

Calle Ronda de Valencia, 2 (Metro Embajadores, Line 3 and 5 / Metro Lavapiés, Line 3)





Tuesday, 2 April 2024

Shall we dance?

 Welcome to your second home! We hope you enjoyed a great break.

New tips and suggestions for your days in Madrid! This time, a very special exhibition.

As you know, in Barcelona you can visit great modernist architectural works (Gaudí is its best-known example). However, you can find some gems in other parts of the peninsula. One of them is the Palacio Longoria, located at Calle Fernando VI, 4 (Metro Alonso Martínez, lines 4, 5, and 10, and Metro Tribunal, lines 1 and 10). It is the current Sociedad General de Autores, an institution dedicated to the registration of intellectual property, as well as the support of artists in the defense of their rights and the promotion of their work.

 

On the other hand, from March 11 to April 30, the palace hosts an exhibition that covers the last 125 years of the history of dance in Spain in an exhibition made up of more than two hundred works by various authors (. The original costumes of famous dancers, posters of emblematic works, designs and drawings in general are some of the attractions of this exhibition. It is free and can be visited from Monday to Sunday from 4pm to 9pm.

  



 

In the same area you can also visit the Romantic Museum and the Municipal Museum, and you can eat something at the San Ildefonso Market, the Barceló Market, or the rooftop of the Forus Barceló.

Enjoy it!