JZeppelina- JZeppelina
Dreamer's Tales of Madrid
Updated: May 18, 2021
They, who went after the industrial progress and were overwhelmed by that, are now trying to follow the call of the wild. They are us.
All my life I lived in the smaller city of Tallinn where life was moving at slower pace and shorter distances. And when ending up in Madrid, I felt like something huge and overwhelming fell on me. Standing at the rooftop of Circulo de Bellos Artes watching the sunset, I experienced one of those overwhelming moments, the good ones, where a new chapter of my life was starting to unveil to me.
There are a few classic places in Madrid where everyone one would go to discover the city. These were the top places that enchanted me.
1. Siete Tetas park (Cerro del Tio Pio)
Why do I love this place? It's quite away from the city center, in the district of Vallecas, and the park is scattered across 7 hills where you have the whole city deployed in front of you. For a photography enthusiast there's a temptation to explore the perspectives with a telephoto lens. And most probably there will be some people at the hills asking about your camera with genuine curiosity and what sort of pictures you take with that.
2. Casa de Campo
If you are introverted, like me, and crave for more open space after submerging into urbanization and city crowds, this is a place to go. The park is tremendous and invites you to contemplate tall trees and even witness rabbits running around.
As a kid I always thought of the trees as some mystic creatures full of wisdom who knew a lot about the world and kept this knowledge in secret for ages. What if the trees could talk? They'd probably tell the whole story about us...
If you start exploring the park from station Lago, you can continue to the east of the park, through the alley of tall trees up until Teleferico. From there you will have a panoramic view with a mix of greens and urban elements like attraction park.
3. Manzanares Park
Surprisingly, this place happened to be in vicinity from where I settled in Madrid. Often beautiful things can be just around the corner, you just need to look around. The park is popular among sportsmen, video makers, dog lovers and family walks...and occasionally photographers too.
Walking uphill will allow you to see a panorama like this one. The hill in the view is called locally "Cabeza de Ariadna" or "Ariadna head".
4. Retiro
Retiro park is more crowded in the evening hours and for the views like this it can be easily explained why. People gather to watch the sun setting behind the buildings of the Alfonso XII street.
When you search for inspirational moment, turn around and it appears the moment is there behind your back...Then you start walking towards the magnificent light and things happen.
I happened to visit Retiro more than other parks due to its central location and explored it in different seasons.
Autumn with golden leaves can still be observed in late November and early December, way much later than it would be in Tallinn.
My most memorable moments were experienced in the early spring morning, when city was waking up, somebody was running, somebody was cycling and somebody was preparing for the tricky work.
5. Quinta De Los Molinos
This park is most attractive in the season of blooming almond trees, which can be observed in late February/early March. Weekend afternoons the park gets ultimately crowded, therefore the best time to enjoy the moment of peace and tranquility is early morning, once again.
With time I will be discovering different oases for temporary escape from urbanization that are best suited for certain seasons but for now would like to keep it limited to top 5.