A Farewell to Retiro

Parting is such sweet sorrow.  

In the days leading up to leaving Madrid, the nostalgia built up for me.  If we were to spend the entire time in Madrid, I would have been happy. 

However, we had some other exciting adventures coming up, so I would have to bid my farewell to Retiro.

The kids and I had two fantastic days strolling through all parts of the Park.  They discovered playgrounds we had never known and continued to enjoy them, especially in these quiet fall days when everything was virtually empty.

There's a beauty and serenity there which is so special and I tried to explore and drink in all I could.

We went to some of the more wooded areas off the main paths and enjoyed the scattered benches in the dappled sunlight enjoying a snack.

We went back to the Crystal Palace (which I completely failed to mention in my prior post singing Retiro's praises).

Joey found a sprinkler and ran through it several times, coming back with dewy hair and a wet shirt.  Despite his sodden shirt, he continued to run joyfully around.

Sammy communed with the weeping willow.

And the kids went on the slide one last time.

The morning excitement proved to be too much for Lanna, who passed out shortly before our farewell lunch. 

As we slowly strolled out of Retiro, there was a lively quartet playing a rousing song I didn't identify, but it reverberated across the lake and followed us all the way to the underpass we had used so many times before to get back home.

It was a fine send off for our beautiful final days in Retiro.