Campo del Moro
My second date was with someone on the other end of the age spectrum … while V. was in her 60s, L. is out of the range I had asked for altogether. At 32 she is closer in age to Ori than me but I wasn’t about to say ‘no’ to a possible new friend, whatever her age is, plus she knew what she was getting into 😉.
We had arranged to meet for brunch at some place in Malasaña (so close to my house) that she had heard of and wanted to try for a long time. Since I have been missing Shine breakfasts (or brunches) for months, I eagerly agreed. Zenith Brunch & Cocktails is a very popular place, as we found out, and had to wait to get in, giving us time to get acquainted. L. is from Belgium, on a “working-from-home-away-from-home” holiday, spending time in Madrid, Valencia, and later in Denia. Her itenary was the reverse of mine and I was happy to tell her all I knew about the latter two cities while she introduced me to stuff in Madrid, a place she lived for a year a couple of years back. We also seemed to get along really well, but then I enjoy eating out with someone who enjoys food as much as I do. We had pancakes, by the way, and they were pretty good
After our meal we both felt we wanted to spend more time together so we decided to go to Jardines de Sabatini, the formal gardens next to the Palacio Real de Madrid. But, in order to get there, we walked through Malasaña, down some streets I had not explored yet. In doing so we came across a number of very cool buildings with cleverly decorated façades. It was nice to finally be able to again share an experience like that with someone else.
Eventually we made it to Plaza de España, the large plaza that is kitty corner from the royal gardens, at least it appears to be there on the map. To our dismay, the plaza is still under construction, or reconstruction, or whatever it is that they’re doing to it and have been doing for a very long time now. L. said that the whole area was all dug up when she was living in Madrid years ago and it’s still clearly not finished. All this work appears to have affected access to the gardens, as well. Instead, we were forced to go around the palace and the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, the large cathedral opposite the Palacio Real, and then down some very steep road to the edge of the Campo del Moro, a huge park down the slope from the palace. What can I say, we were determined to find some green space.
El Campo del Moro is a 20-acre park, and includes formal gardens and various historical buildings and monuments. It was created during the reign of Reina Maria Cristina, in the XIX century, and was designed in the English style popular at that time. Its name refers to a XII century conflict between Ali Ben Yusuf, the Amir of the Almoravids, and Alfonso VI of León and Castile, during the Reconquest of Spain, when the aforementioned general camped at the spot wanting Madrid back. Today, it is a very popular park but because of its location and slopey layout, it doesn’t have the same daily attendance El Retiro enjoys. What it lacks in visitors, it makes up with views.
L. had wanted to see the rose garden specifically, so we went looking for it. After seeing the beautifully manicured lawns and flower beds earlier, including some Roomba-like autonomous lawn mowers, our expectations were high. It was therefore a surprise and a great deal of disappointment to see the rose garden in such a horrible state: my early spring weeds in years past weren’t nearly as tall as some of the ones here. I felt sad for the rose bushes being choked by invasive vines and other unwelcome guests. It felt like the maintenance crews had forgotten about this corner of the park and it was such a shame. We didn’t hang around long — it was just too depressing.
We had already walked many kilometres so it was time to head home anyway, but before we made it back to the entrance (where the nearest metro station is located), we came across this beautiful specimen (there are more pics of him below):
The show he put on for us was amazing and it almost made up for the rose garden fiasco. Almost. After we said goodbye and L. hopped into an Uber, I made my way to the Príncipe Pío station to catch a train home. It had been a wonderful afternoon of walking and talking and taking silly pictures. I’m very glad I took that first step and reached out to the universe: the promise of new friends was realized and I swore to myself I will be braver about this sort of thing in the future. Yay me!
