I Miss Backyards.

Retiro Park is usually compared to Central Park in New York. The park is huge, green, in the heart of a city, and actually makes you forget you are in a city. One other major comparison is that it is everybody’s back yard. The 7 story apartment buildings and close quarters remove people from nature. Grass is a commodity in Madrid. Retiro does an excellent of serving as Madrid’s backyard. When you think about what you do in backyards, you conjure the following: relaxing with friends, eating food, tanning, and maybe even exercise. What you don’t think about is that your backyard also serves as not only a place for you to be by yourself outside, but also a place for a pet such as a dog to have its own space as well. These last two are less explicit, and you can see that the engineers while designing the park had them in mind. Retiro seemed to be the place people would run and work out, tan, have a picnic, and most other activities associated with massive parks. While having the necessities like benches and shady grass, there were also bags to clean up after dogs everywhere, cafes to meet with friends, and a general place to escape the city. In my opinion, this ability to escape the city is what is most crucial about Retiro. While in the middle, you cannot tell you are in a hustling, bustling, breathing place of concrete, brick, and asphalt. It gives the citizens of Madrid a place to unwind and spend some time with their dog, friends, and their thoughts.