As many of you know, Chris and I spent a good chunk of this past summer backpacking in Spain and Morocco. We started our five-week journey in Madrid, which wound up being probably my favorite city of the whole trip. On our second day there we visited El Retiro.

El Retiro is a large urban park sitting at the eastern edge of the city center and is probably one of the most sought-out and beautiful attractions in Madrid, both by locals and tourists. Let me tell you, it’s SO NICE. That just doesn’t do it justice. Let the pictures talk. Madrid is already a pretty relaxed city (which is why I felt a much better connection to it than Barcelona, but we’ll get to that later). In any case, it was great to take a break from the museums and cultural attractions and spend the better part of a day wandering through the park.

Chris and I took so many pictures, but these are some of my favorites.