Biking & Bonding in Madrid, Spain!

This weekend our students visited the capital of Spain: Madrid! While we had many cultural activities planned for them, the bike tour stood out as we were able to tour Retiro park and see some stunning views while learning fun facts!

In order to visit the different parts of Retiro park and learn a bit about its history, our tour guide led us on a scavenger hunt with riddles that the students needed to solve in order to know which location to bike to next.

We started the tour by finding the statue of Alfonso XII, which overlooks the artificial pond where you can boat and in our case, feed the fish that reside inside! Alfonso XII was the King of Spain from 1874 to 1885 and best known for bringing stability back to the monarchy and institutions, and was given the nickname ‘The Peacemaker.’ 

Our next stop brought us to what was once the royal zoo, or known as the ‘House of Beasts’. It began construction in 1774 by King Carlos III and housed lions, tigers, and a polar bear, as well as monkeys, ostriches, a crocodile, and even an elephant who is said to have escaped and roamed the streets of Madrid!

These animal enclosures were permanently closed in 1972 when the current zoo and aquarium were inaugurated at a larger space at Casa de Campo Park, but you can still see peacocks wandering around Retiro park to this day!

We then biked to the ‘Templete’ or ‘Quiosco’ of music where you can see people taking dance lessons most days of the week. 

The students and staff sang a song and did a dance there in order to receive our next location’s clue.

The final stop was the breathtaking Palacio de Cristal, a palace made out of glass, which often holds art exhibitions. Now we are back for our final week in Alicante, making the most out of our classes, activities, and free time before heading back to our other homes!