Casa de Campo and the Teleferrico

Casa de Campo (a blog post in English, Spanish) is the largest park in Madrid and one of the largest in Europe. Apparently it used to be the hunting grounds for the royal family. Now it is a piece of the countryside (along with a zoo, an aquarium, and an amusement park) nestled into the city. Last Sunday DH and I saw a very small part of it. We took the metro to Lago and walked up to the Teleférico's (English link) hill. It was very hot and very dry, but definitely filled with a desert-like beauty.

As some of you may know, I grew up in a desert, and they have always had a special place in my heart. This desert was not very simular to my desert. For some reason it reminded me of Africa, which is strange because I have never been.


Below you can see a view I took from a hill to the city beyond. (Click to enlarge.)

Mountains!

These umbrella pines are very striking against the deserty background.

Here is the occasional view we saw of the Teleférico, and we used it's lines as a landmark to guide us up the hill.

Views from the Teleférico on the way down. This part goes from the top of Casa de Campo to the Parque del Osete. 

That is the palace in the distance (domed buildings).

We then visited the huge rose garden in the Parque del Oeste.

It was really hard to get good pictures, as the sun was so high over head. It was also hard to be out and smelling the roses, as it was really hot. The peak rose time seemed to be the end of May this year.

Lizard.

While I was there I finished a sock for my MIL. I took some silly sock pictures that I might include in the package when I give them to her this Christmas.