Seeking a Siesta: Spain with a Child

I knew William would love it and he deserved a break from boring, grown-up activities. He raced from rose to rose (there had to be hundreds), smelling them. We made up a game guessing whether one smelled like bubble gum, licorice, or “girly perfume.” We actually stayed in the gardens for an hour as I pointed out which plants, trees, and flowers came from home. I pointed out Magnolia trees, Mountain Laurel, and Azaleas—all bastions of my childhood in North Carolina. “This is the beautifulist place in the whole world!” William exclaimed at one point. I let him take pictures of his favorites: blue irises, red and yellow tulips, and large pink pansies. I sat down and filled out postcards while William searched for snail shells for at least fifteen minutes.

While this may seem like an odd choice of activity to do when in such a fabulous city, I think it is essential to give a child some down time and a bit of relaxed fun before having to tag along with more icky sight-seeing. Another perk from the botanical gardens is that you see the locals—old couples holding hands, young couples having a romantic lunch, and others just eating their lunch alone. Several people came up to us and said something to William. While I’m not sure what they said, their smiles let me know they enjoyed watching him find treasures.


More Grown Up Stuff:


In order to get through more sight seeing, I found the solution: a double-decker tour bus and a camera. We sat up top and he snapped away at anything he passed and I listened to the commentary in peace. It worked like a charm. Sadly, I found the MadridVision commentary a little lacking and would have welcomed a bit more historical information. But for €16, with children free, one can’t argue. And it does take you all over the city letting you pop off and pop on at all major sites.

Our only scare during our outing alone happened when we popped off in front of the Royal Palace, Madrid’s largest palace, with more than 2000 rooms. Since there was a playground across the street, I let William play for a bit first. I then realized I had lost our bus ticket. On top of that, I also realized that I was only carrying Pounds, that I left the bulk of my Euros at the hotel.