wooden bookstalls and "kioskos" Sunday (continued) Following lunch, we left the business area and entered the Parque del Buen Retiro, which was once part of the Real Sitio del Buen Retiro palace The 320 acre royal park opened to the public in 1868 and is the most popular park in Madrid. We approached the park along the Calle Cuesta de Moyano, a wide pedestrian walkway lined on one side with about 30 wooden bookstalls. It reminded me of the booksellers along the Seine in Paris. Stopping to glance at titles, we were delighted to spot a title by our friend, author John Scalzi. Linda bought Las Brigadas Fantasma for our oldest daughter, who reads Spanish and is also a friend of John. That find inspired us to search for a Spanish version of The Hunger Games for our other daughter, but we had no luck at the other booksellers. Later in the day, we located the book at a large librería (bookstore) along the Puerta del Sol in the center of Madrid. Continuing into Parque del Buen Retiro, we saw flowering trees and many unfamiliar birds, including large doves with a while collar and beautiful green parrots which we later learned were Monk Parakeets which are an invasive species from Argentina.
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