Tag Archives: Espacio Ibercaja-Delicias

30th May 2025: Retiro Park, Alice’s sushi & Jurassic World (Madrid, Spain)

Posted on by

I had been on the waiting list to buy tickets for Jurassic World: The Exhibition in Madrid since it accepted sign-ups, so I was able to be amongst the first to buy tickets – albeit a few days later than originally scheduled due to the blackout. Thus, I got tickets for the first session on opening day, at 17:00 on the 30th of May. Exciting! And – almost as important – it guaranteed a spoiler-free experience…

I decided to fill the morning beforehand, and I arranged to meet some relatives at Retiro Park Parque del Retiro north-east corner. There stands one of the Romantic constructions of the park – the artificial mountain known as Montaña de los Gatos. It is a space that can be used as an exhibition venue erected during the 19th century, when follies where all the rage. A folly is a decorative building placed in a garden, usually extravagant or out of context, without a real use save from looking cute for the owner’s amusement.

The artificial mountain is literally a hollow mound covered in flowers, with a waterfall that was turned off, a sad-looking pond with a duck family, and a glass ceiling to illuminate the inside. It was closed so I could not snoop the “archaeological remains” that were found during the recent restoration.

Montaña de Los Gatos in Retiro Park, artificial mound covered in flower

Next to the mountain there is another folly, La Casita del Pescador (Fisherman’s little house). Besides that stand the remains of an old church Ruinas de San Pelayo y San Isidoro. This tiny hermit church was originally erected in Ávila during the mid 1200s. Built in the Romanesque style, it was first dedicated to Pelagius of Córdoba, and then this was changed to Isidore of Seville. During the Spanish confiscation of the Catholic church properties, it was dismantled and eventually rebuilt in Madrid as Romantic decoration in a project directed by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco. It looks weirdly out of place, but rather pretty.

Ruins of the Romanesque church Ruinas de San Pelayo y San Isidoro, in brick

The yearly book fair Feria del Libro de Madrid had started, but as my relatives were late, we could only have a quick walk before we headed off to Wonderland – The Kaiten Lab – , a running sushi restaurant with hot-dish orders on the side, with decoration inspired by Alice in Wonderland, with a twist. According to the restaurant “you step into Alice’s mind, though Alice was a psychiatric patient”. I am not sure how I feel about the mental hospital thing – I think they were just trying to cash on the entrance that was already there when they bought the venue. However, I can state that it’s a pretty mediocre sushi restaurant. With a menu price about 10 € over a Runni sushi, I was expecting something at least as good, not worse. It sells the decoration, and that is the only thing that makes it special.

Wonderland – The Kaiten Lab –. A funky restaurant themed around Alcie in Wonderland which serves sushi

We went somewhere else for dessert, and I had a smoothie. Afterwards we said goodbye and I headed off towards Espacio Ibercaja Delicias for the opening session of Jurassic World: The Exhibition, which was full of parents with children and a bunch of actual fans, some of them being parents too. I was actually the first in line to enter, but they pulled me to the side to wait for a card called “credit photopass”, which was a free perk from having been on the list. Unfortunately, the fact that they did not have that ready put a bunch of families with kids in front of me. I got my photo taken against a green screen and they added digital dinosaurs later.

As we were waiting, the whole “dinosaurs are for kids” thing popped up again. I knew things were not going to be as awesome as expected when one of the “park guides” said that her favourite dinosaur was Mosasaur. Despite what Jurassic World: Rebirth claims, Mosasaurs are not dinosaurs, but marine reptiles, which lived in the Cretaceous period (94 – 66 million years ago).

Like the previous show, the experience starts on the ferry to the island, which then opens to the main gates with a Brachiosaurus peering from overhead. The whole exhibition runs on the story that you’re a VIP visitor to the Jurassic World complex, getting a special tour. A couple of guys and myself stayed a bit behind to take pictures without kids and families, and the “ranger” scolded us because “we were going to miss the explanations” in front of a pachycephalosaurus. At that point I felt that they were herding us like cattle…

The second room is the laboratory, with Mr DNA included. There are reproductions of eggs, amber, and baby parasaurolophus, one of them a puppet brought out for kids to take pictures with. The staff did not seem to keen on catering to anyone older than eight, again…

The following two rooms were the Jurassic World movie velociraptors (Deinonychus, in real fossils): Charlie, Delta and Echo were in their confinements and there was a bit of a “training show” with Blue and Owen Grady.

Then there was a bit of a “reprieve” room with fossil replicas and a make-believe excavation, where they brought out a puppet of Bumpy, the baby ankylosaur from Camp Cretaceous. Afterwards came the hybrid Indominus rex jungle, which had a hilarious moment when a kiddo shouted “Hello Indominus, I love you” while the thing was supposedly mangling its food. This was probably the best-made animatronic, it looked a lot like the beast they invented for the movie.

The next room held the Gyrospheres from the Jurassic World film, and a baby velociraptor puppet. This one I could take a picture with after all the kids had had their turn.

Jurassic World The Exhibition. Gate with a Brachiosaurus peering above: Collage showing the velociraptors, a carnivorous dinosaurs skull, the Indominus rex and a Gyrosphere

Jurassic World The Exhibition Baby Bumpy the ankylosaurus

Finally, the last room was Rexy the Tyrannosaur – scars from the first movie and all. In universe, she almost broke containment and almost escaped. There were noises and sparks and roaring, honouring the exhibition’s motto: the closest you’ll ever be to real dinosaurs.

Jurassic World The Exhibition Rexy the T-rex. We know she's the one from the first movie because she has scars down her cheek and neck.

All in all, the dinosaur animatronics were amazing, but the staff had instructions to get everyone in-and-out in one hour, so it felt rushed and, as I said before, herded. And honestly, I am not going to listen to “park rangers” who don’t know their dinosaurs from their reptiles… Which would later be one of my beefs with the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth movie anyway…

However, there were dinosaurs, and they felt pretty real, especially the Indominus and Rexy. I missed the mosasaur, though (even if there was a super-cute plush toy in the souvenir shop). All in all, the exhibition was really fun. The animatronics were very lifelike and Bumpy looked exactly like she does in the animation. All in all, it was a good day with ruins, sushi, dinosaurs and geeking out. There’s not much more anyone can ask for…

11th July 2023: Museum of Dreamers in Madrid (Spain)

Posted on by

After I had so much fun in the Balloon Museum, I decided that I also wanted to see the Museum of Dreamers, which is something similar. Furthermore, it Madrid exhibit will close down at the end of July, too.

After I finished French school in Madrid, I headed headed off to the Japanese fusion restaurant Nomo Braganza, part of the Nomo Group. Nomo was established in 2007 under the culinary direction of Japanese chef Naoyuki Haginoya. I have to say that I don’t really trust the Spanish-Japanese fusion too much, but in this case, it really panned out. I met my sibling for a late lunch, because I was curious about the chef’s menu, what in Japanese would be called omakase [お任せ], which means leaving the choice of food to the chef. The menu was was a whooping 12 small-sized courses for 50€ – drinks not included, and considering it was 39 ºC outside, we ended up ordering a few rounds of water.

The menu, which changes periodically, comprised in July 2023:

  • Age Edamame Truffle – fermented edamame beans fried with white truffle scent. I personally prefer my edamame boiled, but the truffle scent was a nice touch.
  • Sukiyaki Croquette – oxtail croquette breaded with panko breadcrumbs. This was surprisingly good – and the actual flavour was strong.
  • Maguro Taco – mini taco of tuna tartar with wasabi and shiso (the “taco” was weirdly… not taco-shaped, more like cracker-shaped). The tuna was really good, albeit the base was a bit strange.
  • Gyu Niku Gyoza – aged beef dumplings with caramelised onion and yuzu, two of them per person. It was all right.
  • Ebi Chili – spicy king prawns and fried egg on kataifi noodles, mixed at the table. When we are talking spicy, it means… really spicy. The prawn bits were sizeable, but this was really something I would not miss should it disappear from the menu.
  • Toro Tartar No Temaki – tuna tartar prepared at the table: raw tuna belly mixed with Japanese onion, turnip, egg yolk, chilli pepper and wasabi on a bed of nori and rice so you can roll it yourself (spoiler: you really can’t). This was probably one of my favourite items – but I guess that after all I am a raw tuna fan.
  • Brie Nigiri – flamed Brie cheese nigiri with honey and walnuts. This was probably the weakest sushi bite, but it was still good.
  • Butter Fish Nigiri – butterfish nigiri with kimchi and chilli peppers. Butterfish is only good raw anyway.
  • Aburi Salmon Nigiri – flamed Norwegian salmon nigiri, with Japanese mayonnaise, salmon roe and onion. I still prefer raw salmon, but the flame was light so it was barely perceptible.
  • Maguro Tataki No Nigiri Trufa Nose – tuna tataki nigiri with soy and black truffle sauce. This was also really good.
  • Gyu Niku No Tataki – aged beef tataki with caramelised mushrooms and miso sauce. The combination of meat and the mushroom was strange, but when taken separately it was all good.
  • Caramel dorayaki – two halves of a dorayaki filled with salty caramel paste. Unexpected, because the menu listed something else, but it is not as if it was bad at all!

Chef's choice menu at Nomo Madrid

My sibling ordered some green tea out of the menu, and in the end, the drinks did not add as much to the price as I expected. Also, I have to give a shout-out to the pickled ginger we got. Really good.

After having lunch, we took a train towards the Museum of Dreamers, which is stands in Espacio Ibercaja Delicias, a place that seems to always look somewhat abandoned, even when it is stupidly hot and sunny. The exhibit was designed by sisters Elena and Giulia Sella, founders of Postology, an agency specialised in “phygigal” experiences. This concept merges the words “physical” and “digital”, allowing for a number of immersive and surreal experiences. The Museum of Dreamers is one of those things that you have to see with an open mind to have some fun. It comprises sixteen interactive installations which are basically photo-ops – after all, the word instagrammable has been officially accepted on dictionaries. I guess it is a new niche that can be exploited, and to be honest, I can get behind that, because some of these activities are hilarious.

Entry is timed, but they do not hold a very strict waiting policy – at least not on a Tuesday at 17:00 and 39 ºC. There were no timed exhibits or performances either. The first installation is a dark room with a starry sky of sorts, designed maybe to isolate the rest of the exhibition from the outside, maybe as a metaphor (100 Dreamers). Then you get to a semi open space that opens to the smaller installations that allow for fun pictures. All through the space there are motivational sentences and “rules” for safety in the different installation.

There is some kind of cosmic tube with mirror that was dizzying to walk into (Free your power), a tunnel made of hearts with an encouraging message at the end (Do what you love), an upside down room (Change perspective), an downside down bedroom with a giant plush and fun bed covers (Never stop dreaming), one full of disco lamps (Sparkle more), and a neon staircase flanked by colourful palm trees (Step by Step).

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

Afterwards, there is a ball pit – you know, it’s not like I had ever stepped into one before Friday, and now that’s twice in one week – with a “relaxing island” in the middle (Enjoy Today). In front of that, a tunnel made of fake pink flowers with a long table, set for a tea party (Believe in Magic). That managed to make you think of Alice in Wonderland imprint on your brain. Thus, you are in the right mindset for the following room, full of giant mushrooms and flowers that open up at will – theirs, for sure, not the visitors – whole giant butterflies hang around with their wings made out of lights (Wonder).

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

The final part of the exhibit consists on a second row of booths – a colour wheel, a door that opens to a fantasy scenery, a VR experience (Choose your Way), a stage (The stage is yours), some pink telephones (Your Dreams are Calling you), bright lights commanding you to DREAM (Be Bright)… There were two more rooms, one with a sky background and swings (Sky is not the limit), and the other with punching bags reading FEAR, STRESS, ANXIETY and so on (Never Give Up). I can’t punch, but I can strangle, so I choked the hell out of these last two.

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

That was the end of the escapade. It was a fun half-day out.

6th December 2022: Tim Burton’s Labyrinth (Madrid, Spain)

Posted on by

Despite having decided that immersive exhibits were not for me and the fact that I’m not a Tim Burton fan, here I found myself in Madrid to see this one: Tim Burton’s Labyrinth El Laberinto de Tim Burton. Truth be told, I was only there because my sibling asked me to accompany them. I did not find premium tickets for any of the dates either of us was available, but the 6th of December is a national holiday in Spain, and I calculated that if we were there at opening times it might not be too busy, and we would not come across too many kids.

Tim Burton is an American film-maker born in 1958. His first “hit” may have been Stalk of the Celery Monster, which he wrote, directed and animated when he was a student in the California Institute of Arts, in 1979. It presumably earned him a good grade, but more importantly, an animator’s apprenticeship at Disney Animation Studios. With time, he developed a shrill eerie style, with lots of colours and creepy designs that have increased as years have passed, sometimes defined as “gothic fantasy” – I would refer to it as strident and macabre at times, to be honest. His greatest or most famous works include Beetlejuice, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare before Christmas, and the first two Batman films.

The exhibition is hosted in a weird place in Madrid, Espacio Ibercaja Delicias, which might look less… abandoned… when it hasn’t been raining for days, I guess. The space consists on a big tent – where we were not going, it might be designed for circuses or so, some kind of bar / cafeteria, and the monster-like building that hosts the exhibit. It is called a labyrinth because out of the thirty-ish wards, you have to go around choosing doors to see different rooms of the exhibit, insomuch that you would need four rounds to see the complete thing. In the end, you choose 15 rooms to see, out of which some are common, and you reach them from whichever previous place you were in. Others are “less common” and you can reach them through several doors, but not all. You enter the labyrinth through a toothy monster’s mouth, then there’s a big button that “decides” on the first room for you.

Collage: exterior of the Labyrinth, which looks like a one-eyed tentacle monster, and the inner entrance monster whose mouth is the curtain you have to cross to enter the different rooms.

In the rooms there are sculptures that represent the characters, some of them with the original clothes that were designed for them (if the film is a live-action), the plain clothes, and on the walls sketches and animations, some original, some “inspired”, and some made specifically for the exhibit. Some rooms are small and rather empty, others are decorated like the movie sets. There are tricks with lights, and some mirrors, but nothing “immersive” about it, and way too many people around considering the size of some rooms.

The idea of a labyrinth is interesting, but I don’t think the price warrants just seeing half of the exhibit, especially considering the big “misses” of not seeing all the The Nightmare before Christmas. We took about 40 – 45 minutes to go through the 15 rooms.

What I am aware we saw included:

  • Beetlejuice
  • Edward Scissorhands
  • Batman and Batman returns
  • Mars attacks!
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Alice in Wonderland or Alice Through the Looking Glass
  • Corpse Bride
  • Frankenweenie
  • Jack from The Nightmare before Christmas

Collage of Tim Burton's characters: Batman's Pengun, Edward Scissorhands, Emily from Corpse Bride

Collage of Tim Burton's characters: Alien from Mars Attack; the clothing from the Chocolatier (I think) in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, surrounded by twirling candy canes; Beetlejuice

Collage of Tim Burton's characters: Jack from The Nightmare before Christmas; The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, with some giant mushrooms behind; the boy and the dog of Frankenweenie

I think this is an exhibit for die-hard fans that are willing to pay for the premium ticket and see the whole thing twice. What it’s not, and that’s for sure, is for kids.

On both ways, we had some train trouble – delays and technical problems, but nothing too dramatic, and I was home before sunset – but after buying a stack of Christmas candy canes! And my sibling enjoyed, which was the goal anyway.