Day Trip: EL ESCORIAL

Today, December 3, my friend Sendy and I went on a day trip. We went to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a city outside of Madrid. We took an hour long ride on Cercanias (the commuter train) to get there, and then took a 10 minute shuttle bus to get to the center of the town.

The biggest attraction is the Real Monasterio de El Escorial. It is a Basilica, a Royal Palace, a Monastery, and a Pantheon, all wrapped into one. We took a self-guided tour of the majority, and it was a pretty cool experience. You can't take pictures inside though, so there isn't too much to see there. There were museums inside of the monastery, of tapestries, paintings, and architecture, to name a few. We also got to see the bedchambers and audience chambers that the royal family inhabited when they would stay there. The Basilica was very simple, as was the Monastery itself, and contained paintings instead of the typical chapels I have seen in other Spanish cathedrals. The Pantheon was also very cool. It contains a large number of the royals of Spain, including kings, queens, princes, princesses, and the children of kings and queens who would never become king or queen (called infante/a in Spanish). I am definitely glad we went, because it is a very unique site.

After touring the Monastery, we had lunch a Rodilla, a Spanish sandwich chain. Then we wandered around the city for a while, since the bus to Valle de los Caidos only leaves at 3:15 pm on Saturdays.

Valle de los Caidos is a very sacred place for the Spanish people. The Basilica there contains the remains of many Spanish citizens who died during the Spanish Civil War. It also contains the remains of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, who died in 1975. The fact that the Civil War victims and Franco are buried in the same place is also quite controversial. The site itself is beautiful, especially the amazing stone cross on top of the mountain. The Basilica is built within the mountain, and still maintains a lot of the qualities of the stone by which it is surrounded. We couldn't go up to the cross because it is being restored and there is the danger of falling rocks. But there were amazing views of the valley below, and it was a wonderful place to visit. I am very glad I got to go, even though I couldn't go up to the cross, because seeing Spaniards there visiting the victims, and looking at Franco's grave, was also an interesting experience.

We stayed a Valle de los Caidos until 5:30, when the only bus back to El Escorial left. We then took the shuttle back to the train station and took the train home. It was a great day. Very relaxing, and Sendy was a great travel partner, though a little sleepy from her late night ;)