El Escorial

El Escorial is the monastery where all the Kings and Queens of Spain are buried it was also the palace of the Hapsburg rulers. We were going to negotiate the trip from Madrid coordinate the bus, admission and audio guide and decided that there was a half day tour that would be easier all around to let someone else do the guiding.

So the morning spent seeing lots of “dead people”, artwork and riches of Spanish kings. After touring the monastery, we went to the Valley of the Fallen.  This church was built by Franco as a tribute to the thousands that died during the Spanish Inquisition.  An impressive church that was built to rival St Petersburg but the Vatican only consecrated 262 feet so less than Saint Petersburg

The second part of the day was rainy and we were to see the Royal Palace that was closed earlier in the week.  Of course the line was way long so we opted for the “on off bus”. We figured a little dryer with threatening skies and a chance to see some of what we were walking by in the past 3 days. We planned to get off the bus near the central plaza instead by error got off one stop early. The good news is we ended up outside the chocolate/toffee/nought shop. Now Dan is complaining his suitcase is heavier than mine.

We decided to walk to the center square because I want to go the a famous bakery there and there has always been a line.  Of course again a bad decision.  We end up at the wrong square but near the metro. This is much easier than taking out my phone and trying to find our way.

Dinner tonight consists of a bakery sandwich, bottle of wine and cheese.  More because we were too lazy to go out in the rain because by 8pm it was really pouring.  Oh did I mention we located the major grocery store although we weren’t looking for it and had food at the apartment.  Seems to be our carmaker.  I think the next time I research a trip like this I am going to look at where the grocery store is when making reservations over where the train station is located.

The weather tomorrow is raining all day so we will go to the park, botanical garden and the Prado.  We brought the umbrellas this trip.