El Escorial

I am going to try and catch up on the places we have visited this summer.  El Escorial is what I am featuring in this post.  It is an old monastery about 50 miles outside of Madrid.  Emperor Charles V of Spain and his family loved to come here in the 1500s.  But when they brought their entourage the monks had a hard time housing them all. Charles' son, Philip II ( married to Mary Tudor of England until her death) now king of Spain, built onto the monastery with "royal apartments," a Basilica, an amazing library, and much more. It became the burial site for the Spanish monarchs.  There is an incredible marble and bronze pantheon that houses the caskets of the kings and queens and the infantes, who are the off-spring of the kings and queens who die without inheriting the throne. It goes on and on forever and is spectacular. 

This is a view from our hotel room.

This is the room we stayed in and is called "The Four Wives Room" and has the pictures of wives of Philip II, starting with Mary Tudor.  Philip is on the bathroom door.

It is a very picturesque town.

The palace/monastery is surrounded by these brick buildings that have been used  for monks, priests, barracks and who knows what, but are now government offices.  They all have bridges that connect them to each other.  There were also underground tunnels so the elites could go back and forth to the Basilica and town without suffering the weather.

El Escorial

A very impressive sight.

Something about it reminded me of Red Square in Moscow.

The entrance.

An interior courtyard,

One of the bell towers.

To the right is the monastery and you can see more of the brick buildings ahead and to the left.

Another bridge.

A very grand inside courtyard.

The town had so many of the streets lined with cute outdoor cafes.

An interesting fountain near a cafe.

The Spanish version of the Pied Piper.

This is the Royal Carriage Museum.

This is the lady that haunts the building.

This is how royals were transported when they didn't trust the horses.
It's a sedan chair that is carried by men.

This was our hotel.  It over looked a charming square, and had a good view of El Escorial.

These are the views from our room.

These next two guys were in the carriage museum.

This is a picture on tile of El Escorial.

This is a model of one of the streets and sits in the bus station.

It was another glorious day and a half exploring the surrounding areas of Madrid.