This was another long day—a very long day. Mike had found us an outstanding tour guide who would take us north to see two incredible places: the monastery at El Escorial and the town (with castle and more) of Segovia.
To start the day, I slept in. I know—me? Sleeping in? Well, it was only until 5:45, but that’s late for me. What was GREAT for me was getting a full night’s sleep after waking up the day before at 1:45 a.m. But that’s why your post for yesterday was delayed.
We met for breakfast at the hotel at 8:00, were picked up by our wonderful driver, Guillermo, at 9:00 and were off in Madrid traffic to our destinations today—the monastery at El Escorial and the town of Segovia. Word of warning here: I took a lot of photos yesterday, and I could not decide which ones I liked the most, so you will be seeing a lot of them.
Guillermo got us to the monastery on time, and our guide for the day, Coral, met us. Her name is Coral (like reefs are made from), but it is pronounced like the OK Corral. No matter how her name sounded, she was excellent. And we had her for the entire day (except lunch), making our experience more personal and engaging.
I could spend a lot of time telling you about the monastery, but it would be easier if you were interested in its significance in Spanish history and checked out their website by clicking here. I will give you the rundown through my photos, and hopefully, that will intrigue you enough to get you to research a little more or perhaps be lucky enough to tour it with Coral someday. So, without further ado, here’s El Escorial in my photos with captions. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
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- We arrived to find the monastery draped in fog.
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- But I kind of like the spooky look.
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- Right inside the door you can see in the previous photos is this courtyard…
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- …decorated with the usual bunch of…
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- …interesting, Spanish statues…that seem to have an attitude all their own.
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- Then we went into the basilica itself..
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- It is magnificent. This is the enormous organ that was exactly the same on both sides of the church.
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- The ceiling (as are many ceilings in Europe) was exquisite.
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- The details is amazing. I thought it was one of the best ceilings I had seen until…
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- We went upstairs to the library.
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- Talk about incredibly vivid colors.
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- We learned that painter, Luca Giordano painted (as did DaVinci) with both hands.
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- I don’t care how many he used…
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- …this is incredible.
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- Here’s some of the beauty close up.
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- Amazing.
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- In another room, more of the same.
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- What a ceiling.
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- And now down to the crypt where most Spanish monarchs are buried. The first group are the queens who died childless.
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- Then the graves of royal children who died at birth or while young.
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- Sad but amazing.
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- Next different queens and consorts that had produced heirs.
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- Followed by some special royal family members who got their own special tombs.
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- So many dead people, so little time.
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- We then moved up to other rooms in the monastery where we saw this puzzle box.
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- And a lengthy hallway filled with paintings of a battle or a war…Steve asked but I am still not sure what the answer was.
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- Zooming in.
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- A close up of the previous photo.
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- Back outside the fog was starting to lift.
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- And blue sky was showing above the monastery.
I need to mention that the most amazing room (for me) was down a narrow, winding set of stairs to the actual burial chamber of the most important Kings and Queens of Spain. No photography was allowed from the time we started down the stairs until we came back up again, but I did steal this photo online so you could see what you missed.
If you’re interested at all, please make sure to click the link to the monastery I posted above.
After we finished touring the monastery, it was time to travel to Segovia, where we would have lunch next to a Roman aqueduct and see the most fantastic castle. The ride from El Escorial to Segovia took about 45 minutes (the ride from Madrid to El Escorial had taken about an hour with traffic). Coral did not come with us in the van but said she would meet us at the restaurant right after lunch.
When we arrived in Segovia, we were going to lunch at Mesón de Candido, a very old restaurant…probably the most famous in Segovia because it sat right at the bottom of the Roman aqueduct. At this point, it is time for some aqueduct and Segovia square photos because words can’t describe it. Maybe my captions can.
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- It is just an amazing site.
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- From both sides.
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- Looking either way.
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- Mesón de Cándido. The aqueduct is just barely to the left of this photo.
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- Looking back up the stairs to the center of the village.
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- A view between two of the pillars.
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- After lunch, the rains came back…but only for a few moments.
Lunch was wonderful. We ate outside. The only drawback to eating outside in Spain is the smoke. Cigarettes are still prevalent here, especially when around Asian tour groups who seem to have no problem surrounding you with smokers. We were seated under umbrellas in the square, and at one point, when it started drizzling, non-customer tourists surrounded us, many smoking like chimneys. It’s kind of a sad way to ruin a good meal.
After lunch, Coral found us again, and we told her how truly impressive the Segovian aqueduct was to us, and she said, “Just wait.” She wasn’t kidding. Our next stop was a short break to an incredible site below the Alcázar de Segovia castle. This was an authentic medieval castle, but when you see it, you start thinking that maybe someone in Segovia ordered up a Hollywood castle, just like you would see in the movies. Well, it’s not a set. It’s real, and it’s incredible. Not only was the castle impressive, but from there, the views in every direction were astounding. (I know, that’s a lot of superlatives, but look at the photos and tell me I am exaggerating.) Here are the rest of the shots I took in front and inside this amazing edifice.
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- Once we got in front of the castle, the skies just blew me away.
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- And you could see them beautifully beind the village.
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- With the tower of the basilica framing them, just perfect.
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- See what I mean.
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- Amazing stuff.
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- Sorry for so many cloud photos.
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- It also shows you the weather to the north.
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- It looked cold and dark.
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- But wait until I have gotten sick of photographing clouds.
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- And villages to give you a view in the other direction.
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- The castle…in the sunshine.
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- And views in the opposite direction.
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- The castle demands your complete attention.
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- From every direction and distance.
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- But still behind you is the amazing village.
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- But that castle…
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- Looking down into the left side of the moat.
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- And the right side.
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- And up to a glorious blue sky.
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- And inside to the armory.
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- And beautifully tiled rooms.
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- With incredible stained glass.
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- Ceilings that went on forever.
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- Some with Moorish influence.
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- Finally to the actual room where Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella.
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- The view from the back of the castle.
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- Reminded me of Tuscany.
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- This painting of Isabella was impressive.
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- As was this ceiling.
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- And ths statuary just beneath it.
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- All kings but these three.
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- And more Tuscan-like views.
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- And amazing altar pieces.
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- Parapets leading to the smaller towers.
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- The original city wall can be seen where the modern dirt has slid away.
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- Below were the formal gardens.
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- Looking back as we left.
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- Another tower peeking out.
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- A group of girls decided this was the perfect place for a fashion photo shoot. Really?
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- Ah, that village again.
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- And exiting the castle, the village came into view again.
All I can say to sum up this wonderful day is WOW! From start to finish, we had a fantastic time. A great driver, a very comfortable van (not a “luxury motor coach”), a superb tour guide, a great lunch and so many incredible sights. It was just a totally WOW day.
In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world. — Federico Garcia Lorca
Amazing day, amazing photos. ??