Sunday March 9 - Madrid

Today I woke up before everyone else in the hostel, got ready really quietly and left before anyone else. I had decided, against my better judgment, to both a) stay out really late Saturday night and b) get up really early on Sunday to go to El Escorial, the national monastery and the largest building in all of Spain, which is known for its exquisite royal apartments and artworks. El Real Monasterio de El Escorial (its full name) was built by orders of King Felipe II between 1563 and 1584. This relative short construction period (just 21 years) accounts for the building’s overall unity of style, which is instantly noticeable. The king ordered a royal monastery be built in honor of San Quentin after Spain defeated France in the battle of San Quentin in 1557. Designed by both Juan de Toledo and Juan de Herrera (though mostly by Herrera), the monastery measures over 626 ft by 528 ft. Huge.

I left the hostel in a hurry, throwing my bags into an unlocked room, which made me a little nervous. I caught the Metro to a stop on the yellow line (about 25 mins) and from there I took an hour long bus out to El Escorial. After groggily orienting myself in the town of San Lorenzo, which is where El Escorial is located, I figured out how to walk to the monastery. Truly freezing rain and howling winds that day – lovely. But it all seemed worth it as I turned the street corner and saw this (the dark figures in the bottom right corner of the photo are people, to give you an idea of how big El Escorial is. Also, check out the sky in this photo – it was so cold, and it looked like the apocalypse. Intense.

Here’s a photo from the inner courtyard, just outside of the church itself – a really imposing yet appealing exterior:
And here's a shot of the domes of the church, taken from a few hundred yards away - you can see the monastery for quite some distance.
So, funny story. I had decided to go to El Escorial despite time restrictions (I was leaving Madrid around 3 pm to return to Sevilla) and confusing directions about how to get there. I wasn’t sure I would make it out to El Escorial at all, given that I knew it required that the Metro and the bus systems run on their normal times – on a Sunday. Then I wasn’t sure I’d make it back in time to catch my train back to Sevilla, but I decided I had to go, because I really don’t know when I’ll be back in Madrid again, and train travel between Sevilla and there is more expensive than it should be. I had checked ahead of time and made absolutely sure that the monastery was open to visitors on Sundays, which surprised me, and I got ALL the way out there by myself. I was psyched. And then I walked up to the ticket office door at the monastery, and read the sign, which said:

“The monastery is closed today due to the elections. Please pardon the inconvenience.”

So despite all my planning, the monastery was closed for presidential elections. Congratulations, Zapatero. You win. Literally.

I went back to Madrid, tired and disappointed. I checked out the Plaza de España, a nice plaza with statues of Cervantes, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Here’s the main monument with fountain:

And here are Quixote and Panza: I headed back to Plaza del Sol, bought postcards and a bocadillo for lunch, got my bags from the hostel and went to the train station. Then it was back to Sevilla, but barely – I misread the departure time on my train ticket because I still haven’t mastered 24-hour military time, and I made it onto the train with literally less than a minute to spare. Overall, I have to admit Madrid was a lot more fun than I had thought it would be. It was nice to spend the weekend in a really big, bustling city. And nice to retreat back to Seville, too.