We spent Sunday night at the Sanz family cottage at La Pedriza near Manzanares El Real, use of which Jesus shares with other members of his family. The property back directly onto the protected natural area of Guadarrama Mountains so a perfect place for people like Jesus and Mariangeles who like to hike. After breakfast of churros, purros (a larger version of the same deep fried dough strips as churros that means leeks in Spanish), and dipping chocolate at a churreria in town, Jesus and Mariangeles gave me a choice for the day between either a visit to El Escorial of to the Valle de Los Caidos. I had been to both on a daytrip from Madrid during my Thanksgiving 2001 visit to Spain with my brother. Although the Valle de Los Caidos, the grandiose mountaintop monument Francisco Franco had erected in memory of those killed on both sides of the Spanish Civil War, is impressive, I chose nearby El Escorial as the more interesting of the two based on my memories.


El Escorial or more formally El Monasterio de San Lorenzo El Escorial is a gigantic historic site about thirty miles northwest of Madrid at the edge of a town by the same name nestled against the Sierra de Guadarrama that constitures a UNESCO World Heritage sites and is one of the most interesting daytrips from Madrid . The complex was constructed by King Phillip (Felipe) II between 1563 and 1584 on the proceeds of the riches of Spain's new American colonies. Phillip was a zealous Catholic and supporter of the counter-Reformation against the Protestants. The monastery and palace were built as an act of devotion and dedicated to Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo), the Christian saint martyred by being grilled alive. Thus, El Escorial’s overall floorplan was symbolically constructed in the shape of a grill.


Well, the place is enormous and includes many different parts that can keep a visitor busy for most of the day. Highlights of the visit include the library, probably one of the most beautiful in Europe, the Basilica, the Courtyard of the Kings, the Gardens, and the Royal Palace. But the royal palace isn’t the luxurious place you might expect. Phillip II was true to his Catholicism and lived in monastic simplicity when at El Escorial. One of the most interesting parts of the Escorial tour is the Pantheon of Kings where all but a few of Spain’s kings from the Habsburg era to the present are entombed . Yes, it’s where Juan Carlos is destined to end up when he finally kicks the bucket. There’s a smaller Pantheon of Princes too for those royals who weren’t destined to rule the realm either by early death or because of being lower on the succession totem pole to the throne.

 
The palace also has a very large art museum with many works by famous Italian artists. The royals of the era of Phillip II apparently especially loved the Venetians Titian and Tintoretto and also the Flemish genius Hieronymus Bosch. I was somewhat surprised on this visit to El Escorial at how much of it I apparently missed on my previous visit. Back then, for some reason or another, my brother and I hired an English speaking guide for a tour at a very reasonable price. I recall her as being interesting and extremely knowledgeable, but I think her tour covered the highlights while passing some other worthwhile parts of complex. Unfortunately, like other state museums in Spain, interior photos are not permitted at El Escorial.


Spaniards have some of the weirdest eating norms I’ve encountered anywhere. It seemed very much to me that by mid-afternoon it should have been lunch time. All we had to eat was some churros and purros con chocolate for breakfast, but I could tell Jesus and Mariangeles were resisting, so that we could eat a huge meat feast when we got back to their place in Manzanares El Real, so I stayed quiet and hid my hunger in anticipation of a big pig out later in the day.