We went on a day trip to El Escorial, about an hour and a half from Madrid. Nearby is the Valle de los Caidos. It is a monument to Franco and to all those in his army who died in the Civil War. It was pretty eerie, especially with no windows in the whole church. It was a beautiful place though, with an incredible view, and while we couldn't take pictures inside the church, it was awesome in the literal sense of the word- huge archangels stand guard in the crucero of the church, where Franco is buried.
This is an image of one of the angels, Uriel. The other three in the church are Michael, Raphael and Gabriel.
El Escorial palace is the palace that inspired Versailles! It's a beautiful palace. Unfortunately, pictures were prohibited outside the courtyard here as well.
Felipe II ordered the palace be built, and the palace served as the primary royal palace for generations. It doubled as a monastery as well.
One thing that was very interesting was seeing the differences between the Hapsburg and Bourbon dynasties.The Hapsburgs (the dynasty of Felipe II, Carlos V, and the Catholic Monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand) seemed to be very pious and relatively humble. My current bedroom is a bit bigger than the royal chamber of Felipe II, who, at the time, was the most powerful king in the world. He had a simple desk, exactly the same as that of the monks in the monastery. The hearing room had simple brown tile work and the royal family tree and solemn portraits of Felipe's father and mother, Carlos V and Isabella of Portugal.
The Bourbon area of the palace was entirely different. Incredible gold work and intricate furniture with luxurious seating adorned every room, and almost every wall had a massive, beautiful and colorful tapestry on it. Music rooms and other beautiful areas were spread throughout the bedrooms and court rooms.
The gardens were really pretty. I even got to see a wildlife, a little lizard who eventually got within a few inches of walking onto my hand before he ran off.
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