El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos

Good news! I was looking through my messenger bag and found my old camera in it. It doesn't take nearly as nice of pictures of my new camera, but at least I have something. I really don't even remember packing it, but I did. I also packed the cord; who knew I'd be so prepared?

Yesterday ISA took us on an excursion to El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos. It took a little less than an hour by bus to get there. El Escorial was built by Felipe II as a monestary/place of residence/college in the 1500s. The library inside was beautiful. Also quite stunning, but creepy as well, was the royal pantheon. Underneath the basilica almost all of the kings and queens since Carlos V (Felipe II's father) are laid to rest and we got to see the mausoleum. The creepiest thing our guide showed us were, a few steps above the pantheon, the doors to the "rotting rooms." Bodies of deceased monarchs are kept in these rooms for around 40 years to fully decompose before finally being laid to rest in the pantheon. Our guide told us that there were three bodies in the rotting rooms right now. Overall I liked El Escorial. It's very strange for a royal residence because Felipe II was really religious and wanted the focus to be on God (and he was a Hapsburg from Germany/Austria), so the architectural style is considered "unadorned." Yet the whole building is very impressive. I also liked the little town surrounding El Escorial. It was just so quaint and really quite beautiful with the mountains in the background.

After eating lunch we hopped back on the bus and went to the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen). Here there is a giagantic cross that can be seen for miles and a basilica that was carved into the surrounding rock. The basilica and cross were built by prisoners of war after the Spanish Civil War. Franco claimed that he wanted it built to memorialize those who had died in the war, but my personal opinion is that he just wanted an imposing place to be buried as his tombstone is located right by the high altar in the basilica. It was a very strange place and I felt a lot of conflicting emotions while I was there. The scenery all around is absolutely stunning and the architecture is roughly, strangely beautiful as well. However, it is also very haunting and chilling due to the idea that it was constructed by/for a dictator.

Overall, as much as I love the city, it was nice to get away for a day and see some of the beautiful landscapes that surround Madrid. Here are the pictures from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124964&l=59b1d&id=71208608