I tried hard, really hard, to stay in Madrid for the entire weekend. But, I couldn't resist a quick side trip to El Escorial, about 45 km. northwest of Madrid. Nowadays, the royal complex functions as a monastery, royal palace, and museum.
One of the first rooms we entered was pretty interesting from an architectural standpoint; it displayed all of the tools that the 1,500 workers used to hoist the large slabs of stone during construction. Other fun stops included: The Hall of Battles (a loooong room with "war strategies" painted on the wall to serve as a primer for the king), the piercing blue ceilings in the Salas Capitulares, the Kings' Pantheon (where all of the dead Spanish kings rest), the Basilica with a huge altarpiece depicting St. Lawrence meeting his death on the grill, and the library's model of the solar system with Earth at the center, of course!
[On the peculiar side... Upon entering the Pantheon of the Princes (where children and queens who were not mothers of kings are buried), the audio guide began with the sound effect of a crying baby. Appropriate?!]
Today I learned not only about the severe consequences of inbreeding (as depicted by the portraits of Carlos II in the monastery's museum), but also about my withering command of the English language. While trying to share with some friends the importance of the Pantheon in the wise words of Rick Steves, I decided to pick up the Spanish past perfect tense. "Being died"?? Really, Lillian?
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