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| Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. |
After our chat with Nacho, we made some hasty plans to,
the next day, visit one of the UNESCO listed sites situated a short journey
from Madrid. The town of El Escorial is about 45 minutes by train, and is
mostly famous for the large monastery, San Lorenzo of El Escorial. Arriving at
the station, we walked through the Casita del Principe gardens, passing by the
house of the same name, before trudging up the long, tiring slope towards the
monastery.
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| Entrance avenue to the Monastery. |
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| Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. |
Built under the order of King Philip II of Spain in the
1500s, San Lorenzo of El Escorial has served many purposes over the years,
including the residence of the King of Spain. Surrounding the stunning
structure are some equally striking gardens. Tailored into maze-like patterns,
complete with dividing walls and fountains, the gardens make for a very
pleasant stroll.
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| Jardin de los Frailes. |
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| Jardin de los Frailes. |
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| Towering to the heavens. |
Adjacent to San Lorenzo lays the town of El Escorial,
which is a charming little place. From the monastery, we walked up into the
town and meandered through the small streets and laneways to check it out, with
no real purpose in mind. The whole town has a relaxed, sleepy feel to it.
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| Wandering through the town of El Escorial. |
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| El Escorial. |
Once we were done, we walked back to the train station
and returned to Madrid. Getting off a stop early at Nuevos Minesterios, simply
because we hadn’t seen that area, we soon discovered there wasn’t much to see
there. We jumped back on the metro and headed for Calle de la Montera, where we
had eyed off a tapas place for our dinner. Sitting just by the northern end of
the street, next to McDonalds, we had high hopes for Tapas Tapas.
Unfortunately, they were dashed quite spectacularly by our rude waitress with
her “the customer is always wrong” attitude and by some fairly mediocre dishes.
Oh well... you can’t win them all!
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| Our "nothing special" dinner at Tapas Tapas on Calle de la Montera. |
After dinner, we walked down Gran Via, stopping to have a
chuckle at a model / Instagrammer who was busy lying in the middle of the road.
The things people will do for attention and virtual likes!
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| This looks like a good place for a quick lie down. |
At the end, we turned left and headed for the Palacio del
Real Madrid, the current residence of the Royal Family; it was a very regal
kind of day, as it turned out! After a jaunt through the Jardines de Sabatini,
we admired the sunset over the back of the Palace and proceeded around the
front. And just our luck, there was an army band performance going on, possibly
linked to the upcoming Spanish National Day. We stayed for a short watch, but
it had been another long day, so before long, we made tracks for home.
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| Sunset over the Palacio Real de Madrid. |
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| Palacio Real de Madrid. |
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| Military activities to mark the upcoming Spanish National Day. |
And that was a wrap for the Spanish capital. The
next morning, we were back at the airport to fly east and get a taste of the
next city on the menu.
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