My overnight train arrived in Madrid a little before 7:30am, and after leaving our luggage in a locker and getting a light breakfast, my friend and I boarded another train to El Escorial, the summer residence of the Spanish kings in the mountains outside of Madrid.
The mountains were silent. After months in the perpetual din of London, El Escorial was a pleasantly peaceful refuge. I’m sure centuries of Spanish monarchs agree with me.
El Escorial was built between 1563 and 1584, a construction period of less than 21 years for a massive palace, basilica, and monastery complex. It was a bit of a walk from the train station to the palace, but in the early morning light and crisp air it was extremely pleasant. Photos weren’t allowed inside the building, but I took plenty of photos around the outside and of the surrounding scenery.
El Escorial also houses a significant art collection, though it is nowhere nearly as important as that of the Prado, which I visited the next day. We spent about four hours walking through the castle, which was far more than we anticipated, and we went fairly quickly. If you’re planning on visiting, plan a whole day for El Escorial. Afterwards, we stopped at a cafe for lunch and then hurried to make our train. Since my ticket wouldn’t scan at the barriers, we missed it. We spent the hour until the next train walking through the gardens of the Crown Prince’s residence, which is down the hill from the main complex. It has elaborate gardens and hedges and a very charming house.
We arrived back in Madrid in the late afternoon, and my last remaining traveling companion had an evening flight. We had just enough time for quick visits to the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol before she headed to the airport. I had a quick dinner at Papizza near the Puerta del Sol (I highly recommend this place for a cheap eat). Since I had been feeling really sick since Barcelona, I went to sleep around 8 and slept for 12 hours.
The next morning I went straight to the Prado Museum when it opened. The Prado has the best art collection in Spain, largely composed of works commissioned by the Spanish crown. Photography wasn’t allowed inside, but for the art nerds out there, highlights include:
3 May 1808 by Goya (among a host of works by him)
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
Descent from the Cross by Rogier van der Weyden
The Annunciation by Fra Angelico
The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (known as El Greco)
Las Meninas by Velazquez
The Cardinal by Raphael
And a profusion of works by Titian (the Spanish crown was buying essentially all his output near the end of his career) including Carlos V at the Battle of Mühlberg.
In my two hours at the Prado, I was able to walk through all the rooms of the museum and see all the major works. After I left, I spent two more hours walking through the nearby Parque del Retiro, an elaborate complex of gardens that formerly belonged to the Spanish monarchy. I wandered for several hours and took a few pictures.
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| The Crystal Palace |
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| The Monument to Alfonso XII from across the artificial lake |
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| The Puerta de Acala, on the edge of the park |
After a couple hours wandering the park, my time in Spain was coming to an end. I returned to the hostel to pack my things and caught a train to the airport. Two stamps later (one from Spain and one from the UK), I was home in London.
