Today, we went to the Escorial, which is a dual palace and monastery, where there is an impressive mausoleum. In this mausoleum we could see the tombs of all the Spanish kings and queens from Carlos I to Alfonso XIII. The palace was commissioned by Felipe II of Spain, and sits in the picturesque Sierra mountains. It takes about an hour to reach the palace from Madrid. When we arrived, we spent some time exploring the pueblo surrounding the monastery. There were small shops and a school that were very interesting to visit. When we went into the palace, we first saw the personal rooms of both the princess and the king (Felipe II) who lived there. We then saw the king's office, which was surprisingly barren. We were then told that it was because when he built the palace, he built a monastery inside. By doing this, his intent was to live as a monk while he was there during the fall. After, we went into the mausoleum section of the building. The most grand of the rooms belonged to the kings and queens, and afterwards there was a series of smaller rooms dedicated to the infantas (royal children who didn't inherit the crown). Afterwards, we went to the gift shop (of course), and we returned to Madrid. Overall, it was a very fun day filled with a lot of interesting history.
-Taya
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