Today we took a day trip to El Escorial, La Valle de los Caidos, and a Castle. El Escorial is a big monastary/palace that was built by Philip II to celebrate a win against the French. It was pretty cool to see. The coolest part was probably the room that has the coffins of all the kings/queens since Charles V. It was a pretty big deal. Of course you couldn't take pictures inside, but here is the outside of it:
An inner courtyard:
Me and Lara outside the palace:
After El Escorial, we got back on the bus and went to the Valley of the fallen, which is the place where Franco is burried. Since he wasn't actually a king, he couldn't be buried in El Escorial, so he built himself this lovely monument. It also has the bodies of a lot of soldiers that died in the Spanish Civil War, but only the soldiers from the Facist side. Regardless of this, it was still really cool to see because it is this huge church-type building built into a mountain with an enormous cross on top:
In front of the church there is an excellent view of the mountains and valleys surrounding it. Here are most of the girls from the group looking oh-so-sexy:
Here are Mark, me, and Lara with the same view behind us:
We were pretty big fans of el Valle de los Caidos. The enormity and forbodingness of the monument are really representative of Franco's rule, but that doesn't stop it from beeing in a really sweet location.
Next up: the castle. We got back on the bus and arrived half an hour later at a castle. Which castle, you may be asking...that is still up in the air for most of us. It was awesome though.
An inner courtyard:
Me and Lara outside the palace:
After El Escorial, we got back on the bus and went to the Valley of the fallen, which is the place where Franco is burried. Since he wasn't actually a king, he couldn't be buried in El Escorial, so he built himself this lovely monument. It also has the bodies of a lot of soldiers that died in the Spanish Civil War, but only the soldiers from the Facist side. Regardless of this, it was still really cool to see because it is this huge church-type building built into a mountain with an enormous cross on top:
In front of the church there is an excellent view of the mountains and valleys surrounding it. Here are most of the girls from the group looking oh-so-sexy:
Here are Mark, me, and Lara with the same view behind us:
We were pretty big fans of el Valle de los Caidos. The enormity and forbodingness of the monument are really representative of Franco's rule, but that doesn't stop it from beeing in a really sweet location.
Next up: the castle. We got back on the bus and arrived half an hour later at a castle. Which castle, you may be asking...that is still up in the air for most of us. It was awesome though.
2 comments:
I just wanted to remind you how much I love your blog. And ps... that story about Elder Bednar was AMAZING! That's seriously so cool and I am very jealous. Happy travels! I miss you.
Hmmm. I certainly would't want to mess with that trio. (6th picture)
I didn't know you had a blog, but expect me to stalk you from now on....
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