< previous
next >
Day 4: June 19, 2025
We set off early again for the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Yesterday we were in Toledo, south of Madrid, but today our journey heads north. The landscape is different, less dry and more wooded.
The Escorial is a monastery commissioned by Philip II, and it's truly impressive that it only took 21 years to build, considering how large and magnificent it is. Cristina, once again, was the local guide who accompanied us throughout the day.
The first thing we saw was the library, with its painted ceilings and hundreds of ancient books, some of them incunabula. We continued through the basilica, then the palace area where the royal apartments are located, and ended at the Pantheon, which is more like catacombs, where all the kings and queens of Spain are buried.
Next, we boarded the bus and headed to Segovia. The first thing you see upon arriving in Segovia is the Roman aqueduct. A 600-foot-high structure over 2,000 years old, it still stands today, even though no cement or glue was used to hold the stones together. After the aqueduct, we visited the Royal Alcazar, the former palace where Isabella and Ferdinand, the Catholic monarchs responsible for the unification of Spain, lived. The furniture and armor we saw, although original, were not from that castle, as it burned down in the mid-1800s, and items had to be brought from other castles to remodel it.
On the way back to Madrid, we had a little time for shopping before dinner.
Now, let's head back to the hotel. We need to pack our suitcases because tomorrow we're leaving for Barcelona.