El Escorial

…was the home of King Philip II and is situated just outside of Madrid. I visited it this past Saturday with Maggie (the girl who rented my room this summer) and her friends. It’s huge. It’s grand. It’s ridiculous – much like the other castles/palaces in Europe. This one however was a bit creepy. Don’t get me wrong, some parts were cool but it wasn’t my favorite palace.

El Escorial was built from 1563 to 1584. King Philip - great-grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, son of two first cousins (sick!) and the namesake of the Philippines - brought Spain to the height of its power. He was all about keeping Catholicism alive and making sure Spain remains the world power (Trivia: he married the very Catholic “Bloody” Mary of England, a good political strategy to prevent Protestantism from further spreading…but then she died). Spanish rule didn't end with him, but I don't think it got any better after.

What did I not like about the palace? It was dark. I'm real persnickety about darkness...I just prefer light and lots of color. I feel like the Spaniards must have such a dark history because everything historical I see here is dark. Spanish paintings in the Prado Museum: deprived of color. Churches: creepy. Palaces: gloomy. It’s probably because of it’s Catholic background…ha! Ok, all this isn’t completely true but it’s just a theory that I have. I obviously have to study more Spanish history.

Anyway, El Escorial just didn’t have enough light and as one guide book said, “looks like a prison”. I have to agree. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lived there. Especially when most members of the royal family since Philip II have been buried in the castle. We walked through the pantheon with all the tombs and although it was interesting, it gave me the hibby jibbies at the same time. They had one room with this huge round tomb in the middle. Inside that tomb were like 60 members of the royal family who died when they were children. Yeah, creepy.

But of course, there’s good in everything. I loved the palace library. It was massive and it was cool to see all the books that have been there for forever. The library ceiling was painted with lots of colors with the Seven Liberal Arts as its theme. Also, I found it pretty cool to walk through King Philip’s bedroom. You can actually see the room with the bed where he died (at least, they say that it’s the original bed). And last but not the least, I loved the carved doors they had in one section of the palace. These doors were so intricately carved and just so beautiful…too bad I couldn’t take a picture.

As far as the outside, like most palaces, it is beautiful. It has a very nice garden and a ginormous pond. It’s also surrounded by amazingly grand mountains. I definitely preferred the outside of the palace more than the inside. But again, it’s no competition to the Neuchweisntein, which is surrounded by the Alps. God, I just love Neuchweinstein! And Ludwig just sounds more interesting than Philip.

By the way, what is up with the Hapsburgs?! That family seriously married and procreated with everyone in Europe. Greedy, conquering bastards! I had no idea they also existed in Spain! Oh, and is it Hapsburg or Habsburg? I swear I thought it was Hapsburg with a P (that’s what I remember from Vienna, at least), but in El Escorial, it was spelled with a B.

So in conclusion, I give El Escorial one thumbs up. However, I would like to go back again and go further down the street/mountain/whatever and see the Valley of the Fallen, Franco's memorial to soldiers who died in the civil war...another part of Spain's dark past...

El Escorial