Segovia & El Escorial/Valle de los Caídos

This weekend I took two day trips from Madrid. Saturday I went to Segovia (for the second time - see October 20, 2007 post (when I put it up)) and Sunday I went to El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen).

Segovia
So last time I went to Segovia I was a little disappointed about not getting to spend more time there and not getting to do some wandering around. In particular, I wanted to see the inside of the cathedral, buy some souvenirs, and maybe get to visit the Segovia Mint. So this time, I woke up bright and early to get to the bus station almost on the other end of Linea 10 and got on the hour long bus ride to Segovia at 8:30AM. When I got there, it was FREEZING (I had been warned that it's usually colder in Segovia). I made my way towards Plaza de Azoguejo, where the Roman Aqueduct cuts mightily across with its double arches, stopping at every seemingly open cafe/cerveceria/restaurante to see if it was a non-smoking locale. Unfortunately I made it all the way to the aqueduct with no luck, left my name at the famous Mesón de Cándido for a 2pm lunch, and headed back up to a place that served hot chocolate and didn't have a sign blatantly announcing it's acceptance of indoor smoking. I ordered some thick hot chocolate with whipped cream and a napolitana de crema, and sat down to breakfast. I think every other person decided to light up just as I sat down, so I ate as far away from them as possible and soon headed out again. The hot chocolate was delicious! It wasn't a watery Swiss-Miss type of hot chocolate like in the States, but almost like chocolate syrup except not as sugary or sweet. Quite good. Would probably have been great for dunking churros.

Anyway, I wanted to do some shopping but I realized none of the stores were open yet! I got to Segovia too early! I wandered up a street over to another by climbing stairs, down another street, finally deciding to start making my way up to Plaza Mayor where the Catedral Cabildo stands. The whole time I was walking up a group of Asian students were behind me and I was not looking forward to entering the cathedral at the same time as this massive group, so I popped into a shop just across the plaza. I finally approach the cathedral entrance and there is now an even bigger group of American students heading towards it. Oh well. I give up. So I walk in with them and didn't even get asked to pay to get in! They must have thought I was part of the student group that they were just letting in, so that was a nice bonus. And my worries about the cathedral being overcrowded with all these students was totally unnecessary as the cathedral is huge, so it was easy enough to get around and see everything. I think the coolest thing about this visit was the museum/cloister. The museum has the tomb of the young prince that supposedly fell out of a window in the Alcázar and caused the agrieved caretaker to plunge after him. In the treasury there were also some great tapestries and a cool chariot that is still taken out on Corpus Christi Day.
Overall the best thing about this building was the intricate Gothic architecture. I just love the spires and how they point so sharply upwards, while the dome and body make it seem stout and plump. It's a nice contrast.

Now that I had finally visited the 3 main sights of Segovia, I began some serious souvenir searching. Magnets, plates, mugs, figurines. I walked up and down the street by the cathedral (which is where the best prices were surprisingly . . . gotta love competition) and finally ended up buying some plates with gorgeous depictions of these sites (I could barely chose they were so well done) ... and a magnet to match my set. Now I just have to get them back home in one piece . . .

Some street wandering led me past the church of San Esteban, the poet Antonio Machado's house, and by the Alcázar after realizing a visit to the Segovia Mint would not be possible since it is under restoration.

At 2pm I showed up for my reservation at the Mesón de Cándido and although I did find some better deals from equally qualified looking restaurants, I kept my reservation just to be able to say I ate there. The building is very quaint and medieval looking. Inside, they have pictures of famous people that have been to the Mesón, including Walt Disney (I guess when he was checking out the Alcázar to create the Cinderella castle). The food was great; I had setas (mushrooms) a la segoviana, cochinillo (although part of the ear was included which was a bit odd), and the famous Segovia dessert, ponche segoviano. All in all, a great meal. I truly feel the best food in all of Spain is in Segovia.

After lunch I was tempted to make the trip out to the Palacio Real de la Granja de San Ildefonso, but I felt the time constraints were just not going to make it worthwhile. So I followed the Roman Aqueduct up to the my second choice, the Monasterio de San Antonio el Real. This once Franciscan monastery is now home to the Clarisa sisters (currently a community of 11 nuns). This was one of those hidden gems of a city you find just by luck. I got there a bit early, so I sat in the sun trying to warm up for a bit. A couple also joined me when a woman finally came to open the monastery for the afternoon. She wasn't just a ticket collector, though, she was a tour guide, and she was so passionate, so intimately involved with everything about the monastery, she sometimes spoke like it was hers and she was the monastery's. It was so refreshing to see someone have such passion and knowledge about the place. The unique thing about this monastery is the mudejar ceiling throughout: above the altar, around the cloister, in the chapter room. It was all beautiful and very well preserved, despite its 500+ years. A not very well publicized site and a bit off the beaten road, but definitely worth the visit. And after such an extravagant lunch, it was nice to walk a bit off.

Finally, I headed towards the bus station, and just in time as the forecasted fog was settling in just as I got to the bus station. (One unsanitary surprise was the lack of toilet paper at the bus station restrooms. As the cleaning lady said, they just don't put any, not even a dispenser can be found. . . I guess that's not included in the ticket. . good grief!).

I still believe a trip to Segovia can be done in one day, but I enjoyed this extra day of leisurely strolling around and discovery.

El Escorial/Valle de los Caídos
So today was a bit of a logistical nightmare. Earlier in the week, I stopped by the Chamartin Renfe ticket office to ask about the schedule for trains for El Escorial. I was told they leave every hour at quarter past the hour, and even after specifically asking if it was quarter till the hour instead and if this held true for Sunday, I was still assured (and could tell the attendent was getting a bit annoyed with my lack of understanding) it was quarter past the hour. So I planned to catch the 9:15AM train, but running a little late, was running into the station at 9:05AM. Imagine my shock when I get my ticket and the vendor calmly tells me the next train leaves at 9:47AM! It was quarter till the hour and I was completely misinformed. I felt very ripped off and a little upset by this kink in my plans despite my best efforts to plan ahead. Nonetheless, I grabbed a drink, scribbled a note to later mail my grandpa on a napkin and got on the train. Slept for most of the hour and change ride, then went in search of the bus to get me up to the monastery. I asked a girl that was sitting a few seats away from me about this bus and she said she too was going to visit the monastery, so we set out to go together. Impatiently waiting for the bus to arrive, we asked a seeming local about the bus to the monastery and the bus to Valle de los Caídos. He helpfully informed us that the bus to Valle only left at 3:15PM and only left Valle at 5:15PM, so it was very important to make these times. We thanked him for the information, finally got on the bus (although we waited seemingly forever since the bus was only scheduled to leave at 11:20AM from the station), and got to bus station near the monastery. It seemed like it would have been quite a hike not only in distance but in slope, so it was worth waiting for the bus.

At the ticket office in the monastery there was a bit of irritated confusion as to what type of entrance we wanted: combined Escorial/Valle visit, guided or not, student or not, etc. Finally, we understood that the guided combined ticket was 6€ more than the unguided student combined ticket (there was no student discount for a guided ticket), while audio guides were 2.30€, so we took the unguided ticket and got audio guides. Going through the security scanners I was told I had to check my mini-backpack, which I mistakenly left my entrance ticket in so getting into this place was quite a chore. We quickly realized the audioguides were quite the rip off as they a) were not very informative; most of what it said could be read on signs throughout b) not well labeled; if it wasn't for the map, we would have missed more than half the descriptions, in fact we sometimes had to do backtracks when we realized we had accidently skipped works with information.

Overall, though, the Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial was an amazing place. It reminded me a lot of the Vatican Museum. There was a great collection of art amassed by Spanish kings, with, albeit, not internationally reknown, but nonetheless talented Spanish artists, the most famous of which being El Greco. There were also some Titians and I really enjoyed some works by Ribera, whom I am not very familiar with. Then there was the actual palace. I love the Sala de las Batallas, a long hall that reminded me of the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican with important battle scenes painted on the wall imitating a tapestry. Absolutely splendid! I also enjoyed walking through the royal chambers and it was absolutely breathtaking to descend a barrel ceiling marble staircase and enter the Panteón de los Reyes. In this completely marble and gilt covered circular room, kings from Charles V to the present are buried with their wives opposite them. Even the current king and queen have their designated spots above the doorway.

Another impressive work was the large fresco decorating the ceiling above a main staircase of the cloister. Again it reminded me of the Vatican, this time of Michaelangelo's "Last Judgement" (I know, it's almost sacrilige to make such a comparison).

After a whirlwind rush through all of this (70 audioguide clips later), I headed towards the bus station to go to Valle de los Caídos. (Side note here: this trip required steady infusions of €€€ at almost every step; they have you stranded and cornered and they know it!).

Valle de los Caídos is a monument erected by Francisco Franco (the ruler or dictator of Spain until 1975), in memory of the Guerra Civil (Civil War) in Spain 1936-1939. Eventually, he was buried in the basilica of this monument, so it is surrounded by plenty of political as well as emotional sentiments. There was only a limited amount of time at this sight and the tram up to the cross closed first, so we headed up that first. The large free standing cross is the largest in the world and is very impressive to see up close. The four evangelical figures at the base are also sharply but beautifully rendered in stone in equally massive proportions.

Back at the base, we headed towards the basilica. The completely rounded four-part nave was very sombering to walk down. Carved into rock, with black marble and gray marble trim for the flooring, it felt like walking into the luxurious underground HQ of a Hollywood villian. Tapestries cover the walls and intermitent altars to various virgins mark nave divisions. I had such a sensation of smallness and fear though; it was such an impacting place. At the end of this long aisle, is the apse, where Franco is buried and a gorgeous gilded mosaic dome gives a glimmer of levity to the otherwise dark interior.

Finally, I headed back to the El Esocrial bus station, had a pizza for dinner (such a welcomed treat from home!), took a bus back down to the train station, just barely missed the 7:00PM train (again, logistical nightmare), but fortunately didn't have to wait long as the following train was at 7:15PM.

It was a weird, kind of grumpy day for me, but I finally got to check off this sight on my list of things to do.