El Escorial was impressive - a combination of Monastery and Royal Estate (no separation of church and state here). The guards looked a little unsure what to do with our luggage, which would not fit in the tiny lockers. Instead, they gave us what appeared to be the key to a tour guide locker. The locker key wouldn't turn. So, we unhinged the door and then put it back on with our bags inside and figured we'd trust people.
The audio guides were unusually helpful and allowed us to look around without being stuck reading all the descriptions (which weren't always available in English). And the audio guides allowed us access to the royal pantheon.
We saw the construction tools used to build El Escorial - trowels, masonry tools and giant ice picks for moving the blocks of ston. There were, of course, rooms full of art (more El Greco and DeVasquez). In the private quarters, the King's bed was surprisingly tiny; smaller than a standard double. The most unique room was The Hall of Battles. The Hall is a long hallway with walls depicting the final battle for Granada and the defeat of the French at San Quentin. The paintings were so detailed that I'm sure you could spend days in there picking out all the interesting scenes. In the short time we were there we spotted little anomalies like soldiers breaking rank and a man drinking from a puddle.
In the library, all the books were turned with the spines pointed inwards and the titles were written on the edge of the pages. The library was designed to be a place ofcontemplation and also contained a variety of scientific devices, including a Catholic-approved model of the universe rotating around the Earth. A sign above the exit of the library warned that anyone caught stealing a book would be excommunicated!
We left El Escorial and walked down to the station, where we tried to catch a train to our next stop, Salamanaca. Unfortunately, it was the first day of Easter vacation in Spain, and all the trains were
full. In the end, we had to take the train back to Madrid, where we booked a hotel at Pension Arcos (a no-reservation accommodation we found in Rick Steve's), and booked the next overnight train to Santiago (this helped compensate for the hotel room we had already paid for in Salamanca).
So, travel tip: If you are going to travel around a local holiday, find out how long and when people get time off for the holiday. We ran into this again during Ramadan in Turkey.
And the real tip: Be flexible. If you have to miss something in your itinerary because of unexpected events - move on and enjoy the rest of your trip.
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