Day 11

So I realize that I am not very good at this daily journal thing but sometimes I am too tired or too busy to write so I wait a few days then write it all. Friday, school, then Erica and I went to los Jardines del Campo del Moro (the gardens in front of the Royal Palace). It was pretty but we just sat on a bench in the shade and listened to music. Then on Saturday, Tandem took a group to El Escorial. It is the old Royal Palace turned monastary near Madrid. We rode a bus and I fell asleep on the way there and the way back. There were so many things that I wanted to take pictures of but couldn't because they didn't allow it. Almost all of the ceilings were painted and it was beautiful. They had painted intricate scenes from the Bible or Spanish history. There was a hallway called the Hallway of Battles and the walls were painted with scenes from famous battles, but they were not grotesque and bloody because women and children would see it. The library looked like it had a million and a half books. There were books in Greek, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and I don't know what else. And if I understood the guide right, the earliest book is from from the 4th Century. The ceiling in the library was also painted but the theme was a little different. Socrates and other famous philosophers were painted on the ceiling. Also, there were sections painted for mathematics, science, medicine, theology, philosophy, history, and several more -ologies. I also saw the tombs of all the kings and queens of Spain (all except for 2). It was a circular room for the kings and only the queens that gave birth to the future king. One king had 4 wives but only the one who was the mother of the next king was buried in there with him. There were also many rooms filled with caskets of princes and princesses. But what got me the most, was that was a room with the princes and princesses that died before the age of 5. I also saw the kings bedroom. It had a doorway to the sanctuary because the king who had it built was sick and he wanted access to worship God. The sanctuary was the prettiest part of the tour. It was huge. The altar looked to be gold-plated, and the background was full of pictures of saints. Since we could not take pictures, I bought postcards with pictures on them. I took a nap after we got back, ate supper, and then went out with the rest of the Americans. The bus that I normally take home closed at 11:30 (I didn't know this) and the metro closes at 1:30, so at 1:20 I was panicking because I didn't want to walk all the way home from Sol. Luckily, I caught the metro that goes closest to my house, so I was okay. I am never catching it that close to closing time again. Today was the first time since I have been in Spain that I got to sleep until I woke up. I woke up at about 10:30 and it was a good feeling but I am still taking a nap this afternoon. :)