During our class excursion today, we went to the Valley of the Fallen, a huge Basilica that has been placed into the side of a mountain. According to our instructor, 30,000-60,000 people are buried inside the walls of this massive basilica. As we walked in, there was a mass in session and the echoes of soft singing rang off the curved walls and ceilings creating a humbling religious atmosphere. I immediately felt the goose bumps on my arms as I walked down the long hallway that proceeded into the sanctuary. Francisco Franco, one of Spain's most powerful leaders who ruled for nearly 40 years from 1936-1975, was buried here as well.
We weren't supposed to take photos inside, but I simply had to take a photo of this incredible place.
This is the view from outside the basilica. I am convinced this may be one of the coolest places I have visited throughout this entire trip. It's hard to say however, because I have seen quite a lot of cool things during my time in Spain.
This place was surrounded by mountains and I had our instructor take this group photo of our class. I can't believe this is our final week and I am not looking forward to leaving Spain.
Afterwords, we got back on the bus and headed into town to check out El Escorial. El Escorial is a famous Monastery and Palace, created by King Philip II in the mid 1500's as a headquarters to run a strong and centralized Spanish state.
This picture doesn't even begin to show how large this place was. According to our tour guide, this place had thousands of rooms, and we were able to see almost everything. from the previous kings' and queens' burial tombs, to the King and Queen's separate bed rooms.
This photo is of a painting of the entire structure. It shows how truly humongous this place was. In the past, it would take the King a little more than a week to get to this place from Madrid, but today, it only took us about 45 minutes by bus.
This is the King's library and according to the rules, if you didn't return a book that you checked out, you didn't get a late fee, but eternal damnation. I guess that was a good way to make sure the religious Spaniards didn't forget to return their books.
El Escorial has a school with around 700 students placed inside of it, and this is where the kids came out to play during recess. This view was a lot better than the view I had during my recess days back in elementary school and I was a little jealous of the kids that got to see this everyday.
Thanks for reading,
RCE
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