A Day Visiting El Escorial ~ The Monastery-Palace built by Philip II of Spain

This turned out to be a long and exhausting day. I decided to go for inexpensive in the various options available for me to get to El Escorial, the Monastery-Palace built by Philip II of Spain. First, I took a taxi to the Moncloa bus station in Madrid (cost €9.05 or $9.95). 

After alighting, I found a passerby who seemed friendly. Unforuntately, he spoke almost no English, but I understood I was to go down the escalator. At the bottom,  a massive crowd came together. On closer inspection I realized they were at Door 10, waiting for either the 661 or the 664 to El Escorial, so I joined the line. A 661 appeared almost immediately, and the Spaniards walked in an orderly fashion towards it, but when it became evident it was going to be packed, some people ahead of me formed a line for the next bus. So I joined them because I didn’t want to sit in the back.

We had to wait ten minutes for the next 661 bus, and about two minutes before it was due to leave, it opened its doors and we got on. I gave the bus driver €5 in cash, and he gave me back 80 cents as the cost was €4,20 (cuatro venti). This is about $4.65. Because of my place in line, I was able to sit in the second seat from the front (right hand side) in the window seat. We left at 8:00 and goodness, the traffic was bad. The trip to El Escorial was supposed to take 55 minutes, but I think we actually arrived at 9:05. 

Because I had plenty of time, I looked around the El Escorial bus station, trying to make sense of it. I figured out that the place where the bus dropped us off was only a dropoff point, and not where you would stand to catch the bus. I went into the waiting room, and the electronic board told me which bus was the next to leave, and how many minutes (or hours) the next ones left. But it didn’t tell me where to stand to wait for the bus. So I found a pedestrian walkway that wound down, and figured out where the buses were parked. A 661 left Bus Stop Number One on its way back to Madrid, and so I decided I would head there after my tour of the Escorial.

I walked out of the bus station to the palace, and because the 661 bus had already passed it on its way to the bus station at El Escorial, it was easy to find. But at 9:30 in the morning everything was quiet and shut up. Which I found disturbing as it was supposed to open at ten. Where were the lines of tourists? No-one was in evidence. 

I actually walked past the palace entrance, going through a courtyard that had no exits. I passed one sign that seemed to suggest that it wasn’t the entrance, and so I walked around the whole complex, coming eventually to a car park that led to the gardens. All this time I’d been following various people who’d been walking rapidly, like they knew where they were going, and I thought they were tourists. But at the car park I hesitated. There were (as usual) no signs, and so I pulled up the Moovit app, and discovered I had walked past the entrance.

I retraced my steps to the forbidding and empty courtyard. The Moovit app directed me to a door that was now open. But the sign told me that it was a school and the entrance was private. So I walked back around the courtyard, back to the door with the unhelpful sign (which was now half open) and realized that this was the correct place.

The man there said they were not open yet (it was 9:45 by this time) and advised me to cross the courtyard to sit on a low wall. I did this, and then realized that I was heading towards a Tourist Information office. I followed the arrows, but the office was closed and would not open until 10:00. And so I walked back to the half-open door, where quite a few people were rushing in, (nearly late!).

Finally, the bell tolled ten and I was the first person to be let in. But the female guard at check-in told me I would have to put my backpack in a locker. So I had to find the locker. Then I realized that in order to get the locker to lock, I would need a €1 euro coin, which (of course) I didn’t have. So I was directed to a shop, and for two 50 cent coins, the woman there gave me €1 euro. Back to the locker, I put my backpack inside, and used the coin to lock it. The key came smoothly out, but there was nothing on the key to tell me which locker it belonged to. (The Spanish really hate signs!) And so I used my iPhone to photograph it, so that I would remember it was Locker 38.

The next task was to get an audio guide. I met a man standing in the courtyard with one, and fortunately he spoke English, and told me where to get it. For an extra €5 euros, I had some guidance. It seemed to be helpful, had various languages to choose from, and various routes to take. I chose the 2-hour tour and at first everything went well. I loved the library, even though it was a very steep climb up to it, and consequently a very steep climb down. (My knees didn’t thank me.) But somehow, I failed to get into the church. Instead I found myself in the Chapter House. Following the arrows which told me where to go, I descended several steep steps which took me into the crypt of the Escorial, where all the tombs were. There were several tombs of Philip II’s wives and his close family members. Then there was a structure that looked like a giant white marble cake. It contained all the tombs of the children who had died before puberty. I turned left and followed the white marble tunnel, passing many rooms on the left, each one full of tombs, such as the tombs of Isabel II’s relatives, before having to clamber down more steep stairs to a round room with all of the tombs of the Kings of Spain.

It was really creepy and claustrophobic, and the Spanish obsession with death made me want to flee. I asked the guard where the gardens were, but she didn’t speak English.  I had to clamber up more stairs to nearly the top of the palace, where I met a young man who did speak some English. He told me that I was about half way along, but it would take me 45 minutes to complete the rest of the tour. 

By this time, I was exhausted. The constant climbing I had just done was causing my tachycardia to kick in. My knees weren’t happy. And I had to pause to catch my breath. Once I’d done so, I had to climb up even more steps to continue with the tour. At the top, I encountered a room full of tapestries about battles. From there, I was able to walk relatively swiftly through the royal apartments, (I really hate dark gloomy rooms with musty furniture) until I saw a sign that said Salida, meaning exit. I was so relieved! I followed the signs and found myself coming downstairs near to the lockers. I retrieved my backpack, gave the audio guide back to the young man by the bag check, and asked  the way to the gardens. 

When I exited the palace, I found myself opposite the Tourist Information Center, so I went there and asked them about getting to the gardens. The woman there was most helpful, handing me a map and telling me exactly how to get there. The entrance was nearly all the way to the car park where I’d hesitated that morning. Because I was now feeling so tired, I just walked to the gardens, and took a few shots. But the gardens were the highlight of the tour, with the mountains providing a stunning backdrop. After that, I saved my energy for walking all the way back to the Bus Station.

I went to Bus Stop One, only to find the 669 there. As there were (again!) no signs, I walked alongside the buses looking for the 661 or 664. But I was so lucky. Just as I got to the end, a bus pulled in and it was the 661 to Madrid. Again, I gave the bus drive €5 and this time I must have gotten €3,70 in change because the ticket only cost €1,30. As before I sat in the second seat from the front on the right hand side and the bus drove us back to Madrid in less than an hour. (It left at 12 Noon and got in at 12:55.)

As we entered the bus station, I looked to my right and saw a line of taxi cabs. So after we arrived, I took the escalator up to street level, turned left and handed the first taxi the Hotel Wellington business card. However, by this time Madrid was busy, swarming with hordes of tourists. So it took the taxi driver about 30 minutes to get me back to the hotel, and even then she had to leave me off two blocks away. But she repeatedly gave me instructions on how to get to the hotel. (The cost of the ride was €13,00 or $14.29.)

Returning to my room, I collapsed. Then I got up, packed my suitcase for my trip to Luxembourg tomorrow, before going down to join the others for the Farewell Dinner held at the hotel. What a wonderful time I had during my Odysseys tour of Spain and Portugal!

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