One
of the places high on my wish-list to see was the palace at El Escorial,
about 40K outside Madrid. We hopped a train at Chamartin station and was
at the foot of the walk to El Escorial in about an hour.
Although
there was a bus that runs from the train station to the palace, we opted
to walk up the gently sloping hill through the palace grounds. I was hoping,
of course, to spot the ever-elusive European green woodpecker to add to
my list (no luck).
The grounds of the palace were exquisite. They were rather bare and stark, and the surrounding mountains emphasized the austereness of the design.
Then we went inside.
