On Saturday, we went to El Escorial and El
Valle de los Caídos. El Escorial is a library, school for children, monastery, church, and palace. Although many of the parts were closed off to us, some of the places we got to visit were the sanctuary (amazing!! and apparently only $1,000 if you want to rent it for your wedding, just an idea), the library (the penalty for stealing a book would be excommunication, no joke!), and the tombs of the kings and queens. We were also told that the last king and queen are in the rotting room, where they wait for 20 years before being put into their caskets :P We also visited the Calle de los Caídos, which means the Valley of the Fallen. This was created as a monument for those that died during Spain´s civil war. However, it was commissioned by Franco (the dictator of Spain from 1939-1975) and was built by slaves--many of which died on the job. It contains the tombs of those that died in the war (or at least those who died from Franco´s cause) and also the tomb of Franco himself. So although, as you can clearly see, it is a very beautiful monument--many Spaniards refuse to visit it today.
