Day 6: El Escorial

We woke up on our last full day in Spain and headed towards the bus station in order to head out to El Escorial. We stopped by a cafe and grabbed a pastry to go. They recently changed the place where the bus departed (as in three days before we were going), but didn't have good signage as to where we needed to go. It took us about 40 minutes longer than expected, but we finally found the right bus and went to El Escorial.

I didn't take any pictures, but they weren't allowed inside anyway. This was an imposing palace, but not opulent like the others. This is where the heart of the Spanish Inquisition took place. We stopped at a little store and bought some more pastries and a water, and then caught the bus back to Madrid.

Near the bus station, there is a tower, seen below:
We enjoyed our visit to the tower we visited in Prague and were looking forward to seeing the view of Madrid. However, it was closed!

We noticed this American Museum, but decided not to visit. It seems strange that I would put the picture here, then; however, apparently we didn't take many pictures of things we actually did do.

We wandered around the streets of Madrid, and decided to stop for a glass of wine and some cheese before lunch. Our guidebook fell out of Brian's pocket, and we almost left it behind! Luckily, someone else in the bar noticed and flagged us down on the street. I am planning on buying a little bag to carry things for our next trip.

We found another vegetarian restaurant, in a neighborhood where tourists rarely go. This time, we didn't start eating until 4 pm! Once again, we were able to eat the menu del dia, and once again, it was fantastic. For dessert, we had homemade yogurt with honey, which has inspired us to try to make our own homemade yogurt this year.

We walked over to the new Caixa Forum, which had more modern art (of the kind that you look at and wonder if it really is art, or just a bunch of newspapers bundled up in a pile). On the wall, though, is a vertical garden, which was enjoyable.
We stopped at another bar for a drink and some olives and walked around the town some more, stopping at various plazas for some rest and people-watching.

Our last dinner in Madrid was spent at another Italian Restaurant, Casavostra Pizzeria. Dinner was excellent, and we had entertainment in watching a car trying to park on the crowded streets. He was trying to parallel park, and bumped the car behind him at least 6 times before giving up. We couldn't believe he would give up after all of that effort.After dinner, we stopped at a cafe to have an after dinner hot chocolate and pastry for the last time. We returned to our hotel, did a bit of packing, and went to bed, exhausted yet again.