Just a Typical Wednesday

We had a rather full day on Wednesday. First, we went to Segovia, a cute little town about 90km northwest of Madrid. And here was the first time my mind was blown:

Yes, that is the Roman aqueduct built in the 2nd century under Vespian. It's one of the best preserved aqueducts on the Iberian peninsula. And next to it, just to provide a good ol' Roman legend, a statue of Romulus and Remus suckling a she-wolf (These two brothers were the founders of Rome and decedents of Aeneas. Romulus killed his brother, Remus, and became the first king of Rome centuries before the Republic was founded).

From there we visited the cathedral:

Then to the monastery that was once an artillery academy and now a museum:

They had all these great old cannons from late medieval times and tons of armor and weapons including some really ornate crossbows. Haley was happy.

This room was called the galleon because the ceiling looked the like hull of a galleon. The ceilings in this place were the most ornate parts of every room.

After that, we had a great lunch in Segovia that featured a baby pig cut up with a ceramic plate... It's supposed to be a very old tradition but it was just kind of scary and not a little unsettling.

Then we went on to Valle de los Caídos or the Valley of the Fallen. The world's largest cross and its connected basilica and monastery are monuments to the million people killed over the four year civil war in Spain. The church's maker, Francisco Franko, and the founder of Spanish fascism, Jose Antonio, are buried right by the main alter. I have never encountered a more sinister church. It's an underground and there are frescoes of the rapture and Armageddon guarded by hooded monks. You can feel the presence of the dictators and the 50,000 soldiers buried there and it leaves a heavy impression of death that I still haven't been able to shake.

 

Then on to the Monesterio del Escordial. This place was amazing.

There were so many incredible things here but this is already way to long so I'll just tell you about one. I stood in the Pantheon of Kings, a little room beneath the monastery whose walls are lined with the tombs of all the Spanish kings and queens from the Hapsburg and Bourbon dynasties until the present. It will take me years to fully process that fact.

I have seen so many incredible relics of history that my brain can't take in the magnitude of what I'm seeing. I think I picked the right trip.