The obvious thing to start with this morning was to retrace my steps a couple of km to visit the monastery and palace of El Escorial. It’s really a monastery and cathedral, with some very humble royal apartments included,but it is a vast edifice representing a lasting legacy of the seemingly inexhaustible supplies of gold arriving from the new world in the 16th century,and Philip II’s self-imposed mission to stave off the advances of protestantism in Europe.
Lostintransit parked up in the outer courtyard, at El Escorial There are very few visitors here at present, apart from some unpleasant visiting groups of uncontrolled Spanish school children who jostle me and try to get me to respond. But once inside I am pretty much on my own to walk through the rooms on display. There are handy information sheets in English explaining each room. Philip II’s austere little bed chamber (half the size of mine at home) has openings on 2 sides, so he could look for spiritual uplift at both the garden and the high altar of the cathedral while in bed! There is more religious art than you could shake a stick at , but high quality; Tintoretto and El Greco spring to mind. The royal mausoleum in the basement was quite creepy: you go down a staircase tunnel lined floor to ceiling in dark marble, to reach a well lit chamber, where on shelves on all sides,6 high ,are the black and gold sarcophagi of a whole series of kings. On my own,I didn’t linger. There also is a lesser mausoleum for about 40 Infante (first son of the king) who didn’t survive to be king,with their tombs packed row on row.The whole place is fascinating,but very austere,plain stone walls and the only decoration being religious art and the portraits of kings.The most interesting room of all for me is the Hall of Battles,a long hall, the entire wall of which has a huge,finely detailed, wall painting of Phillip II’s land and sea victories. Complete regiments and fleets are depicted, and this is apparently an important source for historians who study the military equipment and tactics of the age.
Outside,the surrounding town is very pleasant, lots of nice villas and large houses in streets lined with huge trees, the whole place a hilltop refuge for the rich from the heat of Madrid,both in Phillip II's day and apparently still the case now.
Outside,the surrounding town is very pleasant, lots of nice villas and large houses in streets lined with huge trees, the whole place a hilltop refuge for the rich from the heat of Madrid,both in Phillip II's day and apparently still the case now.
Segovia,the Roman aqueduct On leaving El Escorial, the motorway dives through the Guadarrama mountain range in a 3.5 km tunnel, and I took this route before arriving at Segovia after a short run of 60km. The draw here is the famous Roman Aqueduct, a Unesco World Heritage site
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Other parts of the old walled city( which the aqueduct fed )are very attractive and interesting, especially the Alcazar (the fortress, originally a Moorish word) which is perched on a rocky promontory at the end of the town. From here there are superb views back to Segovia, with the snow-capped Guadarramas in the background.
 The Alcazar,Segovia |  Segovia , viewed from the top of the Alcazar |
plaza mayor,Segovia The Plaza Mayor of this town is a scrappy little place where they are just closing down the market:in the background is the imposing cathedral.
I had another nice 3 course “menu del dia” lunch here in the square in a busy little restaurant,watching the market pack up.
Next I had to finalise my plans to cross Spain to the North East, and a route over the Pyrenees via Andorra. I finally settled on a route skirting Madrid well to the north,designed to avoid having to circumnavigate the Madrid ring roads, and set off,with the snow capped and pine tree clad remnants of the Guadarramas on my right. I decided that I still had time to do the first little bit of the route in the late half of the afternoon ,heading for the little town of Riaza as an overnight stopping off point .According to one of my guides it has a nice campsite("Camping Riaza"). This is just below La Pinella ski field and serves as a lodge resort in the ski season, skiing still open apparently, and people expected for the weekend tomorrow ,although the place is pretty deserted tonight.The mountain appears to have a good topping of snow still. The campsite is at a moderate altitude, 1200 metres. The scenery is beautiful with the mountain slopes glowing orange in the evening sun with last years oak and beech leaves.The forecast is for another slight frost, but wall to wall sun tomorrow and for the week ahead. Connected to the site electricity I‘m very snug with my heater on. Nevertheless, with a chilly note in the air, enhanced psychologically, no doubt, by the snow covered mountain in the background, I head for the sanctuary of the site restaurant, which is a stone-built lodge-style building ,with high wooden ceiling, heavy beams, and a huge fire blazing comfortably, with stove pipe reaching up through the roof. There is just one other party of 10 eating who look like school kids with a teacher ,on a ski trip, but they are impeccably behaved, unlike this morning’s rabble, and a there are also just a couple of guys at the bar.
La Pinella ski-field There is no menu ,and what is available is reeled off by the barman, who has to go over to one of the guys at the bar for some translations, and before I know it I have ordered my second 3 course meal of the day. This comes with a big glass of a good Rioja (with a top up later ), and also a little appetiser snack of spicy sausages before the first course, then finally coffee and a liquor. I began to wonder what the bill might be ,not having not discussed any prices in advance , but I shouldn’t have worried–It all comes to a princely 10 euro (£7-50)
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