By: MJ + PJ
Sometimes you visit a place and it just doesn’t work out as planned for whatever reason. This post looks back on a place we visited over a decade ago that we felt needed another visit.
On our honeymoon we took a day trip to El Escorial, a town about 40 km from Madrid. It was a mixed bag that day: a train line disruption, then an argument about something which led to solitary hot walks up the gravel lane to the monastery. To top things off, we arrived only to find the monastery was closed on that day. With frustrations high, we sat down and had lunch and a 1925 lager outside a small restaurant. It seemed these events were going to waste a day of our honeymoon, adding to the tension.
While we were sitting eating, we heard some loud music and realized that a parade was starting. It came right down the narrow street we were sitting beside. It was in celebration of San Lorenzo (whoever that was). This festival, filled with music, people, and huge caricatures that we knew nothing about, brought laughter and joy to everyone around (including us). The locals were really into it and they ensured everyone was having a great time.
We noticed other observers stepping onto the street to join in, so we did too. This unexpected festivity and fun turned the day around for us, and we eventually headed back to Madrid in a very different frame of mind.
Fast forward a decade to our recent visit to Spain. We only had a few days in Madrid, but that was enough to consider visiting the El Escorial Monastary again. Working out that we could visit it on our thrid day, we sorted out the details.
Learning from previous mistakes, we had booked an entry ticket to the monastary. We wanted to be sure it was open and wanted to not wait in line if it was a busy Sunday. Didn’t we feel clever and confident!
We raced to the train station the next morning… only to miss our outgoing train by a few minutes. This made us a bit nervous as to how the day may turn out. Were we destined to have challenges with this place? Was this all going to go south again? Would we miss our timed entry? Was any of this a good idea, or was it just fanciful thinking?
Once we arrived, we were cautiously noting that things were swinging in our favor. We actually had time to take a look in the large park where previously we had trudged up alone in the heat. We were able to walk around the town and streets a little more, and of course experienced the riches and grandeur of the monastary.
Inside the monastery, it did not take us long to realize that we really had missed something special a decade ago. It was an amazing place with an impressive mix of elements that seemed well protected and almost hidden in the hills away from Madrid. It was not a mistake to try a second time to see it.
With our audiogide filling us in on each building and room’s history, we learned some interesting things while admiring the detail and history. One such thing was about the main festival of the monastary, which is the biggest recurring annual event, held in August each year – none other than the San Lorenzo Festival!
Our perspective on what had transpired a decade earlier suddenly took on new light: It turns out we had nailed it by arriving on their big day and we had no idea at the time! We were lucky to have been in that particular place at that particular time back in 2007 to see this event.
We took our sweet time looking around the monastery, and then relaxed at one of the cafes on a side street. There was no need to hurry and we wanted to celebrate actually seeing the monastery by soaking in that street where the festival had once been.
As it turns out, we lost track of time while talking and so we raced down to the station only to miss our return train to Madrid… You’d better believe it. Maybe this was a gentle reminder from El Escorial to not ever be complacent!
Sometimes when you travel, you never know what you are going to get out of it. Some things you only learn in retrospect, or upon visiting again. El Escorial delivered two different experiences, a decade apart, and redeemed itself from undeservedly being our “it’s not as bad as that day in El Escorial” reference point.
