Day #3: El Escorial and more night life

We got up a little earlier this morning because we had planned a day trip to El Escorial where you can see a very old monastery. We first went to the bakery to get bread to make bocadillos (sandwhiches). We had a bit of a mishap and ended up locking ourselves out but I was able to find the president of the building and she helped us get a locksmith who got us into the apartment in record time and we carried on with our day!

El Escorial was pretty fun. The monastery was beautiful and we met a guard there who gave us a mini tour around the cathedral in the monastery. Mom said she kept seeing a skull at the foot of the cross with Jesus being crucified and she wanted to know what the skull meant. We had talked with the guard earlier outside the cathedral when taking pictures of the belen so she grabbed him and grabbed me to translate. He explained that the skull signified triumph over death. Then he took us around to a few painting and pointed out some other symbols. The ones I remember are: palm branches symbolizing martyrdom and stones to represent Saint Stephen.  He told us about a few others but I don't remember them. He was a fun guy to talk to.

After the monastery we wandered up the hill and found the life size belen. After walking around and looking at that we headed back home. Once we had rested up we headed back out to see Plaza Mayor when the stalls would be open. It was insanely packed with people so we didn't stay long! We tried to show them Cortylandia, a robot type show that a European chain store, El Corte Ingles, puts on every year but the show wasn't going to start for another hour so we just went home. From what I have gathered, Cortylandia is a Christmas holiday display put on by this store and the theme changes every year. I believe the theme usually includes robot things that sing a Cortylandia song that is the same every year because when we finally were able to see the show and the robot guys started singing along, everyone was singing with them.

Instead of standing in the cold for an hour we decided instead to go home, have some tea and hot cocoa and watch a movie.

We got the station and little early and there wasn't much to do but pick on Amy. 

The monastery: 

Plaza Mayor was packed!

The big holiday during this time of season in Spain is Reyes Magos which celebrates when the three wise men visited Jesus. It takes place on January 6th. Most children get presents on this day and not on Christmas. So, instead of sitting on Santa's lap, you can pick your favorite Wise Man and sit on his lap and tell him what you want.