El Escorial, A Great Day Trip from Madrid

Towards the end of our week in Spain we were trying to decide what else we wanted to do.  We had thought about going to Toledo, but it was about a1 1/2 hour drive and none of us felt up to that much travel.  When I googled day trips from Madrid El Escorial kept coming up.  I looked at it and it was only about 30 minutes from Navacerrada.  We decided to give it a try.  

The palace was beautiful, but they did not allow photos inside.  I did buy the book from the gift shop so we could remember all of the beautiful images from inside the palace.

After we visited the palace we had lunch and spent some time at the park.  There just happened to be a market going on at the park so I was able to do a little shopping for clothes and we got some fresh fruit for a snack.

This park was our next stop, it was an activity park for the senior crowd.

The view of the market.

The view from the park, not too shabby.

The kids had so much fun.

It was fun watching them figure out how all the pieces worked.

Malachi liked the view too.

The name of the park was Parque de Felipe II.  

And it was right around the corner from our parking garage.  

I would recommend El Escorial as a day trip if you are ever in Madrid.  There was more to see, but we were impressed with the Palace and the park that we saw.

Segovia, Spain

We started our morning in Segovia with a walk to the cathedral.  We were walking up the narrow medieval streets in the final minutes of delivery time and it was terrifying.  Trying to keep all 4 kiddos out of the way of the trucks trying to beat the clock was not fun.  If you visit Segovia after 11 am it is a different city, lesson learned.  We ended up finding a different side street where we could walk safely and things got better from there.

At the entrance of the cathedral I spotted a store with baskets, LOVE.

The entrance to the cathedral.

I love the floors in this church.

The organ was stunning.

I love the colors of this piece of art that dates back to the 1530s.

The art here was just beautiful!

These floors, I love them.

The gate, the ceiling, it was all so much to take in.

From the cathedral to the Alcazar was our next adventure.

I love how the architecture here is different form France, that blue sky was pretty beautiful too.  

The view from inside.  

There used to be an Artillery School here, Jon was an artillery man in the Army so the big guns always have a special draw for us.  

The artillery school had their own china made by in Sevilla by Pickman.  There was something for everyone.

In the courtyard of the Alcazar.

On the way back we found a playground!

And then we found the souvenir store. 

A little something for each of the kids along the way.

As we walked back towards the car the aqueduct loomed in the background.

Structures like this will always be so astounding, no matter how many we get to see. 

I made a quick climb up the stairs to snap a couple of photos.

I love these old aqueducts dotted across Europe.

You can just see the vintage carousel behind the aqueduct.  it was one of the most interesting carousels I have ever seen, but they were still putting it together when we left.

I would recommend going to Sevilla if you are in the area.  There is a great parking garage across the street from the aqueduct and it is a very walkable city, despite the vehicles we encountered.  The kids were thrilled to see a Burger King and a MacDonalds.  I can not believe we ate at Burger King while we were there, but there are some sacrifices we make for the kids while we drag them ll over Europe. Burger King was a treat because there is only one in Paris that I know of and we never go there.  

I hope you enjoyed this peak at Segovia, only a couple more stops on this Hilton Family Road Trip.

Manzanares El Real

On Sunday we had a nice slow morning.  There was supposed to be a rastro, Spanish Brocante or flea market, but the rain in the area kept everyone away.  I had fun supporting the local economy anyway by visiting a few boutique clothing stores.  I love Spanish clothing stores, even if all the clothes were made in Italy.  After lunch the clouds cleared and Jon found a castle for us to visit.  We loaded up the car and drove less than 30 minutes to Manzanares El Real.

The sky was just gorgeous and we were all thrilled to be visiting this beautiful castle.

The castle dates by to the 1400s, but was repaired in the 1970s.

They did a great job on this location, you could still feel the age and history.

The valley the castle in was beautiful too, Jon took the camera from me again.

We were the only people at the castle at this point and the kids loved having some room to run.

Headed in!

These kids love to climb on everything.

Malachi hates being left behind.

The central courtyard.

There was one portion of the castle that was not prepared.  It would have been in this area, a 3-4 store central tower that would have housed the throne room and chapel.

These stairs were lots of fun.

How beautiful, every time Addie sees a royal bedroom she says that is what she would like.

The views were so peaceful and beautiful.

We did lots of exploring through the castle and its towers.

This set of stairs was intense.

This sign basically says that if you are claustrophobic you should not go down these stairs.  

After the castle we made our way to the playground next time.  There are so many things I love about this picture.  Bennett is a champ at monkey bars and how amazing is this view?

Can you see Addie's tongue sticking out in concentration?  This is another favorite photo.  I remember doing monkey bars until my hands bled when I was Addie's age.  

These birds were EVERYWHERE.  They are huge and their nests are massive.  I thought of my bird loving friends as we saw them through out the region.

As the rain clouds started roll back in we headed to a local pizzeria.  Finding a place to eat that is open when we are hungry is not easy in Spain.  Thankfully this little local pizza place was great.  We had cheese, Hawaiian, and BBQ pizza.  It was fresh made and delicious and we had the place to ourself.  We enjoyed watching a spanish soap opera and finished off our evening with ice cream.  It was one of our favorite afternoons in Spain.