09 June, 2020
A very nice Spanish gentleman took me by car to visit El Escorial, a former monastery and sometimes summer palace in the foothills of the mountains north of Madrid. Unfortunately, it was still closed due to COVID-19 and we were one day early for the reopening, so we weren't able to tour the inside or the grounds.
Although we couldn't go inside the monastery, we were lucky
in that the wildflowers were in full bloom and we took a short hike in
the hills behind it.
It was so nice to have a day out of the city.
