Arboles de Neon

Yesterday it was raining all day and not the best day to be walking around touring. On our way to El Escorial, we stopped at a castle on the way which we all would love to purchase at some point down the road.

We then went the basilica in Valle de los Caidos. Built in the 1940s, the basilica rests in the mountains and was enormous. The layout was of a cross and it was much gloomier than the other churches we have visited because there were no windows. It housed the remains of lots of the fighters involved in the civil war as well as the tomb of Franco that was in a different area we weren't able to see.

After those quick stops, we went to El Escorial to the Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. This was one of my favorite places: it was the "summer" palace mainly for Philip II but today it is also a monastery and private college. It has the tombs of the majority of monarchs that ruled in Spain and a massive basilica. The palace itself was very plain and ordinary because as Philip II stayed there, he was said to be like a monk with all his religious practices. The most ornate parts of the palace were the wooden doors which were made from all different types of wood with incredible detail as well as the area which held all the tombs which was pure marble (ceilings, walls, floor - everything). There is also a library there, one of the best well-kept in Europe (something like 40,000 books, old old books). The most interesting that I can remember was when we were in the basilica the tour guide (also a walking advertisement) said that people can still get married in it for 1500 euro - which doesn't seem that much to me to be married in a historical basilica of one of the kings in Spain! He said it includes a childrens choir, use of the massive organs, the red carpet and flowers all over the alter. Sounds amazing to me! After our tour, we all sprinted back to the bus because it was so cold!

The bus dropped us of in Madrid because we found out about a Neon Trees secret concert. We were debating the legitimacy of it all but thought it would be worth it to check it out. Only a couple hours later were we touching the stage, being touched by the band and singing to our favorite singles. The night completely exceeded all our expectations. Even better, I stayed with Ashely to wait for one of the managers to take down a poster for me and we were just hanging outside when we saw Tyler Glen (lead singer) start walking up the sidewalk. Obviously, we smiled at him and started up a conversation about how we were students at BYU (the band started in Provo) and they started asking about our study abroad etc etc. After, Ashley and I were so star struck we couldn't believe it. They were all so chill and nice to us throughout the conversation - incredibly down-to-earth. When they started to walk away, the bass guitarist shouted over to us "Have fun, but remember who you are!"