I almost missed this one! Really, I could tell some stories about world heritages that I didn't see because I couldn't find them. Not a good sense of direction I'm afraid.

The Escorial actually is situated at the heart of the city San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where I expected it to be in a park somewhat out of town. But a first glance at the huge building was enough to guide me in the right direction.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of fellow visitors were around at its premises. On my tour inside the monastery, I was most impressed by the Pantheon de Los Reyes, the mausoleum for Spain's royal family.