Teen Life Stories you should know about Growing Up

Madrid Touring Fun (Part 2)

The following day, we went to the Almudena Cathedral, which is a nice solemn place to cleanse your soul and calm your mind from all the hustle and bustle. If you feel like it, you may even donate some of your earnings as offerings to churches. We even went on to experience a proper Spanish mass, which is marked by Catholic rituals and mannerisms. The priest was blessing the believers with Holy Water, reassembling the blessings of the Holy Spirit, followed by the ritual of getting the Holy communion and Spanish hymn-singing.

Next stop. Prado Museum. It was a really nice museum steeped in historic aroma. Prado Museum showcases many of the art paintings that were painted long time ago in history, dating back even to the 16th and the 17th century. One of them is Las Maninlas, which is a painting that depicted authentic reflection of a royal family's drawing room in Spain during the times of Spanish Renaissance. The rightful balanced composition and the authenticity delineated in the painting are what made the painting such a famous one.

Another painting that deserves our attention is The Judgement of Paris. It is a painting that tells the story of Greek gods and the beauty pageant between three Greek goddesses, who want so badly the golden apple, which is a prize they could get out of winning. The golden apple is given to Aphrodite, who eventually provoked a war between two humans who were trying to win over the prettiest girl's love on Earth. Such dramatic ending, but don't we all like dramatic endings anyways? This history-laden museum also showcases all sorts of Greek statues that embody Greek myths and stories, all of which I find them equally fascinating. One of the famous statues, certainly, is the statue of Zeus, who was once a Greek god's son who actualised the prophecy of patricide.

On the fourth day of our trip, we went on to El Escorial for our last stop in Madrid. When compared to Prado Museum, El Escorial is an even more historical place. Today, El Escorial is regarded as UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of Spain's most visited landmarks. Back in the 16th Century, this monastery and palace was a place conceived by King Philip II, who wanted to build a place for burial for his father. The first architect Juan de Toledo, designed the ground plan with a gridiron scheme, and after Toledo's death, Juan de Herrera took on the project.

King Philip II made his choice to commission as few artists as possible to preserve a homogeneous effect on the architecture itself. King Philip II was very difficult to please and there lied a reason on why individual artistic expression at the Escorial was prohibited. It was to keep the unornamented classicism of the building and to keep the triumphant unity to its full expression.

The later rulers also helped keep its unity until this day. Philip IV completed the Royal Pantheon, a chapel containing the bodies of Spanish kings in the 17th century. Having said that, this vast Catholic historical site is most seen as successful in its sanctuary of the basilica, which is characterised by its domes and especially tall ceilings.

On an interesting side note, people of royal blood in Spanish Renaissance do have specific facial features, which is marked by their prominent elongated jaws and chins, known as the "Habsburg jaw". Due to the fact that they want to preserve their royalty in their bloodline, their people have always made this a sub-official clue to distinguish the royal family from other laymen alike. Their prominent jaws can also be explained by their inbreeding, which is also a reason causing the dynasty's downfall. This facial feature was also shown in the drawings of the royalties drawn by different artists, which are displayed in the library of the palace.