We slept soundly, warm and without any strange visitors, which is already a lot to ask for on some nights. In the morning the weather wasn't very good, grey and cold sky that gets into your whiskers, so we started calmly, without rushing and with that slow pace that dogs love so much and that drives humans a little crazy.

Dad Edu had bought a ticket online for the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, with its full and solemn name, for half past twelve, which already warns that you don't come here to improvise. The problem is that we left a little late, just before twelve, and there was still half an hour's drive. I was looking out the window with a "no problem" face, while Edu was looking with a "yes problem" face. In the end the journey was light, we parked for free very close to the monastery and everything fitted. I stayed in the camper, because dogs are not allowed in the monastery, not even cultured dogs like me, and Edu went in almost running, although he arrived only a little late and without drama.

He had also bought an audio guide for three euros, one of those modern ones that go with an application on the mobile. Spoiler: the application wasn't working very well. Sometimes it spoke, sometimes it was thinking about its things, as if it was also impressed by the place. Inside there were a lot of people and at first you couldn't see the basilica because there was mass, so Edu went through rooms, courtyards and endless corridors while listening to stories of kings, monks and very serious decisions.

The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is huge, commissioned by Philip II in the 16th century, half monastery, half palace, half royal pantheon and half library, which is already a lot of halves for a single building. Everything is gigantic, very orderly, very stone and quite austere, no frills. You come here to command respect and walk a lot.

At the end of the tour, which normally leads you directly to the exit, Edu realised that he still hadn't seen the basilica. Just then you could go in, so he retraced his steps and now he could see it. He says that it impresses a lot, huge, solemn and a little overwhelming, one of those that make you speak quietly without knowing very well why. He left with the feeling of having seen something very important, although also with the impression that it is a place that tires you a little, one of those that weigh on your head and legs.

He went back to the camper, took me out and together we took a walk around the monastery, which has very pleasant green areas. Then we went into the town, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which was full of people. It was curious because in the streets and squares there were many figures like a nativity scene, almost human size, made in papier-mâché, setting up a giant nativity scene between shops, bars and tourists. I was dodging shepherds, fake sheep and a suspicious wise man.

It was about half past three when we got in the car and, five or ten minutes later, we found a picnic area that was on Park4night. We stopped with the idea of eating and continuing, but between the food, the rest and the silence of the place, it got late without us realising. The car park is large, unpaved, surrounded by nothing, very dark at night and surprisingly quiet. Sometimes a car passes, looks and leaves, as if respecting that this corner already has an owner for today.

So we decided to stay here to sleep. No monuments, no audio guides and no rush. Just the camper, the cold outside and the doggy feeling that, after so much king and so much serious stone, a dark and silent place is just what we needed.