Another gorgeous day in La Granja - a little chilly in the shade, perfect for sightseeing.
First on today's itinerary was the Royal Crystal Factory museum. Apparently glass and crystal making has been the town's primary industry since the 1700's. While they are still in business, it appears to be scaled way back from what it once was. The museum is in the building that once housed the ovens where the glassmaking took place -
,This is a replica of one of the ovens, which was located under a huge dome -
Along with the original molds and other equipment, the museum features examples of the types of products created, as well as the history of glassmaking at this place.
Examples of earlier jars
Examples from the late 1700's and 1800's
Examples from around the turn of the 20th century
20th century
Unlike yesterday, we didn't have the place to ourselves. Lots of tour groups - mostly school field trips - were here today. We tried to avoid them, with partial success.
After the glass museum, we walked back to the hotel for lunch. This is another beautiful place - I love the life-size sculptures hanging around the hotel lobby:
Apparently these guys are on the economy plan.
There's also a Zen garden in the basement level:
And the location is great - no need to drive anywhere.
After lunch we headed back uphill to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), where photography is not allowed. Too bad, there were lot of works of art, chandeliers, and painted ceilings we would like to have taken pictures of. The chandeliers in particular were amazing, but you'll have to take my word for it.
The palace was impressive, but we are more impressed with the gardens and fountains - and, surprisingly, there's no entrance fee for the gardens (except on the few days each year when the fountains are operating). More trekking uphill took us to the top of an over-the-top water feature that must have been a jaw-dropper for palace guests in its day.
This is all one water feature, with water spilling down from one fountain to the next - the view of it from inside the palace was stunning (even without the fountains running), but, alas, no photos allowed, and there were guards everywhere making sure no one tried. The statues seem to be bronze that's been painted (?) to look like shiny copper.
We did pretty much have the gardens to ourselves. We couldn't have had a better day for enjoying them.
The one trade-off was that we missed seeing the trees in full leaf, but that seemed like a small price to enjoy the peace and quiet.
This fountain was completely empty yesterday - it's the one where John was looking at the pipes. Today they appear to be filling it via the spout at the top. When it's really running, water shoots high into the air, with more shooting from each of the figures around the sides. John surmised that pipes as old as these really couldn't handle running full-bore like that more than a few times a year.
Eventually we strolled back to the hotel, peering into the now-open "chocolateria" that was closed yesterday. I felt deceived to discover just another cafe with a few paltry chocolate-iced pastries. False advertising!
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