When I was a junior in high school, I went to Washington D.C. for a week. While I was there I did all of the regular touristy things: visited the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian and the Capitol building. The whole time I was struck by how old everything was. Chairs that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson sat in, dresses made more than 200 years ago and the Declaration of Independence all amazed me.

My imagination went to work picturing all of these famous, important people going through their daily lives with these things that now were protected with satin ropes and bullet-proof glass.

While that experience was great and taught me a lot about the country I call my home, it was nothing compared to what I’m seeing now. Before anyone gets upset and accuses me of belittling the history of the United States, let me explain.

Spain has castles. You know, the kind you read about when you were little with knights and ladies-in-waiting.Take Segovia, one of the hot spots in this small Spanish town is the Alc zar, an 11th century castle that claims such history as the coronation of Isabel I as Queen of Castilla in 1474 and the home of Alfonso X, who apparently thought he was God.

Throughout the castle there are beautiful paintings, sculptures and tapestries. Even the ceilings and walls are artwork, each covered with different paintings and wood carvings from corner to corner. These were so beautiful that I almost forgot to look at some of the things they have standing in the rooms: thrones, religious altars, beds, armor, all centuries old but so real I could almost hear their owners walking in the hallways.

My feeling of historic awe was increased when our group went to Spain’s Palacio Real, one of Spain’s most important landmarks, you could think of it as the Spanish White House. While the artwork, sculptures and tapestries inside were impressive, I was even more impressed by what was outside.

The gardens at the Palacio Real go on forever, and after being in a city of half a million people for two weeks, the quiet paths and benches were a nice break. But these are not what draw people to walk in the gardens.

Alternating throughout the greenery are huge fountains with statues of different mythical gods. They are so huge that the grounds keepers only turn on one or two a day to save water costs. These were definitely some of the most impressive things I’ve seen so far. We saw one of the larger fountains working that day and as it shot gallons of water up into the air like a geyser, I began to understand what it would have meant to be a monarch and turn them all on whenever it was desired.

The palace of El Escorial, outside of Madrid, also furthered my understanding of the power of royalty.

El Escorial was built by Felipe II after Spain defeated the French in 1557. While it includes beautiful gardens, artwork and a monastery, the really unique thing about this ancient home is the Panteon Real, a mausoleum below it.

I’m not big on cemeteries and the idea of going to a place where the graves aren’t even under the ground always gave me a weird, creepy feeling on the back of my neck.

Still, I couldn’t help being impressed as I descended the stairs of the cool, black marble corridor lighted by golden candelabras into the monarch’s chamber. Inside the circular chamber at the bottom row, after row of royal caskets are lined up inside the wall. The gold trimmed caskets, walls and ceiling made me feel privileged to be allowed be in the same room as these dead monarchs.

The same feeling overtook me when I visited the Valle de los Ca¡dos, only about a half hour away from El Escorial.

The Valle is a Roman Catholic Basilica and mausoleum built by Franco after the Spanish Civil War. It was built by prisoners of war to commemorate the soldiers on both sides of the revolution, but hundreds of lives were lost blowing a space for it into the side of the mountain. The whole church is very dark and cavernous. Angels of death circle the altar and the corridor is lined with different statues of Mary, depending on which section of the armed forces she was a patron for.

While the whole structure is very impressive, the fact that Franco is buried directly behind the altar changed my idea about its real purpose. I got the feeling that Franco didn’t build that with God or the Spanish people in mind; he wanted a fancy grave.

In a way, that’s probably the idea behind most of the world’s great historical landmarks and artworks. They are all in some way an effort by their creators to become immortal. Whether it’s a portrait, castle or pyramid, the people of the past have definitely left their mark on our world and culture today. Maybe someday my computer will be separated by a satin rope.

Andrea Hauser is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Edgewood.