Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the Palacio Real. So... let's narrate our tour a la El Escorial. We began in the lobby. As soon as you climb up the "Grand Stairs," you meet toga-clad "Madrid's best mayor" Charles III, who is responsible for much of the amazing Baroque-Rococo decor that so impressed me in the palace's rooms. His mother was Italian, and this influence shows in the decor he imparted unto the palace.