Local Colour

Sinin, the propritor of Bar Torres in  deep discussion with one of his regulars

underground houses in Religious

Sinin, complete with his signature

Away from the larger cities, rural Spain can be delightfully eccentric.  Many of the towns are nearly empty, with plenty of abandoned buildings and closed up houses. Religious was a tad busier than some places, but had its own special twist.  The Torres Bar, seemed to have several names painted on it, including "The Elvis Bar". The proprietor, Sinin, is one of those lean hansom men who appear to run on caffeine and nicotine.  Graffiti covers the walls and while the music was predominately Elvis Presley, the odd jazz tune was thrown in for variety.  I don't know if smoking is allowed indoors in Spain, but this was the only place I noticed that happening.

The other curious thing we saw in a few of these small communities were underground houses.  When I first saw them I thought they might be kilns.  However looking in the the entrances, there were well kept doors, flower pots, benches and the like.  There wasn't anyone about the evening I was there so maybe they are a weekend thing.  Who knows?  Maybe its a hippy thing.  I would have loved to meet one of the owners and get a peek inside.

Roman Bridges

Next to churches (with storks) the other ubiquitous painting subject were the ancient bridges along the Camino. I would have liked to paint more of them, but alas, the pressure to get the walking done often trumped sketching. We encountered many of these Roman built structures and some sections of old Roman roads as well. Aside from the astonishing age of the structure they were always surprisingly narrow.  Less material to construct and easier to defend, I imagine.  I guess if you know what you are doing the stone is inert and will last indefinitely as long as the joints are well done and distribute the load evenly.

The upper sketch was done at the end of one of the hotter days as I soaked by swollen feet in the icy cold river.  The lower one was a quick morning break sitting on the grass beside the trail, looking back as the stream of perigrinos paused and flowed over the bridge.