It has been a good week here in the south of Spain. The old town of Penñiscola is quite a place. January is a month when a lot of the business owners take their vacations so many places were closed. We stayed in the old town and castle area for most of the time, except for forays off the hill to the market.

Most every evening we watch the murmurations of starlings at sunset from our deck. The Airbnb is quite small and up three flights of steep stairs, but the deck and the views make it worth it all.

The castle and the artillery garden are easily one of the most interesting of the castles we have visited. It was originally built by the Knights Templar, and in 1417 it became the home of the Antipope Benedict XIII.

After overloading on wonderful seafood for many days we were excitied to find a Tex-Mex place just a 100 feet away from our place – it was actually quite good.

We went to a restaurant called Blue Dream quite often, either to eat, or just to hang out while Tricia sorted and edited photos; I of course sketched.

It has been such a relaxing trip, well except for the walks to the grocery store about three-quarters of a mile away, then the walk back with heavy bags, but the exercise is good since we have eaten so much.

We head home in a few days, but still have more food (check my other blog for more about the food), and of course there are more sketches to come.