It's not often you have men in pointy hats (try not to think of the KKK - they stole the idea) accompanying brass bands going past your window at 1am, 3.30am and 7.00am but this was Semana Santa - Easter - in Andalucia and so this was perfectly normal behaviour.

Apart from a small proportion of monks and pilgrims in Tibet and India have I seen religious devotion on such a scale. Most of the men walked through the entire night with huge statues of Mary or Jesus on their shoulders - some were even barefoot, which given the early date on easter must have meant some very chilly, if blessed feet.