The night in Castrogeriz,we walked the Californian ladies back to Tess’ place after dinner. I had no clue whatsoever if she liked me or not. But the first signal I presumed to be one of interest, I can still recall. As we said goodbye and promised to meet up the next day, I noticed a change in her eyes. She looked at me and said goodnight in a different way than before. It was almost as if she wanted to make that moment last a bit longer. But as cold-hearted as I still was at that time, I did not act on it. Just said goodnight back, and the moment was gone.
Juliano and I walked back to our albergue, which was a great place. It had a policy that no pilgrim could get up before 6am! Which is a huge blessing. No zipper sounds at 4am, no plastic bags opening and crinkling, no headlights blinding you as you half-open your sleepy eyes and think, 'Omg, yet another day ahead, pilgrim!
The following morning I woke up to Gregorian chants playing in the background. The hospitalero, dressed in a monk costume, came wandering in the room with a lantern and in a friendly and gentle voice, woke up the entire dorm. Everyone started laughing and applauding, as it was a very unusual but original way of waking up. As it turned out, the hospitalero, who was a very kind man, had done the Camino a few times and wanted the pilgrims to feel at ease.
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| View from the top. |
I lost track of time. Hey, wasn’t I supposed to meet a gorgeous Caligirl that morning? It was way past 7am already, so Juliano and I were late to meet them. But I had the firm belief, somehow, that I would catch up as I had done before. So we started our day of walking in the cold morning air. That day had something magical about it. The sky was so beautifully dramatic. The rising sun had rays of light coming down as if the heavens were opening up (well, at least, that is how my grandma would describe the view, if she saw that sky). It was breathtaking.
It was also quite a walk up the mountain. My heart was beating like crazy, and it wasn’t because of Tess (not yet, that is.) Speaking of Tess... Guess who was looking out over the valley at the top? That same cute Caligirl with the lovely hat on. My mood switched from being exhausted from the climb to sheer happiness upon seeing her! My heart was still racing! Normally, a heart slows down its rhythm once you take some rest... so how could this be?
She had taken some strong medicine for her cold that day. That I remember. As we walked together again, we talked, shared, laughed, went ahead, stayed behind, waited for Juliano and Red... But there was one thing striking to me: we could fill up all those moments talking, and I so much enjoyed her presence. I felt at ease with her, and I was thinking to myself, ‘This Caligirl is kind of special.' I really hadn’t met a girl like that before!
Upon arrival in the town of Fromista, we split up because Juliano and I had another albergue, while the girls were staying with their mothers in a hostal. Juliano looked at his printed paper of sleeping options and decided on a private albergue. A big contrast to the day before, actually.
That night we met up for our second dinner together, and when I saw Tess, my heart felt like it skipped a little beat. ‘Damn, I’m liking this girl’ I thought to myself...
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