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Pride Before A Fall

GALILEI KNOWS THE WAY

The hospitalero, an Englishman we nickname Galilei , shows us to our beds in the cavernous building. Nothing can beat a good sleep in the afternoon, therefore we're not very tired in the evening so we sit outside and have a good conversation, but just when it's getting to its climax, we're instructed to go to bed. I’m still not used to being told when to go to bed and for a moment I feel like rebelling. However, Galilei has an exquisite aura and his instructions suggest some kind of wisdom, so we go to bed without feeling hassled. It reminds me of something I wrote in my journal a few days back...

Sometimes following your nose or your toes can get you somewhere wonderful...
Sometimes it lands you in trouble and strife for the rest of your life...
Sometimes the powers-that-be can see much further than me...
and now I can add another line...
Sometimes it’s not worth arguing about!

In the morning, we are given breakfast: bread with butter and marmalade (very English, you know!) which is very kind of the people running the refuge.

LEAVING YOUR PAST BEHIND YOU

From Rabanal, up we go uphill to the Iron Cross (Cruz de Hierro ), a small cross mounted on a long wooden pole. It's a tradition to leave your past behind here.

Are there some things in your life that you would like to let go or leave behind you? Do you have memories or items which remind you of your past which have outlived their usefulness?

It’s an interesting idea and we spend a few minutes looking at what has been abandoned by others - photos, letters, notepads, ribbons, a hat, all kinds of symbolic items.

None of us actually leaves anything here. Maybe we’re not ready to forget our past yet and truly start living in the moment.

BLONDE WITH DONKEY

Later, we descend to the picturesque village of El Acebo together. We are approached by a good-looking blond girl - a pilgrim for sure - going in the wrong direction and nervously trying to coax her recalcitrant donkey into co-operating.

She asks us in five languages whether we’ve seen a blonde guy. It seems she’s lost her boyfriend who went off to find their donkey some food but never came back. He’s been gone 3 hours. We can’t help her because we haven’t seen him but wish her good luck. Is perfection possible?

By the time we arrive in Molinaseca , we're exhausted and happy to see that the banks of the river offer a good time - we go into the crystal-clear water to swim and then lie down beneath a sprawling tree.

I notice that Gábor seems to be spending more and more time with one of the new Hungarian girls. Mmmmm, I wonder why? :-)

After an hour of relaxation, the highlight of the day, we want to buy something to eat and drink, but unfortunately it's Sunday and on Sunday everything's closed in Spain. So we move to Ponferrada , which is a rather big town.

DONATIVO - THE WAY TO GO-GO!

In the auberge of Ponferrada, we are asked to pay ‘donativo’ which means you are free to choose how much you want to donate. There's a cold water basin to relieve the feet here, too.

Csaba and I get our beds in a huge room under ground level. There isn't any window, just one door. Next to us, two girls will be sleeping: one of them is short and a bit masculine, the other is beautiful. Andi and Gergő, are placed in another big room, while Gábor gets a four-bed room with the girls - lucky him.

We go to explore the city. There are a few nice buildings and an ancient castle built in 1178. We find a cheap local cafe for dinner. After a good sleep we are fresh and ready for the next day.

After visiting Cacabelos we ought to arrive in Villafranca del Bierzo soon, but Villafranca doesn't appear. It really makes you happy if you see a place from a couple of kilometres ahead. But Villafranca is nowhere, and it's very hot, and we're dried out. We eat some plums and grapes to replace the lost water. The grapes are not quite ripe but we persevere with them. Is perfection possible?

BLOND WITH DONKEY

Rounding a bend in the road we see the strange site of a good-looking blond guy going in the wrong direction and trying to coax his stubborn donkey into co-operating. He asks us in five languages whether we’ve seen a blonde girl. It seems he’s lost his girlfriend who went off to find their donkey some food but never came back. She’s been gone 3 hours. We say we saw her yesterday but the information isn’t too helpful. He continues his frantic search and we wish him good luck. Is perfection possible?

Csaba can’t understand why they don’t simply let the donkey eat the grass which is everywhere. So weird! In my imagination I’m sure we’ll soon meet up with a lonely donkey who will ask us if we’ve seen two good-looking blondes on the road. :-)

VILLAFRANCA DEL BIERZO

After an hour, we arrive in Villafranca which is fantastic with very special architecture. The refugio is a military camp with tents to sleep in. And all of us get a great camino T-shirt for free! People have such different values here. Everyone's helping each other, and payment seems to be out of the question.

We’re just settling down for the night in our tent when someone shines a torch on us. We shine a torch right back at them - it’s the blond boy and the blonde girl who explain they’re looking for their donkey - have we seen it? Unfortunately we can’t help them and they dash off to continue their frantic search. In my imagination I see a lone donkey happily grazing on grass somewhere. He has found that perfection is definitely possible!

Is perfection possible?

To be honest, we can’t resist a little snigger at the hapless blondies. We’ve been on the road for three weeks and in all that time we haven’t lost anything.

When we wake up in the morning Gábor has completely disappeared!!! Gone!! Vanished!!! We ask around, but no-one has seen him. We’ve lost him!!!

End of Part 4. Back to the Main menu.

LINKS

Call Me Pablo! | Meeting More Magyars | Pride Before A Fall

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© copyright Culham Institute / REEP March 2004.