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Published: November 28th 2006
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A Cairn
These piles ofstones were a regular feature of the camino. Each time a pilgrim passed they added a stone to the pile, to remind us all of how many others had walked the path before us. This one's just a baby, there were some massive ones further along the way! Kellie, Ezra and I set off with the Danish boys and Louise. It was great having the 6 of us together, it eased the tension that was sometimes apparent when just Kellie, Ezra and I walked together. Louise had a guide book saying that there was a refuge that was reputed to be the best on the camino, so we headed there. After lunch Kellie and Ezra were ready for their daily siesta and in no mood to keep moving so the four of us agreed to meet them there.
Louise and I had become really close by this stage. Often we’d walk along and talk together about life, love, sex, the camino, religion, anything and everything. She’s a really cool girl. Today we were walking along and talking about the Danish boys, which were quite a frequent conversation topic it seemed. Today she confided in me that she’d had a great night with August the other night at the wine fountain, and that she thought he had a crush on her. She said he’d been looking at her differently for the last couple of days. She wasn’t sure what to do about it. “Do you like him?” “Yes, but
Kristy and Moira
Taken from Moira's photo gallery he’s 12 years younger than me. I really like how we’re all mates right now and I don’t want to mess things up.” She had a point. But I guess sometimes these things happen…
We arrived in Granon and found the albergue which was built into the side of a cathedral. It really was the most beautiful on the camino - or at least so far anyway. And it had a guitar! I was overjoyed to see the guitar! Only yesterday I’d been telling Frederick how much I missed playing the guitar and how I didn’t know how I’d survive without it for a month. But it seemed there were other guitarists on the camino and I had to impatiently wait my turn. I just wanted to take it into a corner and practice all alone, but everyone gathered around, as they seem to do when someone picks up a guitar, so I was forced to give a rusty performance with long fingernails. I played a couple of songs to a few of the pilgrims. It was soooo amazing to play again.
Not only did this albergue have a guitar, but it also had lots of secret passages and stairs leading up to an amazing window in the cathedral tower that overlooked the village, and up into the very top part where the bells chimed. It was spectacular, behind every door was another little surprise. I messaged Kellie and Ezra to come quickly before they lost a bed, and before dinner.
When they arrived I showed them around. They were impressed. “And now for the piece-de-resistance…” I opened the door to the very top part where the bells where. It was covered in poo because it seemed to be a popular home for most of the town’s pigeons. But it was worth dodging the poo, because once up there it was like something out of a fairytale - or Mary Poppins, that part with all the birds. It had a spectacular panoramic view of all the town. “Ok guys, we’d better be careful of the time so we’re not up here when the bells chime, cos it’ll be pretty loud. What is the time Ezra? “ “Um about 20 past.” Cool, we should be” - DING! Why did the bloody thing have to chime at 20 past when I was standing underneath it? We all laughed, panicked and ran back inside, dodging the pigeon shit.
I went back downstairs and noticed something curious - our beds, which were just mattresses on the floor, had been mysteriously rearranged. Previously I was on the left, then Louise, Frederick, August or something like that. But now it went me, Frederick, August, Louise. Hmm. Something very fishy was going on. I had a sneaking suspicion that Louise had done it as a joke but I didn’t mention it to her until the next day. “No, it wasn’t me. It must have been the boys.”
The hospitaleros cooked a gorgeous dinner for us. For free - well donation to be specific. It was like one big family. But first we had to go to mass. That all went fairly well, it was in some other language though. After dinner I retreated to the window overlooking the city. I sat there with my thoughts. This happiness that I’d been feeling growing inside of me on the camino was getting stronger. I was so much at peace with myself and the world. The feeling was incredible. I just had to sing. “Hallelujlah” by Jeff Buckley seemed appropriate considering my surroundings. I began to sing, the acoustics in the cathedral were amazing. I felt my voice resounding through the walls of the ancient building, and a rush of excitement went up and down my spine. I sat in the cathedral for maybe half an hour singing to the world below me.
I came downstairs and the place was deserted. Apparently there was another mass. I took the opportunity to play the guitar instead. After the mass Louise was quite upset and August comforted her. Apparently they had had a confession of some sort and it had brought back painful memories for Lou of her past in the church. We decided to go upstairs into the window that overlooked the city. Me, Lou and August were sitting there, talking, and I sang for them, and for myself and the world below once again. He had his arm around her. I could feel the romance in the air.
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