I sat in the dark for a bit, listening to the sounds, to get myself accustomed to the place where I would spend the night. A shrill sound from an animal I couldn't place, some bird, and straight after that a sound I knew well but took me a few seconds to recognise. A donkey. The donkey was answered by a goat and after a few minutes of silence there was an owl. I love the sounds of owls. In the distance I heard churchbells, there was a village not too far from here. I'd seen it walking down and had decided to stay close by, to possibly find some breakfast in the morning. The bell rang eight times.
I was in my iso coat, in my sleeping bag, my back against a straight wall. The only straight wall in this small round building, or what was left of it. A ruin in the woods at exactly the right place at the right time. The walls were made out of ancient stones. A few meters from my bed there was what looked like a well, going meters into the ground, to the center of the earth. Maybe it was an old watertower. There was no roof, I could see the stars when I was lying down. But there was a tree over my head so I would stay dry if it might rain. It was a wonderful place to spend the night. Safe and cozy. A soft floor made out of dead leaves.
Earlier on I passed a sign pointing in the direction of a restaurant and I decided to make a small detour. In Barcelona, three days ago, I bought a little bit of food for the first day. A piece of bread, some cheese, a dried sausage, 5 bananas, a big chocolate bar, an avocado and some plums. I ate half of it on the first day and added things I found along the road. Wild spinach, cactus fruits, lots of the small red fruits from strawberry trees and today, when I saw my supplies plus my water running out, some what most people would consider inedible quinces. But when they are ripe they are not so bad and they quench your thirst. The thought of a proper meal was tempting though and I found the restaurant only 5 minutes from my route, situated in a small oasis. The terrace was overlooking the mountains and on the blackboard were written all the tasty things you could eat. The things I could have enjoyed a lot if it would have been open.
I walked on, found a comfortable rock and ate the last piece of sausage together with some cheese, a piece of chocolat for desert and some water I had found dripping from a tube coming out of a rock. My solar panel caught the last rays of sunlight, fast people passed behind my back, some motorcyclers followed by a car and two ladies in purple and pink running as fast as they could. I listened to some music, Yaron Herman playing an adaptation of Cohen's "Hallelujah". I watched the beautiful sunset and smiled, then laughed out lout.
There was still some time before it would get dark and I returned to the walking. I passed a field where a goatherd was just returning his flock for the night. He saluted me and asked about my heavy bag. He wondered where I was going. I told him I was on my way to Paris and he didn't believe at first I was walking there, he asked if I would continue by car or train but I pointed at my feet and made it clear they were my main means of transportation. "How long?" did he ask. "Ten days? Mas? More?" I answered "Mas, more" and again "Mas" when he suggested thirty days. Then he wanted to know how long it had taken me from Barcelona to walk here, five days maybe? I stuck up three fingers, tres, and he was amazed, although I considered it long, I could have done it in two if I had been fitter, more used to my heavy backback, less distracted from all the things happening on the road. Two runners ran by and he shouted at them in the going, told them this woman was walking all the way to Paris. The men had other things on their mind and stayed in their movement but the old sheepherd shook his head and said "Madre mia". We said our goodbyes, he returned his attention to his goats and I continued, realising my understanding of Spanish is good enough for some small talk, sometimes the most important talk of all. For the second time I laughed out loud. It had been a beautiful day.
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