Segovia

Saturday morning I woke up feeling much better but a little fragile and I had breakfast with Kevin and some young Spanish cyclists who were doing the Camino. One of them was half-Peruvian and spoke English best and I kept trying to give him advice until I realised how arrogant I sounded; they were six natives on bikes, they definitely knew what they were doing. They hurried away from th wierd, load English girl and Nicky joined me with her morning hall from the panederia, 'I'm not going to spend €1.50 on that hostal crap when I could have hot pastries'. I liked Nicky a lot, she was so definite about everything. For example, although she was a History of Art student, she was going to tell me and Kevin anything about the architecture of Segovia because she wasn't our tour guide. And she wore black and loved it because it made her feel thin, and she ate jamon and pastries and required sunshine. She was like a svelt full stop in her certainty. 

So me and Nicky set out that morning to walk around the city. We both cursed the overcast weather but by the afternoon it had got its act together and the sun came out. Nicky explained how she worked in a pastry factory for twelve hours every Saturday, rolling the tips down on croissants and earning a good enough salary to go travelling in her free time. We talked about lots of things a sit was so nice when she said I'd inspired her to bring a tent next time she comes to Spain and go camping on her own. 'Now I know it can be done' she said and it meant more because it wasn't intended to be a compliment, just an assertion. 

I left Nicky on a rock to study in the sun. She was taking a bus to Salamanca that evening. I continued on my way, and having walked all around the city, I returned to the hostal and promptly vomited. I slept for some hours and woke up starving so went out again to get some salad and a sandwich for the next day. I was still undecided on what I should do. The mountains loomed and I knew Madrid was just behind them, and there I would get to see my family again. I munched through the bag of undressed salad and watched an Audrie Tatau movie to calm my nerves. I was so disappointed and uneasy about copping out and just getting a train. I thought of a compromise and justified it to myself with the fact that Laurie Lee got a lift some of the way with the booksellers. I wouldn't get to enjoy swimming naked in the lakes of the sierras and drying off in the sun, but then again at that moment, I didn't want to get my head wet. That night, my fever returned and I woke up my whole dorm screaming 'None of you understand me!!!'. And indeed they didn't, they were German.