The Tale of Tristan and Emmy

The Camino clan, minus two bold souls who had decided to walk rather than bus the 20 more kilometers to Burgos, sat at dinner in the plaza across from the Cathedral.  "If this were a movie, I would want to cut to Tristan and Emmy right now," Gabriela said.

--

They stood in front of the fountain in yet another tiny pueblo. "Alright," said Tristan, "this might be our last chance at water, so drink up now." They drank and drank; Emmy emptied her Camelbak, and Tristan left only a liter in his bottle. Then they pressed the button on the pump.  Nothing came out.

--
"Dessert!" someone at the table cried as the dishes of morcilla blood sausage and seafood paella and eggs and chorizo and individual pizzas were cleared away. "I went to this great Italian ice cream place," said Tim.  "Let's go!"

--

The road had led through town after town after town, and finally, finally, they were seeing signs for Burgos.  Tristan, in consultation with the guidebook, had led them along a path of gray signs rather than the Camino's yellow arrows in an attempt to reach the albergue faster, but now they were quite lost.  Mustering his schooldays' Spanish skills, Tristan approached an old man, showed him the guidebook's map of Burgos, and asked where they were.  The man pointed below the map.

--

Revelers for the Fiestas de San Pedro began to gather along the river and in the plazas as the group licked their colored gelato cones, flavors with names like fresa and turrón and nata.  They wandered under stone arches, past cafes and tree-lined walkways, through the well-dressed crowds and flower altars, meandering in pairs and trios back to the albergue.

--

It took another 3km of walking through Burgos itself to find the albergue. Along the way, they had seen far in the distance a Burger King behind a mall's glass face. "Tomorrow," said Emmy.  "We just have to get through this, and tomorrow we will take our reward." And now here they were, at 9:00pm, facing the swanky municipal albergue.  As they checked in at the front desk and took the elevator to Planta 3, Emmy imagined her family and friends waiting with open arms, ready to whisk her off to dinner.  The doors opened -- and there were rows of empty bunks.

--

Gabriela, Guardian Angel of Good, walked into their room at the albergue to find Emmy facedown on the bed.  Tristan was asleep a few bunks away. "Are you okay?" Gabriela asked.  "Do you want some food?" Emmy looked up at Gabriela's shining face, and with a sudden release of exhaustion and emotion, burst into tears. "Yes," she sobbed, "Yes."