A bit more about the encounter - very romantic ---
Ophelia was sitting on a plush couch in the reception area on the ground floor of the guesthouse when I returned from dinner, and she looked up at me and smiled as she rolled a cigarette. The smile revealed a Lauren Hutton gap between her front teeth, her hair was black and curly, and she wore an assortment of beaded necklaces but little in the way of makeup. She held her head high with a sort of defiance, and I noticed the elegant curve of her neck, her light olive skin, and the way she paused pensively between sentences. She spoke excellent English which was fortuitous, since my Portuguese was not so good.
I was immediately taken with this woman, though she was twenty years my junior. Men will calculate the possibilities (I suppose women do the same) when meeting a woman for the first time, and if she had been another pilgrim traveling along my same path, I might have pursued her.
Instead, knowing I would be leaving Barcelos the following morning, I said good night after a brief introduction and went up to my room to sleep.
I went down for breakfast in the morning.
The windows in the breakfast area at the BWay Guest House go all the way to the ceiling, and that morning the cozy room was bright with sunlight as I started to consume a large hiker’s breakfast. With a ray of sun shining on her like the spotlight on a Broadway stage, Ophelia walked into the room. I was immediately in awe of her.
She paused and pivoted when she spotted me sitting in a nook created by a tall bay window. It seemed as if her dramatic entrance should have been accompanied by violins. She was radiant, and she flashed a warm smile at me. I stuck my arm in the air like a schoolboy anxious to answer the teacher’s question. Ophelia glided over, wordlessly accepting the invitation to join me.
She was an artist and designer who was in Barcelos to oversee an art installation. She was staying at the BWay Guest House for the duration of her two-week contract. She had this “wink-and-a-nod” gesture that she paired with her radiant smile that said, “You must agree with me because I am just so irresistible.” For two enchanting hours over breakfast, we spoke about our lives, our hopes, and our aspirations.
I don’t really remember the details of the actual conversation. I do have a very clear memory of the idealized woman whom I created in my mind’s eye.
And that is how it all began - one day in Portugal on my second Camino.
We go on the Camino to search for healing. hope and faith - but sometimes we find the unexpected.
The journey is full of twist and turns- and surprises. For me this was one big surprise.
PS Ophelia is not her real named - I have given her a pseudonym - Respecting her identity.
And , no, you are "not a good boy" with that kind of denigrating wit.
without damaging it.
