Memories

|64| • Time to Think •

"Alright... if it doesn't we'll just turn around and try that road there," he said, gesturing to our left where the less trustworthy looking road was leading to. When he saw me nod in agreement he kept driving along the narrow road, uphill. We were getting slower, not just because the car was struggling but because Brian was hesitant too. "This isn't very promising... what if I can't turn anywhere?"

"I can help you reverse to somewhere you can," I suggested, even though I did see his point. "But if you'd prefer we can just turn around at the next possibility and try that other road."

"Yeah I think maybe that would be best," he agreed. But... as it turned out the next possibility to turn around was also the last because the road just ended. There were still more houses, but no road leading to them. I could tell Brian was a bit astonished and just looked at what we were seeing for a moment before he attempted to turn around the car on that tiny space there was. It was anything but an elegant three-point-turn, it was rather a very inelegant 25-point-turn, but in the end he managed and that was what counted.

I could tell he was relieved when we were driving downhill again. He was still driving slowly so we wouldn't miss that turn onto the other road. "Here," I instructed him when I could spot the road, to which he only nodded.

He only had to drive for a few metres before I spotted something that made me hopeful. "Look," I exclaimed. "Restaurante, we can get food there - I hope."

"What?" Brian braked suddenly and looked to where I was pointing. "Oh wow, yeah. Restaurante. And it looks like it's open too, that's great. Okay... uhm..." He looked around and seemed to think. "I'll just reverse, I guess, and park here on the side."

I didn't have a problem with that, so I waited for him to do that before we both got out. I got my handbag and he got his camera so we wouldn't be leaving anything valuable in the car before we walked up the few metres again to where the restaurant was. But instead of walking onto the terrace, Brian kept walking along the road.

"I want to see where this road leads, just a bit at least. Depending on how far you can see," he informed me so I caught up with him and together we walked around the corner.

"Yeah that sounds like a good -," I started, but then stopped when we walked around the corner and saw that the paved road turned into a narrow gravel path after only a few metres. "Uhm... well.."

"I didn't expect that," Brian admitted. "So... it seems like the roads end here in this village," he pointed out the obvious.

"Apparently so, yes. But there are still signs there," I pointed out and walked over to them to see what they were telling us. "We should have a look at the map when we're in the restaurant," I suggested.

"That sounds like a good plan," Brian agreed and reached for my hand. "We'll work something out. Come on."

"Mhm," I mumbled and followed him, trying to remember the name of the village or whatever that was written on the sign. El Draguillo. I'd have to look for something with a dragon on the map. Maybe El Draguillo meant something like the small dragon and it wasn't a village but some rock formation. Who knew, anything was possible.

I followed Brian into the restaurant which was nearly empty, except for a few probably local elderly man who eyed us curiously. I suppose we were quite a picture, a tall guy with crazy hair, his shirt half undone and his shorts showing off his long legs accompanied by his girlfriend - me - probably looking ridiculous next to him looking fabulous.

As soon as we stepped into the room it turned quiet, except for the radio going on in the background. We stood there a little lost until someone came up to us - a waiter I assumed - and started chatting to Brian. I watched them, trying to work out what was being said. Judging by how big Brian's eyes were getting he was struggling a little too to work out what the waiter wanted from us. In the end - even I could tell that because he used gestures to help get his point across - Brian managed to convince the waiter to get us a table for two. Which he did, a very nice one too, on the terrace in the shade with a gorgeous view. And Brian had been worrying that this wouldn't be good enough.