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• 9 décembre 2019

  Bernard Delhomme

  DAVEY Mike J - The Ebro Camino experience.

  I was nearly 68 years old, and had walked several Pilgrim routes, the French, the North, the Primitivo and the Vía del Plata. Each camino had turned out to be an exciting adventure. In this book I set out to walk the Ebro Camino in Spain which starts from Tortosa where the River Ebro empties into the Mediterranean. From the very start it was to be a very different adventure from any camino I had walked before ! This is a lonely and little walked track that follows the river, which was to be my only companion all the way to Logrono. On this part I only saw only one traveller and even he was going the other way on a bike ! While it is not an easy camino, the river, mountains, small villages and towns are very beautiful. From Logrono I turned onto the well known way of the French Camino which I had walked before and continued all the way to finish in Santiago de Compostela. I was to learn just one word from a generous person can wipe the slate clean of a whole load of hardships. A cold wet night sitting up wrapped in a cape in a storm can be wiped away by the simple friendly interest of an elderly Spanish lady asking where are you going. Her beaming smile as you struggle to find words in Spanish. Some experiences are difficult to explain but this is after all another Pilgrim Way to Santiago. When I joined the French Camino at Leon I was to learn a rose given spontaneously, or kiss on the cheek, can make your heart sing !. A simple text on you phone saying "Animo Michael". Words like "Come with us," spoken when you know you must look like hell and could be spreading flu germs by the million. Or maybe one of the most moving is hearing in Spanish "Just give the Santo a hug for me" But then there is the voice of your loved one on the phone when you are lonely and miles from anywhere ! All this and more crammed into this one adventure. I do hope I have mentioned most, if not all the wonderful people I met, for without them I would probably never have made it, and certainly would not have had such rich memories to think back on as time goes by. Dear family and friends old and new, I thank you all dearly including those that may have slipped from my poor memory at the moment. I ‘d also like to thank those that encouraged me to keep going on this one of my hardest Caminos yet . I hope you enjoy the story and the lovely photos I took, and that they give you some idea what it was like out there, the good and bad times.