Wanderlust strikes again

My main dissapointment in being laid off was that I had to cancel Dad's and my trip to Italy in October.  While practicing my spanish by reading an e-mail about St. James the Greater, it suddenly occurred to me that with summers off from teaching, I have a great opportunity to do trips I never could do before.  The Camino de Santiago is one of those trips.  St. James the Greater is supposed to be buried in Compostela in the very Northwestern part of Spain. For over 1,000 years, pilgrims have walked along a variety of routes to make a religious pilgrimage.  It is still very actively traveled and the Camino Frances, the most popular route is a UNESCO world heritage site.  I first learned about this pilgrimage in one of my catholic magazines but it is not limited to religious travelers. Many take the route just for the experience of sharing a journey with fellow travelers.  The Camino Frances is well supported with alberques (Pilgrim Inss) for pilgrims along the way. With some being free and others costing no more than 10 Euro's a night, this is one of the most affordable ways to trek across Europe.  Dad and I are thinking about starting in St. Jean Pied de Port which is the traditional starting point on the Camino Frances. From here it is 780 km or about 484 miles to Compostela so we'll need about 4-5 weeks to complete the trip at a pace that doesn't kill us.  I have often heard that this trek is one of those trips of a lifetime and many people want to do it again.  To learn I found a great website at: http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/