who am I? what is the camino?

For those few people who don't know me, I'm one of the characters in the image in the upper left corner. Hope you can tell which is which. It is part of a series of silhouette statues located on the top of a mountain called Alto de Perdon about 10 km west of Pamplona. This is part of the over 1000 year old pilgrim's route across Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. The Camino Francés spans 780 km from the French border to the city of Santiago. I won't go into the history of the Camino. It is a history of war and conquest as is most of human history.

In 1998 I retired from a career in teaching. In Sept. 2003 my daughter convinced me to walk the Camino and she walked the first 10 days with me to get me on the way. Be careful, walking the Camino, it can be habit forming. I walked it again in June 04 and in May 05. During the last walk I met a 72 year old man who had walked it 11 times in the last decade. People walking several times is not unusual. About 750 thousand people start on the Camino Francés every year. This route is well serviced by pilgrim hostels, probably the longest stretch between towns with hostels is 17 km.

I will try it again this March 06. The route I hope to complete runs
from Granada (The Camino Mozarabe) to Mérida and
then from Mérida to Santiago (Via de la Plata). The route runs to the
northwest and then north to Santiago.

Please help support me in this effort by donating to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.