Itinerary
Here is a quick overview of the itinerary planned for the summer. Some dates are firmer than others (e.g. flights are fixed), but this gives you a general framework for now.
June 11th – Last day of final exams
June 15th – Last day for teachers
June 16th – 6:20 PM EDT Departure from PHL
June 17th – 8:05 AM CEST (Central European Summer Time)/2:05 AM EDT landing in BRU (Brussels-Zaventem).
June 18th – 12:00 PM CEST/6:00 EDT departure from CRL (Brussels-Charleroi). 1:40 PM CEST/7:40 EDT arrival at BIQ (Biarritz, France). Taxi to Bayonne, Train from Bayonne to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, France.
June 19th or June 20th – Begin walking the Camino de Santiago!
I will be following the Camino Frances, the most common route, which stretches 490 miles through Pamplona, Logroña, Burgos, and León and dozens of other small towns and villages.
July 17-21 – Anticipated arrival in Santiago. If possible, I’d like to continue on to Finisterra/Muxía by July 23.
July 24-25 – Return to Santiago for the Festival of St. James
July 26th – 10:25 PM CEST/4:25 EDT departure from SCQ (Santiago), 11:55 PM arrival at AGP (Málaga)
July 27th-August 4th – Touring Southern Spain by rental car
August 5th – 7:10 AM CEST/1:10 AM EDT Departure from AGP (Málaga), 9:55 AM CEST/3:55 AM Arrival at BRU(Brussels-Zaventem).
August 7th – 10:50 AM CEST/4:50 AM EDT Departure from BRU, 1:25 EDT arrival at PHL!!
August 10th – PIAA mandated heat acclimation football practices begin.
Commentary:
- Many of the albergues along the camino do not take reservations, and those that do generally only book them a day or two in advance. Therefore, the whole schedule during the walk itself is fluid. Most guides advise walking about 15-20 miles a day, starting around 6-7 AM and ending in the early afternoon. This averages out to about 30 days of walking, plus a couple rest days. There generally is a large crowd trying to plan their pilgrimage to arrive just in time for the feast of St. James (July 25). While I don’t want to rush, I also want to be a few days ahead of the biggest crowds.
- I have not reserved hotel rooms yet for my swing through Southern Spain, and don’t plan to until I get to Santiago. My preliminary thought is a loop going Málaga-Gibraltar-Seville-Cordoba-Granada-Sierra Nevada National Park-Málaga. However, if I’m in really rough shape at the end, I may just park on a beach for 10 days.
- Yes, there are a number of other places more convenient than Brussels to enter and exit from. When I was debating on whether to take this trip in February, there were a couple of other variables in play. I also wanted to use reward miles for the transatlantic flight. When I finally was able to commit to the trip, all the reward flights in and out of Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona were booked up. So the cheapest option was use miles to Brussels and Ryanair to Biarritz.
- Speaking of Brussels, I’m still trying to decide how I want to send my time there. I realized recently that I’ll just miss the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo (June 18th), but I think I’ll still go visit the battlefield on the first day to see if there are any early festivities or re-enactment rehearsals. I also have two days in Brussels on the back end of the trip, and I’m torn between staying in Brussels or renting a car to visit Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge).
- As a young kid, I dreamed of running with the bulls in Pamplona. In the early 90’s, ESPN showed a take delay of the bull run every day during the festival, and it always looked exhilarating. And it’s only a ½ mile! Unfortunately, I will pass through Pamplona about two weeks before the festival of San Fermín begins. By then, I should be approaching Léon, about 230 miles west of Pamplona. While I’m disappointed, my mother seems relieved.