Camino di Francesco, Day 24: Rieti to Poggio San Lorenzo
Sunday, June 18 22 km 499 m It was surprisingly cool today, or at least a strong cool breeze all day gave a good semblance of cooler weather. We walked south out of Rieti, avoiding the long urban city entrance of yesterday, and quickly reached countryside. The path through fields and country back roads was sometimes overgrown with wildflowers fluttering with small black moths dotted with white spots. These moths are the most common insect we encounter; we see hundreds every day often tumbled haphazardly about by the slightest breeze. The other insects here are generally less pleasant: inquisitive, hungry wasps, aggressive Asian and European hornets, persistent black flies, biting horse flies, and (of course) mosquitoes. I have no fewer than 30 mosquito bites and, if I could see my backside to get an accurate count, I suspect quite a few more than that. It seems the closer to Rome we get, the thicker the air is with bugs. The cooler weather today seemed to thin then though, and I ar
