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 arrived at Poggio San Lorenzo with just one new bite.

Poggio San Lorenzo lacks accommodation, pilgrim or otherwise, so we are staying at an agritourismo 1 km outside of town. Perched on a rise above a field of fruit trees, the wood-beamed farmhouse is as the picture of agricultural charm. Our room has a wooden loft, the banister of the main staircase is an old hayloft ladder, and the house is floored in brick throughout-- upstairs, downstairs, even the stairs themselves.

Whatever reservations I had about adding an extra kilometer to today's and tomorrow's walks to reach here melted away as we sampled fresh cheeses, watched our evening zucchini plucked from the garden, and ate roasted farm chicken flavored with rosemary. Agritourismo Santa Giust is charming enough to make it worth the extra walk.

I confess, however, that I saw more of its beds than any other feature. We rise at 5 am to begin walking each day, and walk 10-15 miles before noon. Though my body has been handling it well, the past few days I have felt exhausted. Today, I enjoyed a three hour riposo after lunch, and I cannot wait to return to bed.