Last night I was in a room with 7 beds but there were only two of us. The other man, a cyclist, snored loudly of course. Having done a number of these walks, I knew to bring along ear plugs.

My room mate told me he was cycling up to an area that has spectacular wildflowers and also fields of lentils in flower at this time of the year. After a typical minimalist Italian style breakfast, I set off at around 8.

The little brown sign with the yellow ‘b’ is the one I’ll be following for the next 2 weeks.

Along the way were several collections of demountable houses provided after the 2016 earthquake destroyed so much of the town.

Demountable homes provided after the 2016 earthquake.

The route passes across the plains near Norcia where wheat and spelt are cultivated.

Spelt and wheat growing near Norcia.
The fields of wheat look like a white lake.

After around 5km, the path climbs up over a line of hills and down into the next valley .

There were fields of mown hay in the hills. A shepherd had bought his flock to pick over the harvested fields.

The path is well signposted but you have to keep your eyes open to spot the signs with the little yellow ‘b’ for Benedict. I’m terrible at this and missed three turns. That’s why I always carry my old pocket GPS and check it regularly.

I missed this turn indicated by the Cammino sign.

There were lots of butterflies so I spent some time trying to get a good photo. I like this one because of the colours.

The path descends with views of the town of Cascia off in the distance.

The town of Cascia

Cascia gets many visitors to visit the Basilica of Saint Rita where her body is on display. She died here in 1457. It’s a steep climb up through the old streets to the Basilica and there are a number of escalators to help visitors.

After arriving at my home for the night and having a shower and rest, I got wet through with sweat again when I climbed up to the 11th century church of Saint Augustine that has beautiful frescoes from the 14th century and later.

Tomorrow I have quite a short walk as I’m stopping before the end of the stage to stay in a farmhouse.