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Report 450: Saints and Flowers, Ham and Cheese: Seven Days in Norcia, Umbria

By Jeannew from PA, Spring 2003

Page 8 of 8: Day 7, Goodbye and Black Truffle Fondue

Day Seven: Wednesday June 11, 2003 Goodbye

We awake at 8:00 and have breakfast with the ATG couple who are also departing today. They will walk from Norcia to Roccaporena and spend that night in a pilgrim hotel in St. Rita’s home town. Their ATG route manager takes care of the luggage transfers. From Roccoporena they will walk to Scheggino, staying either at Del Ponte or San Pietro in Valle. The final leg of their journey is walking from there to Spoleto. We wish them a buon viaggio.

The car is loaded and we say goodbye to Norcia. There are many mountain towns in this area of Umbria and Le Marche that we did not see and long hikes that we did not take (I had hoped to go to the Lago di Pilato alleged to be the watery grave of Pontius Pilate). In the other direction, the Valnerina holds treasures not yet seen by our eyes. They will all have to wait till next time. We enjoyed our explorations but treasured just as much the moments we spent in the piazza eating gelato and watching people, the sunset meals on our balcony, and the afternoon lounging by the pool looking at clouds taking shape in the sky.

PS After arriving home I was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament which healed nicely with a brace, rest, and physical therapy.

The cheese was put in checked baggage because wine takes precedence in our carry on bags. Unfortunately USAirways misplaced the container with our bags on the hot tarmac in Philadelphia for 3 hours. The large wheel of semi stagionato pecorino fared well. The small wheel of black truffle cheese became a melted mess, so nasty I wouldn’t even give it to the dog. Speaking of dogs, my friend who is a USDA officer was working with her beagle when we came through. Watching the dog work occupied our time while we waited for our bags. When they finally arrived this well-trained little cutie totally ignored our legal but stinky cheese to hone in on an orange someone had in their handbag.