Day 23: Buonalbergo to Celle di San Vito

What a day - I'll tell you all the good bits first. Today delivered the highest part of the VFS: ascent 1002 m, descent: 827 m. Now that large climb, and it never seemed to end, is out of the way, I know I can deal with whatever comes next. The Way (30.95 km) was also the longest of all of the sections so far and I haven't walked over 30 km since that first day out of Rome so, I'm pretty tired, but feeling good about my abilities. It never occurred to me that the mountains I would be climbing today would be bare of trees, but they are! The entire region is under cultivation and the Way was along, tractor trails, dirt service roads, and asphalt. At this height it's pretty windy, which explains the massive wind turbines that are dotted all over the landscape. There were two creek crossing, both of which required me to take off my boots. The water was cold, but not unbearable. The best news is that I met an Irish couple who are walking from Benevento to Bari (they have, some time back, already walked from Bari to Santa Maria di Leuca); I met them after the first creek crossing. Then, after the second creek crossing, I met Domonique, from Switzerland, who is walking from Santa Maria di Leuca to Rome - he assured me that dogs haven't been a problem until now!
Dog update: of the thirteen free range dogs I encountered today; four ignored me, one was happy to bark at me from across the road and the remaining eight, in a pack, set upon me, quite aggressively, at the Norman castle in Caselbore (therefore, I don't have any photos). Four of them escorted me out of the old part of the town yapping at my heels the entire way! Oh, and I found a tick on my sock this afternoon!Read more