Last year, early on the morning we left,

A shopkeeper was sweeping the street.

This year, shopping at her place once a day,

We’ve taken to greetings each time we pass.

Today, we leave with our fruit.  “Buona Domenica,”

She bids us to go in peace.  “Have a good Sunday.”

Museum aside, Norcia is known for its saintly twins (Benedict and Scholastica) and its earthquakes, a minor inconvenience that I was discovering at the very moment we were preparing for our trip last night.

I felt not a quake while we were there, and learned not a whit about the brother and sister. (My hope, at some point, is to make some sense of the mystics and monastics who made their way in and around these mountain woods of Italy.)

But after what passes for a “light lunch” in these parts, it was off to Castelluccio by way of the Piano Grande. Took a mess of pictures. Any with any distance on the view in them are themselves a mess.  So it goes.

Here’s the best from Rebecca’s lot, a really nice shot but for the missing village off in the distance.  (May be a good reason for that: likely we were standing in Castelluccio at the time:-)

Between Spoleto and Norcia:

Tunnels, and tunnels, and a superlong tunnel (2+ miles).

Mountains, mountains, and more mountains.

Bicyclists, bicyclists, and more bicyclists.

Fields, fields, and more fields.

Bales, bales, and more bales.

Olives, grapes, and corn.

Dogs, dogs, and more dogs.

Horses, donkeys, and sheep.

But as I said, no stops for photo-ops.

Home of San Benedetto

Just a tiny little town

Easiest for us to get to

On the same day’s jaunt

To view the great plain     [Piano Grande]

Of (village) Castelluccio.

News at 11:00p.m.