Cammino Materano Via Peuceta Day 3: Cassano delle Murge - Santeramo in Colle

Another beautiful day on the Cammino Materano, and very different from the day before! We left behind the olive groves and entered the woods, walking through the Bosco di Mesola, characterised by numerous varieties of oak - ilex, downy oak, Macedonian oak - as well as pine trees and more wildflowers. So many that the forest floor appeared to be carpeted with cyclamens, in some spots!! 

This fairytale-like atmosphere was interrupted here and there by a farm, and a farmhouse, some of which were open to the public, to buy cheeses, jams, and other farm produce. At Fattoria Amicizia, Daniela and I bought a scamorza for our picnic lunch. 

We discovered why the cheese tasted so good: the cows were responsible for pruning the grapevines in the farm's vineyard! 

The sun was very warm all day, but a cool breeze was blowing - so cool we put our jackets on when we stopped to eat our lunch among the fields. 

We had walked more than twenty kilometres and were ready for a break when we came to Arome B&B, whose owner Giovanni recently opened a pilgrim rest stop. We took a break on the porch, chatting with Giovanni and taking photographs of his recycled garden decorations! 

From here it was another six kilometres - an hour and a half - to Santeramo in Colle. We walked into the centre of the town before retiring to our large and comfortable rooms at Ostello Mamré, in a religious institute run by the Salesians of Don Bosco on the outskirts of the old town. 

Happy to be there at last! 

Figuring out where we need to go

Cassano delle Murge - Santeramo in Colle 26 km

Today's team

In the evening the others all went out to explore the traditional fornelli of Santeramo: butchers' shops that turn into informal restaurants in the evening. I stayed in my comfortable "cell" sorting out my photos and updating my blog, seeing as I was a day behind due to lack of time and the absence of a reliable Internet connection on the previous evening.... But the others sent me a few photos to keep me up to date on their evening out!