Orta Nova to Cerignola – 21st June
Distance: 22.8 km – Elevation +170 m -150 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 32 degrees
It was 28 degrees when I left the farm at 7.00 am and there was no cooling breeze like yesterday. I passed through Orta Nova already busy with pavement bars and cafes full of retired men drinking coffee in animated discussions. By 10.30 am I had reached Stornara. I was taking the direct route again along quiet country roads – very straight and flat. The landscape had changed, no more vast fields of wheat, it was now vineyards and olive groves. I passed by a vast shantytown and migrant camp, the first time I have felt a wee bit vulnerable but all was fine as I passed.
By the time I reached Cerignola at 2.30 pm the temperature was 33 degrees, so I headed straight to the first bar where I enjoyed a tuna sandwich and two glasses of ice-cold beer!
After settling into the B&B and making the usual preparations for tomorrow I attended Mass in the relatively modern Cathedral of San Pietro Apostolo and after, I enjoyed a small supper and watched the local people strolling in the main streets of Cerignola.
I was now one day ahead of my schedule and just a few days now from Bari where I end this Italian section of my pilgrimage.
