Onto Norcia or what goes up must go down

 *Lots of posts coming your way in an effort to catch up. Scroll down."

No rest for the weary today. It's time to start our descent to Norcia.  We get a late start, relying on the promise of cloud cover to keep it cool. 

As usual it is slow going. We are navigating with a map and poorly written instructions: "Forgetting left right 10 meters left 350 meters hairpin reverse direction forgetting. At tree."  (Honestly, it is a miracle we are still not wondering the hills.)

Elliot is getting pretty good a donkey acrobatics. 

Lucas continues to entertain us with his various accents and silly songs. 

Remember all of that elevation gain on the first day? There was actually more on our way to Rifugio Perugia too. Well it's time to go down. Rapidly. 

On steep descents it is safest for all riders to dismount and walk. I take hold of Mozart who has already escaped from me once, cantering and bucking down the hill. When you are getting dragged, it is safest to just let go. 

The terrain is quite treacherous. We are walking on loose shale which is like walking on broken glass. It is slippery and more than once I almost do the banana peel. Lucas has his share of close calls with Judith. Nadia and Elliot stay about 40 yards behind us, picking their way down. Nadia keeps Elliot busy with stories about what to expect in the Primaries in the fall at Arbor ("And then Elliot you will study whales and have the chance to walk inside a huge life size blow up whale!").

Our foot ware is all wrong (sneakers) and it is just a matter of time before we have some kind of injury. Nadia draws the first blood but it is a superficial scratch. Phew. 

We keep telling ourselves that the worst is over but we continue to encounter more steep downhill. We find a reasonable area to break for lunch. Someone may have had a big meltdown. Just sayin. 

Nadia giving Luna some smooches. 

These donkeys are just irresistible. 

We finally make it to the outskirts of Norcia and walk for about an hour on country roads. 

We circle the outside of Norcia's walls. Our knees are wobbly from making it down to 600 meters in altitude. 

Cars slow down. Children shout "Asini! Asini!".  People pull out their phones and take video. We are almost at our hotel - just in time before a massive rainstorm. So much for the pool we have been looking forward to!