Leaving Alessandria back to Milan

With the feeling of a Great trip meeting wonderful people in a beautiful part of Italy we get on the train and  head to Milan to start our journey home. We both feel that this was a 10 out of 10 experience.  Personally I could have gotten on the bike again on Sunday morning and done it all over again. If I could customize the trip in anyway I would spend two days in every town to really experience more than we did.  Although the train trip to Milan does not mean the end of our time in Italy, we still have two days to experience the city life of Milan. It does mean we will not get back on the bikes any more on this trip. As a side note to anyone who is considering a bike touring vacation, biketoursdirect.com was fantastic to work with. They answered all of our questions and concerns they delivered exactly what they said they would.  They help direct us to find ground transportation and made a dream vacation come true. The tour company they worked with in Italy was top notch and everything went according to how they said it would.  I can not say enough good things about the product they provide.

Asti to Casale Monferrato and back to Alessandria

August 30, 2012
Today we got up and were greeted by a few rain drops and much cooler weather. Our new friend Lindsay the Australian has been a steady companion on our bike rides. Between him and Tim navigating we have avoided getting lost on the roads which I am much grateful for since each ride is pretty intense with lots of hills. Today was no exception, and our trek took us from Asti to Casale and while the grade was not as steep it definitely had its series of hills throughout the entire course. For me, my legs were extremely tired and it was by far the toughest day of riding but once again the villages, architecture and people were amazing. The ride took us through rolling hills, vineyards and evergreen woods.
Asti is know for its medieval architecture heritage of the region, it has many towers, houses, forts, churches, palaces and domus.
Casale was once the center of the Roman municipium and the largest town in the district.
Arriving into Casale was a blessing as we were all tired and a nice shower, some food and rest was appreciated by all. We had a lovely dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and celebrated my 55 birthday complete with creme boule and candle while Tim and Lindsay sang Happy Birthday to me.

August 31, 2012

Today was our last day of riding and we left Casale and headed back to Alessandria where we started our trek from. Today was also the first real rain we had encountered the church bells rang out as the people celebrated the rain. This did not effect us as by the time we got on the rode the rain had stopped but the drop in the temperature was much welcomed. The ride was relatively flat and easy going through a lot of agricultural and tree farming countryside. However many of the back roads were gravel and dirt which made the ride a bit bumpy but the Orange Beast (bike) kept us upright and we managed to get through the most interesting and challenging terrains. With the back roads came opportunities to see wild life that one may not have the opportunity to see traveling by car such as pheasants in the fields we passed by.

  
Upon arrival to the city Alessandria we celebrated in style with Italian wine, cheese and salami. We bid farewell to the Swiss ( who got lost almost everyday) and to Lindsay. But I have a feeling that Tim and Linday will be in contact via the internet in short time.

September 1, 2012

Today we head by train back Milano.

Two days in Asti

August 29, 2012

Today was a free day and we could ride bikes or take the train to Torino We chose Torina and grateful for it. The train ride was about 1 hour long and we were greeted by incredible Italian Architecture. Turino is on the Po River and is approximately in the center of the Piedmonte/Valle d' Aosta. This town is the center of Northwest Italy's major industrial, cultural, intellectual, and administrative activities.
We tried to go see the Holy Shroud that is believed by many devout Catholics to be the cloth that Christs body was wrapped in when taken down from the cloth. Of course they have an imitation for viewing but the church as closed when we arrived. We did get to see the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) which is touted to be the best museum in Torino  and one of the best collections of Egyptian artifacts in the world. It was truly amazing but was surprised at the different standards that other countries are held in keeping relics such as this safe as compared to the United States.

The day was spent viewing buildings, shopping and just enjoying the people. We arrived at 9:00 am in the morning and left close to 9:00 pm that night.  Our feet were very tired and