After crossing into Italy, the landscape flattened out into the Po Valley — long straight roads, searing heat, and a sky almost too blue to be real. The days in Italy were less about grinding kilometres and more about absorbing everything around me: the food, the people, the architecture.
A pilgrim house near Mornago became an unexpected highlight. The kind of place run by volunteers, open to anyone on a long journey — walkers, cyclists, pilgrims of all kinds. The communal kitchen became the scene of one of the trip's best memories: making gnocchi from scratch with other guests, flour everywhere, someone's Italian grandmother's recipe, laughing over a chopping board. Travel does this — it creates moments you couldn't have planned.
Turin was a full day off the bike and worth every minute. The city's covered arcades — portici and galleries — are unlike anything in Germany or Switzerland. Grand 19th-century architecture, marble floors, iron and glass ceilings. Just walking through the Galleria felt like stepping into a different century. Real coffee. Proper food. Rest.
Then Cuneo — a quieter city at the foot of the Maritime Alps. One more workout at an outdoor gym (the legs needed movement, not rest), then the mountains appeared again on the horizon. The second crossing was next.
- June 26 Wild camping · Northern Italy
- June 27 Pilgrim house · Homemade pasta
- June 28 Day off · Turin galleries
- June 29 Outdoor gym · Cuneo
