1 May Cuneo to Turin

April 29, 2023

Impersonating a drowned rat I arrived at the station Cuneo at the same time as 2 other guys. The first held the door open for the second and then saw me. He was a little younger than me. He grinned a great big friend smile and asked me where I came from. Scotland. The smile got bigger and started chatting. I shared my journey and plans with him. He commented that the Scots were so different from the English. Nicer. It turns out he had worked in Birmingham where his colleagues continually criticised his accent and purposefully spoke in a "dialect" (his word). They made little effort not to speak Brummy. His English was very good and his accent not that strong. What a shame his experience was not so good. He then gave me advice on travelling to Turin. The local rail lines were under maintenance so the first leg would be by bus but he insisted I would get my bike on the bus. He helped me get a ticket and then had words with the bus driver so he didn't start to object about a bike! What a great help.

During this he commented that his wife followed a Scot who was traveling with a cat in a van and that before it was a cat and a bike. I immediately explained that the guy was Dean and that we came from the same town! He excitedly message his wife whilst I showed him Dunbar on Google Maps.

For anyone interested Dean started cycling a number of years ago and has become a bit of a YouTube star. His YT link is

https://youtube.com/@1bike1world

It's a small world.

We shook hands and went on our way. It was a great relief to have that help from a complete stranger. I must remember to do something similar to keep the Karma.

Getting onto platforms and then onto trains has taught me how to handle and managed the bike and the 4 items of luggage better. I now have a system which means I can get the bike up or down 2 flights if stairs in one go. Prior to this it took 2 or 3 trips.

The journey to Turin was rather uninspiring. It rained. The train was too hot.

At Turin it was still raining. It was simply a ride to the hostel and find somewhere for lunch. It was Labour Day holiday so the roads were quiet and very little was open. The hostel was modern and well appointed. I found a cafe and had a cheese and ham toastie and for dinner I over indulged in calzone and pastries from Lidl.

I saw diddly squat of Turin and I mean nothing, absolutely nowt. Other than an ice cream. There are no other photos.

Here I am in a cold, very wet and closed (Labour Day holiday) Turin.

Luckily next to my hostel is a Gelateria so I had to indulge. In the first photo if you look closely you might find a bit of pavement or road without a puddle but I doubt it.

Here we have Chocolate and Amoretto. A fantastic combo.

My first Italian ice cream and it fully lived up to expectations. And it might be the cheapest ice cream yet at 2.50€ for two scoops. Certainly the best VFM.

Chocolate fondant, beige, 7/10

Amoretto, fruit, 8/10

At least the forecast for Tuesday was better.

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