Adapting to time change never seems to be easy for us. We are both waking up at odd hours during the night and are fully awake for several hours only to finally fall asleep in the early morning. We were slow to get out of bed at 9:00 am this morning. We hope to start our days a bit earlier soon, but with our short ride planned today it was not that critical.
The hotel where we stayed near the Milan Malpensa airport has worked out very well. It is a large business chain that is looking a bit tired now. The breakfast which did not really fit our schedule was also very over priced at $45 CAD per person. But on the plus side, the local riding in the area was nice and the proximately to the major train station in Gallarate was great. It was also quite a convenient starting point for our Italian cycle tour.
Our ride began today at 10:30 by heading west about 8km toward the Malpensa airport and then connecting up to the a cycle path along a canal network heading south before following the Naviglio Grande canal. This area forms part of the Ticino Regional Park.
The first few kilometres along the canal were familiar territory as we had ridden this same route in September last year when riding toward the Piemonte. Today, we rode next to canals for almost our entire ride crossing back and forth to which ever side had the bike path. It was a nice leisurely ride and the path was frequently quiet enough that we could ride beside each other. It was the perfect ride for our maiden voyage on this tour.
Nearing the canal and river network we had to walk our bikes down some steep rocky paths
The canal area is a treasured recreational park for dog walkers, runners, cyclists and all outdoor enthusiasts. Pat is just waiting patiently while I fix my camera settings.
A most amazing stair case, over grown with trees now, to what must have been a significant home or maybe hotel on the side of the canal. Unfortunately I cannot find any other information on the building.
Our coffee stop today was Restaurante San Pietro at Cascina Padregnana.. The restaurant was right on the canal cycle way. We arrived at noon and there were just a couple of tables occupied. When we left, it was very busy serving excellent looking pasta dishes. We wondered if we were making a mistake by not having our lunch here as well, but it was just a bit too early in our day.
Restaurante San Pietro on the right. Along the canal there are some abandoned factory buildings but also some significant industrial installations as seen on the left along the canal.
We were stopped and having some fruit and cheese on a bench when Beat and Priska from Zurich, Switzerland rode past on their very recognizable Bike Fridays. They are on their way to Vigevano today and then onto Turin before crossing the Alps to continue on in France. It was so much fun speaking with our fellow cycle tourers and BF owners!
Our last crossing and a look back at the Naviglio Grande canal before picking up some roads on route to Abbiategrasso. It really was a very pretty and entertaining ride.
Abbiategrasso, only 25 kms west of Milan is a busy little town with one hotel and a number of restaurants. It would not be considered a tourist hotspot. The town dates back to Roman times and has the the Visconti Castle which was built at the end of the 13th century. After checking into our hotel we wandered around the town and castle grounds before settling on a restaurant for dinner. It was a warm evening so we sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Tomorrow we continue our ride south to the to the town of Pavia.
Visconti Castle wall taken from our the window in our hotel room.
Trattoria Croce Di Malta`s Tiramisu "Maltese Cross". We were uncertain as to how to consume it so we we asked our waitress for assistance. She very knowledgably prepared it as seen in the picture below.
