Italian TET Day 2

Agriturismo.

The wine and beer was delicious last night, shame i could still taste it when i woke up.   Decided to head north east out of  Turin and join the TET south of the Alps.  In this region farmland sprawls open and flat in every direction for as far the eye can see. 




The fields are separated by lanes and tracks that are easy to ride and we stopped to try and get Jason's Garmin power to work. Unfortunately when he plugged in a USB device his headlights stopped working. Blown Fuse?

Look how pleased he is.

Rather than faff  we pressed on, deciding to fix it later, which turned out to be a good call, plus i was being eaten alive by mosquito's near the waters edge.  We continued and passed through many small italian villages, one had railway crossing that we sat at for about 15 - 20 mins in the baking sun awaiting a slow train to nowhere, why put the gates down so far in advance?

We skimmed around a reservoir and followed the lanes into a Forrest, the riding was easy until one section in the forest with a steep rocky hill climb followed by some really tight single track.  It was like an Enduro section. Two trees had fallen in the path of the track and we had to gingerly pick our way down. the KTM had a little lay down and we both had sweat pouring down our faces.

The afternoon passed as the morning had, massive open landscapes with miles of open track to ride.  Following the course of a river, Lizards, Stalks and hundreds of frogs scurried and hopped from the motorbikes path as we passed over the hot and dusty landscape.  Reaching the end of TET Section 3 - using our naming seen on the previous maps. We spotted a Motorbike shop in the town of Gatinarra and using our best Google translated Italian we bought fuses and got the motorbike fixed.

 Whilst Jason played with the mechanic i headed off to search for a hotel and passed the old train above.

I was keen to continue the Agritourismo theme and found a 15th Century fortified farmhouse to stay in advertised as 'Agritourismo'.  Unfortunately the Kitchen was closed, but the rooms were grand and proprietor friendly.

They grow their own food and animals by the look of it, none of which we got to taste.  The donkeys made a right racket.

With empty stomachs we wondered into Ghemme, the local town / village which, according to google had a plethora of bars and eateries to have a go at. However, only one bar was open, it didnt serve meals and the beer was expensive.  I had a go at explaining to the landlord that i thought the beer was expensive and much to our surprise he served us MASSIVE beers and bar snacks at cheaper price!  

Im not sure what he dipped in the beer as punishment for my cheeky expensive comments!! 

We sat the bar till midnight filling up on bar snacks and chatted to each other (bored each other?) with talk of corning in cars and bikes.  

Ahh, bliss.   

Breakfast at the farm better be good, im starving. Big fail on the Agritourismo.