Too damn hot

We are around Alba, Italia, and it's too hot to do much of anything. Unfortunately, we are about 10 miles from our B&B, and not wanting to do anything includes moving. We cut our ride short today, but it will still be very slow and very hot finishing it off. But here's some free Internet with an annoying vertically oriented keyboard!

Where did we last leave you? I believe we were on our way to Trieste. We found the bike path that we couldn't find before, and it was a nice ride. We made it to Trieste in time for the 10:47 train to Asti, but we didn't make it to the train station until two trains later. Trieste is a bit confusing. And we had no map. Signs kept trying to send us on the freeway. We only got a little agitated...at each other... :)

Italian trains are much easier than Hungarian trains, and cheap! Though ours was crowded with loud, littering Italian teenagers. We got into Asti at 9 pm, and found a hotel. "€19? Really?" -> Later: "She must have said 90." Sigh. A pricey night.

Yesterday we rode from Asti to Alba. Very nice rolling hills; quite pleasant. Of course, it wasn't as hot yesterday. Of note: Whenever we stopped to look at our map, someone appeared to help us. (1) Couple and baby at the Asti train station at 9 pm; (2) little old lady who started pointing and rattling away in Italian after I mentioned the name of the street we were looking for; and (3) man who pulled over, jumped out of his car, ran over to us and proceeded to exclaim in wonderful English that we were in "exactly the right place," that we had chosen "a delightful ride," and that at the next town there would be "a nice hill; it will be fun!" Then he shook my hand and jumped back into his car. Heh.

Had a little trouble finding our B&B outside of Alba. I was simply giving up, content to sit by the side of the road forever. Not in an angry way. Just in a sort of "All is lost" way. Erin suggested we try going around the corner before turning around. And there it was. Sheer dumb luck, I say.

Showered, had an excellent 5-course meal and chatted for several hours with a very nice Army couple, our age. Didn't get into any touchy subjects (wanted to, of course). Mostly talked about our trips. They had been in Rome during the World Cup final. Crazy. We, of course, had been on that damn Hungarian train.

So it's hot, and all we really want are showers and another of those fantastic 5-course meals. Sigh.