A Day of Ups and Downs June 22

Tonight we are in Casale Moferratto, near the Po River, the longest river in Italy. I'm sure there are easier ways to get here from Asti, but where's the fun and heat exposure in that?
Getting out of Asti was a group effort, Denise is good at boldly going through Italian traffic, Lou is great at
spotting the orange arrows that mark our route, Mary is vigilent about shouting out approaching vehicle warnings and I try to interpret our maps. And it all seems to work.
More pretty countryside

 And distant village vistas

 This shows the road winding out far below.

And walking down stee, loose gravel roads

When you get to a vista you wonder which of the distant villages is your next destination? And here it could be all three! 

 Denise entering an idyllic hilltop town.

 Lou peddling on

 We got to Casale Monferrate by 1:30 and ready for a cold shower! Then for a walk to see the city sites. Luckily Denise, Lou and I got lost. We asked a gardener working behind a gate. He gave us directions in Italian and my 110 day streak of Duolingo Italiano was somewhat helpful. But then he asked if we would like to see the seminary library. We decided to humor him. We're we ever surprised!

 The library was started in 1738 and has one of a kind illuminated manuscripts:

 A generator to study static electricity

 And over 65,000 volumes. We saw books which were made in the 1400s. And a globe that had a blank spot where Australia is because the globe was made before Australia was discovered!

What a rare gift of "discovery" the gardner Sabino peovided to us. Our hotel concierge said that library is viewed by appointment only. The library looks very understated from the outside.

Here is a link to the library's website:

www.cittaecattedrali.it/en/bces/113-seminary-library