Sunday was interesting! The connection to Milan Malpensa was uneventful, and we caught an 11:30 AM bus to Torino (it seemed easier than taking the train, and the scenery as we went through little towns was nice--flowers everywhere, cascading from window boxes...). The bus took about 2 hours, and then we had to figure out how to get to Saluzzo, to meet up with the tour. A very nice woman at the bus station told us we had to go to Controviale Corso Marconi to get an ATI bus, at 3:30. We took a cab to the square, then waited about 45 minutes for the bus. It's definitely summer here!
We got to the hotel in Saluzzo around 5pm, and quickly got fitted on our bikes. Massimo and Claudio held an introductory wine tasting in the hotel bar, and then we walked through Saluzzo to Ristorante Gargotta del Pellico, where we had an excellent dinner (ExPlus provided the menus) with a Roero Arneis 2002 Gioranni Almondo Monte d'Alba white and Cordero di Montezemolo Dolchetta d'Alba 2001 Monfalletto.