If we tell you Aida what comes to your mind? Certainly the opera of Giuseppe Verdi… But Aida is not just this. It’s also the acronym of a very interesting cycle route: Alta Italia da Attraversare, a FIAB Onlus project that is part of Bicitalia network. 900km of existing routes from Moncenisio to Trieste, to connect the large cities of northern Italy.
It was impossible for us to resist to a route with a feminine name, so we cycled the stretch from Milan to Trieste, Aida East.
The itinerary of Aida surprised us from the beginning. After leaving Milan following the well-known Martesana cycle path, once we crossed the Adda river, we cycled through rural areas and small villages we never explored before. The Franciacorta area, famous for the sparkling wine, and the beautiful morainic hills of lower Garda Lake, passing through Brescia and Verona. Then lots of vineyards, the fortified cities, the dirt roads along the banks of the rivers, the large Venetian villas. Vicenza, Padua, Treviso, Pordenone, Udine. Cities where it would have been nice to stay longer, but which still made us fall in love with their beauty. Then, again, the places of World War I, the sea, Trieste and the meetings with the locals who, especially in Friuli, never forget to offer you a glass of wine.
Piano, pianissimo, accelerato, forte, fortissimo. Aida is just like that. It reminds us that bikes are like music, with constant surprises, changes of pace, always new emotions. Now we can’t wait to ride west, experiencing more pianissimo and fortissimo.
