Dia Ventidue The Back Roads of Tuscany and Hot Springs at Saturnia

These natural hot springs at Saturnia have been used since Roman times.
We had a blast and then smelled like sulfur for the rest of the day.

We are rested and relaxed as we leave Arezzo to find our way south to Saturnia. We set ourselves a challenge of staying off the toll roads and begin to chart a course as soon as we avoid getting on the A1.

As we curl through olive groves, forested hills and farmlands, it becomes apparent that the towns we are entering and leaving aren’t on any of the maps we have – seriously! We will be in a village of a few thousand people, with a church and a ruin, or a castle, and it has a town sign and all, but it isn’t on the maps! How can they do that? Then we get to signposts that have arrows going off towards roadways, with lots of town names, only one or two may be on the official map. How would you feel if you lived in a town that didn’t make the maps! How do people find you? Do you know you aren’t on the map? What criteria do they use? This is just all so odd.

We realize that our destination is only on one of the maps we have. After managing to get as far south as we need to, we hope to find signs to Saturnia, since none of the small roads indicated on the maps have any numbers. Fortunately, we see a sign and follow the twistings and turnings of wonderful narrow roads through the country for a couple of hours. Many corners are so tight that they have parabolic mirrors on them to see oncoming traffic. This feels strange in the middle of the forest. We pinch ourselves at the beauty of the scenery, the castles on the hilltops, the abandoned farmhouses that are falling to ruin and the thriving farms that are fully planted and rowing. We notice that there is already a crop of hay coming off and it is only May.

We also marvel at the cyclists who are plentiful. Many are fully spandexed and clearly channeling their own Giro d’Italia, but others have full camping gear with them. These hills are steep and the roads narrow. All of these riders have to be very fit and very determined to manage this terrain.

After stopping in the quaint town of Saturnia for an espresso, we ask a local and track down the hot springs that are the focus of our journey. Parking in a rough lot, we change beside the car as others are doing and follow the locals to the hot pools in the river. I expected to be impressed, having seen pictures when I found out about this spot online, but really…it is so much better in person. We climb into the sulfurous, milky pools and soak for an hour or so. The atmosphere is like a party. Lots of groups of friends and families are enjoying the various pools and waterfalls. Sitting in the water, the view is of hilly, green fields and forests and caves carved out of the hills beside the pools. These hot springs have been used since Roman times for sure – by soldiers likely happy to get relief for sore muscles. Likely the Etruscans used them too, but there is no record for that long ago. I think it is great that they are still free – try to find the free springs in the Rockies these days. If you really want to pay and be pampered here, you can stay at the Spa and Golf Course up the road.

We leave relaxed and smelling slightly of sulfur. My silver jewellery is now a colour between brass and bronze – when will I learn this lesson! Oh well, it will come off when I get back to the land of jewellery cleaner and in the meantime it makes me marvel at alchemy.

We decide to drive on and select Bolsena for the night because it is on the edge of a lake, north of Rome. As we rejoin larger populations, I get a message from Sara wondering how we are. Seems that there has been a 6.0 earthquake near Modena, outside Bologna. People are dead and buildings seriously damaged. Dennis and I went through that area twice in the past couple of weeks on our way to and from Venice. Sad.

When we get checked in to the Eden hotel and finally have a sporadic internet connection, Dennis checks the earthquake news and finds out that $326 million worth of cheese – specifically Parmesan and Gran Podano – has also been lost in the earthquake. What was that about priorities?

We eat early at a little pizzeria in Bolena called aTanaquilla and I have my best bite yet. The crust on my pizza is thinner than a soda cracker, Time to wrap up another full day. Delicious! Buona Sera, tutti!