Throughly Thermally Bathed

Yesterday I went on a little day trip with 6 other people. We had heard our voice teacher, Kevin, recommend the local thermal baths, so we took him up on it. We got up at 7:15 and ventured took an hour long bus ride to a little town called Rapolano Terme. It was embedded into the Tuscan hills and overlooked a gorgeous view of the rolling landscape and farms. It took us about 20 minutes to walk to the thermal bath of our choice, San Giovanni Terme Rapolano, but it was worth it. Very secluded and not too big, this bath packed some really incredible features.

It starts with an indoor, circular pool that really smells like sulfer, but I didn't mind too much. The pool has little waterfalls that have really hot water, so we think this is the source of water for the entire system. It then pours into a bigger outdoor pool, which then pours into two smaller pools, and finally a large swimming pool size.

To our surprise, the water was never ever cold - even in the largest one. It was cloudy and had bits of minerals at the bottom, which at first freaked us out, but by the end we were scrubbing ourselves with the minerals. We probably spent 4 or 5 hours total, just sitting in the water and going to the different temperatures. I was so relaxed I feel asleep on and off. By the time we left, our skin was really soft and we were all ready for bed. It was much needed after our weeks of intense physical work.

Here's the website for the baths:
http://www.termesangiovanni.it/

Casentino Forest and La Verna

Last weekend we went to Casentino National Forest, which is in Tuscany, but a little northwest of Arezzo. We took a bus up the big part of the mountain to spend a day of hiking around Chiusi della Verna, a monk commune, which is located on the peak of a mountain. It was rough, considering the night before we had our Halloween party (I dressed as the musical "Rent" by the way - all of the characters). Despite our tired dancing gams, we managed to hike quite a lot. It was worth it - the views of the Tuscan hills in autumn were too good to be true. The monastery itself was beautiful, rich with old stone passageways and caves embedded into the mountainside. We even got to hear the monks chant a little bit, which was a haunting and beautiful moment. This monastery was founded by St. Francis, and it was there that he had a vision of Christ and received the stigmata. They have the exact floor where this happened well protected, as well of one St. Francis' habits still intact. Pretty cool stuff.

The hike was absolutely breathtaking. It seems like the perfect place for a monastery. All that surrounds you is nature, completely secluded from the mess of every day life.

Here's a website about La Verna:

http://www.comune.chiusi-della-verna.ar.it/

And pictures of course

From Pick Sure and Place

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