IN SOLIS SIS TIBI TURBA LOCIS, yeah, I know, sounds like Latin to me too!

While in Florence Italy recently Tom and I were on a walkabout in the not so touristy area on the Oltrarno side of the Arno river.  

read what wiki says about Oltrarno here

we came across this beautiful building with this above the entry doorway

IN SOLIS SIS TIBI TURBA LOCIS

(In solitude, be a multitude to thyself), this phrase is attributed to Tibullus.

Albius Tibullus (ca. 55 BC – 19 BC)

We of course didn't know what it meant at the time and speculated, because of the size of the building, and it's location and quantity of large windows that it could possibly be a tuberculosis retreat.

You can, with fair certainty postulate that I have NO Latin studies in my background!

I bring this up just because, as I have always asserted, Travel Broadens Your Mind! 

 I mean had I never traveled to Italy, had I not traveled across that bridge, had I not seen the tower that lead me on the circuitous walk that brought me to pass this building, I would never have known of Tibullus!

wiki says this about Tibullus

Lawrence Alma-Tadema: Tibullus at Delia's. 1866 Oil on wood Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA

a few detail shots of part of the building

Travelogue - Bagni di Lucca, Italy

Bagni di Lucca, October 2013

 

From Lucca we decided to come to Bagni di Lucca. Why? Well, why not? We are in our last week of Italy and decided we like the mountains and the hill towns, and we really like Lucca. Plus Bagni di Lucca has thermal mineral springs. Bagni di Lucca is only about 30k from Lucca.

 

So we did some googling, and I have to say, as Americans, even though we have lived out of the United States of America for some few years now, this was confusing. We do still like everything straightforward and spelled out.

 

The best I can figure it there is "Bagni di Lucca Therme". This is the facility that has some sort of control of the grotto where the thermal mineral waters emerge. They have created a little empire and charge to enter the grotto and take the waters. They have also created a whole Spa and Wellness system to go along with the thermal mineral waters. You can of course come with a 'Day Pass' and just take the waters, or take any of a number of spa treatments individually or in packages.

 

There are also a number of hotels that must be very close by or connected. These hotels can also offer packages that include hotel stays. I read about one hotel that they are connected to the Spa by a tunnel.

 

We went round and round on the internet trying to figure out what the options are. All our searches brought us back to the same webpage which is apparently the Spa webpage. Somehow or another Tom finally hit on an actual hotel, Antico Albergo Terme, with spa packages. Unfortunately because of the abysmal internet service at the hotel where we were staying in Lucca we had trouble getting and sending emails. So, well we just got on a train to Bagni di Lucca and figured we'd figure it out once we got here.

 

Our last email to the hotel was to let them know when we were due to arrive, and what package combo we wanted. They had indicated previously that you had to advise them of your arrival to get taxi service (15€) thank you very much.

 

Well, we got the 11:30am train (3.3€ each) to Bagni - there was no taxi waiting, so we walked out to the bus drop and decided to wait. A bus arrived shortly, but not at the bus drop, so as we were talking to him about our options I noticed a van pull up and drop a couple and their luggage off. Over I trotted, and voila, we had an 11€ taxi to the hotel. We still didn't know if we had a room.

 

So, we arrived at the hotel, about 12:30, good grief is it high up on the mountain, but oh my gosh the views are incredible. Paid the taxi and entered. The clerk, who speaks perfect English with a Chicago accent, and perfect Italian as well advised us that our only communication to them had been an inquiry, but not to worry, they had rooms available.

So we explored our options and decided to live like we got it! We chose the Superior Suite, with the VIP Spa Option. I'm embarrassed to say what we are paying.

But it comes with 2 bathrobes each, one for the room, one for the spa,

plus we each get a pair of flipflops, that we get to keep!

 

So, lunch was arranged, then we went to the Spa and have our 10:30am appointments for tomorrow. We've spent about an hour in the hotels thermal mineral pool, which I thought could have been considerably warmer, and we had a picnic dinner on our balcony overlooking the valley. Caprese salad, basil, olives, bread, and oh yeah, vino rosso.

Yeah, it would be nice to be able to live like price didn't matter.

 

Ok, so tomorrow.....

 

Oh, check this out, they put your room number on your bottles of water and wine so that you can keep it in the dining room fridge! Dang!

 

Travelogue - Pisa, Italy

1 October 2013

 

While in Lucca we used one of our days and did a day trip to Pisa. It is a short train ride, less than 45 minutes, and costs 3.3€ per person each way.

 

We had talked about staying in Pisa but really there were only a few things we wanted to see/do there.

 

We got off the train in Pisa Rossore,

rather than Pisa Centrale (Thank you Rick Steves) which is much closer to the compound where the Leaning Tower, Baptistery, and Duomo are. It was a short walk. There is a bit of a carnival atmosphere because of the crowds of people and the quantity of vendors. It's funny but you get warned off of purchasing from illegal vendors, those that are ambulatory, those without location and license, but while we were walking past a stand we saw the vendor loading up an ambulatory seller. So hmmmmmm?

 

It was so cool as we approached and got that first glimpse of the Tower. It is so iconic, and there we were.

The crowds were overwhelming. We walked all around, looked at all the buildings from all angles, it's all very impressive. We took pictures watched others trying to get that pose keeping the tower from falling... And I do have a confession to make here, I succumbed, I bought a Leaning Tower statue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so after we had seen our fill we walked through town to leave from Pisa Centrale. The rest of Pisa actually looks very nice; reminds me a lot of Florence.

 

We got to the train station, and again, just a short wait for the train.

 

Got back to Lucca in time for late lunch/early dinner, I think it was about 3:30.

 

So we stopped in a restaurant we had been to before and like very much. It did not disappoint.

 

Lucca in Tavola

Via s. Paolino 130/132

Lucca, Italy

www.luccaintavola.it

 

 

 

Travelogue - Parma Italy

We were in Parma 21, 22, 23 September, 2013

 

Tom and I are in Parma. We've got three nights here.

WOW is all I've got to say. There are some pretty amazing things to see and do here. My enthusiasm is dulled, nee tempered just a bit because there are LOTS of youth here. The University of Parma is here, and it is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. The University of Parma has currently over 30,000 students. We just happen to be in the historic center, which also happens to be in the vicinity of the University.

 

And so far, where there have been an abundance of youth there has been trash, and loitering, and groups of youth , and tagging. Not graffiti, which I happen to think is creative and artistic, and which I happen to like, but tagging, which is ugly.

 

So far I can't brag about the food, when we got here, yesterday, at about 3:30pm I had only eaten several palmfuls of these candied nuts that Tom had purchased the day before. Consequently my blood sugar was causing me some issues, and unfortunately the food options that time of day are limited, and vegetarian options even more so. We found a little kebab shop close to the hotel and I had a tortilla stuffed with vegies; lettuce, tomato, cabbage, a bit of yogurt dressing and a little spicy sauce. Tom had a piadine stuffed with meat and veggies, consequently we really weren't up for a big meal later on so ate a little picnic in the room with some stuff we had picked up.

 

Today after walkabout, and visiting a few sights we had lunch at a restaurant, that although gorgeous with white linens and lovely place settings I found to be less than satisfactory, although the wine was very good.

 

There is a train strike going on. Train strikes are apparently a common occurrence, but rarely last more than 24 hours. Reminds me of Senior Skip Day in high school.

 

Parma has a Museo Nazionale located in the Palazzo Pilotta along with the Teatro Farnese. These two are absolute must sees when in or near Parma.

Teatro Farnese is in Baroque-style. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti, by order of Ranuccio I, Duke of both Parma and Piacenza.

The theatre was almost destroyed by an Allied air raid during World War II (1944). It was rebuilt and reopened in 1962. We. Saw photos and the interior was virtually gutted.

The Teatro Farnese is one of the most breath-taking sites we've seen. Constructed completely in wood so you know Tom was slacked jawed through the entire area. It is massive.

 

After you have gaped and gawed over the Theatre You pass over the theatre stage and through a back door to enter the Museo Nazionale. One of the highlights, just in case the art work displayed doesn't do it for you is the use of space. I wish I had the words to describe how they've used the interior of this monstrously large old palace.

 

We saw a number of other things while in Parma - the basilica, the baptistery, the camere de sao paulo, an old farmacy/apothecary shop, and the Parco Ducale which I liked quite a bit. A number of interesting things, but by far the highlight was the palazzo Pilotta.

The morning of departure day we tried to see the Teatro Reggio, but the sound and light guys were setting up for an event so we only got a peek, it looked gorgeous.

Ok, so here are some photos.