The Hot Springs

After spending most of the morning and afternoon preparing for the upcoming first week of classes, I rewarded myself by accompanying Yvonne (my Italian mentor/"buddy") and her daughter, Iagia, to a wholesale organic poultry shop (and other homemade items) called San Bartolomeo.  It's a mom/pop store out in the countryside and this sign is the only indicator of it.  You cannot see the store from the road.  The store is about 10 km away from the wall of Viterbo.

Here's Yvonne (in red) with Jadzia, and the store owners, Rosaria and Luigi Biaggi....okay, so I made up their names but don't they look like a Rosaria and a Luigi??

They were super nice and spent a lot of time with us, giving us information about how the chickens were fed, how the eggs were prepared, the ingredients they used to make their pate products, or where the olive oil they sell came from.  Rosaria and Luigi were gracious (and thankful) hosts, as we spent a lot of money here!

As you can see, Yvonne totally stocked up.  Here she is, with Rosaria, taking a huge box of chicken (all cuts including chicken liver and stomach) to her car.  I walked away with a more modest stock of food: boneless chicken breast, two orders of chicken meatballs, an order of curried chicken, a bottle of olive oil (made in Viterbo), and a small jar each of artichoke and olive pate.  Because they were so thankful for our patronage, they gave me a free container of liver pate they had made that afternoon.  So, I'm all set for bruschetta for the next month!!  Can't wait!


Afterwards, we went to the Terme di San Sisto.  The literal translation of terme is "thermal", which in this context refers to a hot spring.  It's one of three hot springs near Viterbo that get their water from an extinct volcano just outside of the city.  This picture is of the actual hot springs pool, built about 20-25 years ago.  While the site has been here for much longer than that, it has been built up, destroyed, and rebuilt several times.  The pool itself is made out of limestone and over time, the sulfur in the water has smoothed out the sides and bottom of the pool considerably.  You definitely want to use the steps to enter the hot springs, as the sides are quite slippery!

The sulfur smell took some getting used to but this slight distraction certainly didn't deter us from having an enjoyable experience.  Once again, the weather was fantastic and we were privy to a wonderful sunset in the background.

Terme di San Sisto also had a cold springs too (not in view) and it was super cold after having come right from the hot springs.  However, if you sit very still, an interesting phenomenon occurs.  The warmth of your body literally builds a little cocoon around you, giving the sensation of feeling warm in this very cold pool.  It was pretty cool (no pun intended!).