The Hot Springs of Viterbo ~

A quartet of us girls decided to take it upon ourselves to troop to these hot springs we've heard of. 2 hours on the train, trudging in the downpour and a bus later ... we saw the vapors rising from lonely green pastures. Viterbo delivered.

4 tranquil blue pools lie in the middle of nowhere in the Italian countryside with fragments of ancient ruins nearby. A muddy area functions as a makeshift parking lot for the locals who drive by and languidly spend their entire days here. I decided to forgo the Terme de Papi nearby (Terme = "thermal baths" in Italian) since it cost 18 euros to get in but they do have a 2,000 square meter pool - so epic! And I'm too lazy to convert those meters to feet. The outdoor pools we found were free, free, free and being fed by a natural source trickling right into the shallows of water.

Most of the bathers were older folk and yes, speedos are apparently still in fashion, not that I wanted to know. The sky was gray and stormy with a few streams of sunlight, the water sulphorous but deliciously soothing and the girls and I practically had an entire pool to ourselves. The day ended once our fingers resembled raisins and we shot out of the pools rounding the corner of a limestone wall to change back into civilian clothing. I don't think I've had a photo of me only in a bathing suit since I was 15 (for good reason). But what the hey! We even had to bust out umbrellas at one point as the skies opened up and let loose a smattering of droplets, it was simply glorious.

This is ... BARCA!

Photos need to accompany this post so that´ll be a separate entry when I get back to Italy. One night in Barcelona has officially blown away 10 days in Roma. Maybe its because its more metropolitan but the people! the buildings! the things to do! There´s so much to keep my head spinning. And the hostel I´m currently staying in is the first I´ve ever been in but I have a feeling every one I will be at thus after has big shoes to fill. Free internet, neat beds, nutella for breakfast and ... the nightlife is fantastic beyond words.

This guy at my hostel took my entire group and met up with another hostel to hustle us into taxis like a herd of sheep and sent us to a nightclub on a BEACH. Entrance was free for us and these stairs on the boardwalk and first drink was on the house too. It was a swanky place with a 10,000 euro bottle Dom Perignon on the menu O_o and the audience was dressed to the nines. One guy barely got in since he was sporting a sweatshirt and a lot of sharper dressed Spaniards couldn´t get in past the bouncer later. The Mediterranean Sea was crashing waves right in the back porch of the club (Carpe Diem, which means ¨seize the day¨ in Latin). What a way to start a weekend in Barcelona out right.

And today? Drove around a mini motorcycle-go cart hybrid all around the city for 3 hours, getting lost, pulling in the sights and getting stares and waves from everyone who gawped at the bright yellow vehicle and the obvious tourists (moi) within. I must have circled the entire city and am still in shock I could even navigate the roads of a major European city. But it´s time for a ¨siesta¨now, a slang term to take a nap while everyone else takes breaks from work all around.

Baci Baci