12 November 2024: Driving Day from Frosinone, Lazio to Rome and Terme di Saturnia—We checked out of our last B&B of this magnificent trip to Italy and drove toward our final destination in Rome, Hotel Cristoforo Colombo. However, along the way, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather still and see the Terme di Saturnia. I had seen pictures of this thermal springs area and always thought the colors and structure were breathtaking, so before leaving Italy, this was something we would attempt to fit in. On our journey, we saw more and more of one of Dad’s and my favorite trees in Italy: the stone pine. It looks like a tree with a single tall slender trunk and a rather flat canopy of leaves. They seemed to be plentiful on this leg of our journey! The drive to Saturnia meant that we would be entering Tuscany again, this time, the Maremma Toscana region. From Frosinone, it meant a two-hour drive roughly, except…we encountered one accident and one fender bender , which occupied about 40-45 minutes of our time. I do hope that the people involved in the accident are OK…. We got to Tuscany. There, we saw iconic Tuscan scenery, such as hilltop houses/structures surrounded by cypress and stone pine trees. Set in a backdrop of a sunset, I imagine those would be postcard. We did not catch them during sunset, but they were breathtaking in full daylight, as well. The Terme….It turns out that the Terme of Saturnia is actually a pretty busy place, composed of a natural park, a luxury golf course/spa, and a spa with thermal pools. The part that we wanted to see were the Cascade del Mulino (the waterfall of the mill). There is an old water mill where two or three natural thermal springs come together and create several small waterfalls. The force of the water over time has eroded the rocky bed on which they flow. The erosion has resulted in step-like platforms that have since filled with the thermal water in which the public can soak, relax, and heal from several kinds of bodily ailments. This section is free to the public, but we did not find direct access to it right away. We were able to catch some perfect views, however, from a small hilltop lookout point a short distance above and away. In my mind, this is a beautiful natural sight, and I am so grateful that we had a chance to see them in person and that we could capture our own photos to share with all of you. (I don’t think either of us would have gone in had we been able to get that close. I had read about some teeny red worms that naturally live in waters of that type, and even though they are said to be harmless, the thought of sharing soaking space with them just made me squirm). Dinner was at the Hotel’s restaurant on site tonight. Rome is a bit of a crazy city in which to try and drive. We preferred to just stay put and enjoy the luxury of not having to drive for food. I had an awesome appetizer (antipasto) as my main plate plus a shared portion of roasted potatoes. The antipasto was a round of Phillo pastry dough filled with pecorino cheese, with crisp pear slices on top, and a honey-yellow spice delicious sauce beneath it all. John had a porcini and crispy prosciutto (like crumbly bacon) risotto, which he said was very, very good. As we prepare to relax and get some sleep, we are already thinking about the “free” breakfast that is included at this Hotel and that is at the same restaurant where we had our yummy dinner.
Our Travels 