Olives, wine and old water - travel to the thermal waters of the Mediterranean

"As for the taste, this water is a bit sharp and scratchy. I think it has a lot of saltpeter in it. I went with the intention of drinking it for three days. You drink as much of it as you would anywhere else in terms of quantity. People go for a walk afterwards and are happy that they are working up a sweat."
Michel de Montaigne, who sought baths all over Europe in 1580/81 to get rid of his kidney stones, is one of the literary companions of the authors who wandered through central Italy on different routes in search of hot and cold waters. More than modern wellness havens and spas, steaming open-air waters are of interest, and if a friendly trattoria pops up along the way, the traveler's well-being is well taken care of.
A cold bath along the ancient pilgrimage route in the Tuscan mountains has found its way into this book, as have the well-known and unknown hot springs and baths of volcanic Lazio. The watery plain of Rieti invites you for a bike ride, and you can put on your walking shoes around the Abruzzese baths. Finally, all bathing routes lead to Rome, where people once not only bathed in beautiful spas, but also celebrated, loved, plotted and murdered.