ITALIAN SPAS
On a recent tour of spas and hill towns in Tuscany and Lombardy, I found that Italian spas do a lot of things well, but they don't do Spartan at all. They don't have to. Most nutritionists speak highly of the basic Mediterranean diet, with its generous helpings of olive oil, fresh fruit, and vegetables. (My grandfather, who enjoyed far too much food far too often, thrived on this diet for 77 years; my grandmother is still doing well on it at 95.) At many Italian spas, the menu simply offers smaller portions of the regular fare, prepared with less oil.
Spa
life in Italy comes as naturally as the hot springs that bubble up throughout
the Italian landscape (Tuscany boasts more than any other region in the
country). The ancient Romans invented the very concept of the luxury spa,
building their ornate bathhouses over the hot springs, which, they believed, had
special healing properties. Indeed, the word "spa" comes from the
Latin phrase "salus per aquam," which means "health from
water."
The Roman bathhouses were
sprawling complexes complete with change rooms, gardens-even libraries and
museums. And, like today's spas, they had fitness centers in the form of
athletic fields where men and women could work up a sweat. After the workout
came a hot bath, a cold plunge, and then, perhaps, an oil massage.
But Roman spas differed from our own in one significant area: No self-respecting Roman ever thought of trying to curtail his or her appetite. On the contrary, the Romans believed there was nothing like a dip to stimulate desire for both sex and food. Often, after a gluttonous dinner, a hardy Roman would repair to the spa expressly to work up his hunger for a second helping. The Emperor Commodus took up to eight baths a day. No wonder some historians blame the fall of Rome on the bathhouses.
Today many Italian spas are
found near some of the same hot springs in which the Romans lolled. And while
these modern-day bathhouses have retained the Roman air of indulgence, they
combine it with a healthy diet, exercise, and relaxation. Italian spas now
specialize in what might be called the art of moderate hedonism.
Grotta
Giusti
As a newly converted moderate hedonist myself, I
spend much of my time reclining in a folding chair in one of the caves for which
Grotta Giusti is named. Closing my eyes, I listen to the soothing sound of water
trickling from the cave's warm underground lake. Grotta Giusti offers a long
list of activities, but the grottoes, the most scenic steam baths imaginable,
are its main attraction. They were discovered 150 years ago by the poet Giuseppe
Giusti, whose 19th-century villa is now the hotel.
The caves, rich with icicle-shaped stalactites and
stalagmites, are dotted with softly glowing light bulbs; the effect is rather
like being inside an enchanted lava lamp. After 20 minutes in the warm air (the
hottest cave is 34° C, 100° F), my skin is the softest it has ever been. The
minerals carried by the steam (including bicarbonate-sulfate, calcium, and
magnesium) are believed to be good for arthritis and respiratory ailments. The
spa also has a special room with inhaler tubes that allow you to breathe in the
steam without actually entering the caves.
Not far from Grotta Giusti is the famous spa town
of Montecatini, made famous by the great Fellini film 8 1/2. Here you can drink
mineral water from springs used by the Romans. At Terme Excelsior (terme, from
the Latin word for earth, means spa in Italian), a glass of thermal waters is
poured for me from a gold fountain. The woman behind the counter tells me in
halting English that this particular draft is good for digestion, but when I sip
it, I'm reminded of Charles Dickens' description of the mineral waters of Bath,
England, which, he said, "tasted like warm flatirons."
Italian Spas:
Abano Terme
Bristol Buja Spa
39-049-8669390
Columbia Hotel
39-049-8669606
Grand Hotel Trieste and Victoria
39-049-8669101
President Hotel
39-049-8668288
La Residence Hotel
39-049-8669333
Ritz Terme Hotel
39-049-8669990
Capri Island
Hotel Palace-Capri Beauty Farm
39-081-8373800
Hotel Punta Tragara
39-081-837-0844
Chianciano Terme
Spa' deus
39-0578-63232
Fiuggi
Grand Hotel Palazzo della Fonte
39-0775-5081
Ischia Island
The Grand Hotel Excelsior
Belvedere
39-081-991522
Grand Hotel Punta Molino Terme
39-081-991544
Jolly Hotel delle Terme
39-081-991744
Rome
Rome Cavalieri Hilton
39-06-35091
Sardinia Island
Forte Village
39-070-921516
Saturnia
Terme di Saturnia
39-0564-601061
Stresa
Centro Benessere di Stresa
39-0323-30431
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