I wish this post was about going to the hot springs with Pope Francis, but it is somewhat close.
Viterbo is famous for many things, one of which includes the Terme (hot springs). It was beloved by many popes who resided in Viterbo instead of Rome for summer vacations (there is even a Pope palace that was once used when Rome was under threat)! But because it was so famous, it was used by a lot of artists and writers, such as Dante and Michelangelo.
I meant to go to the Terme a long time ago, but I finally got around it this weekend. My friend Karen and I decided to walk all the way there, which took about 40 minutes. What we didn't know beforehand is that it would involve a lot of walking on roads that seemed like highways. We received a lot of weird looks, but who cares right? When we arrived at the Terme, however, we learned that there is a bus that takes people from the city center (where we walked from) all the way to the Terme... So on the way back, we took the bus of course.
When we got there, I was so surprised by how well-maintained the place was. The set-up was quite confusing, so we were quite lost. To Italian workers there, we must have appeared as Asian tourists. So they tried to talk to us in broken English, but when we responded in good Italian, they were so impressed. I love how although this town has had American students come every year for the past 15 years or so, the people are still surprised to find American kids learn and speak Italian well.
Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photos because I didn't want to get my phone wet/dirty/defunct. But here is a photo I found from Viterbo tourism website!
