Day 17- To Salsomaggiore Terme

Got up the next day, packed our gear, said our goodbyes, and did a quick pit stop at the Bargello museum, where the one thing I knew Marianne wanted to see (the Della Robbia room) was closed for inexplicable reasons. We got over it though, and said one more goodbye to Erling before jumping on the train to go to Salsomaggiore, a spa town outside of Parma. Took 3 train changes to get there, and we got into town around dusk in the rain. We stopped at a cafe that had wi-fi and found what looked like a good deal in a small hotel, and trundled our bags through the wet streets with only a couple of wrong turns. As we approached the center of town, the looming hulk of the Berzieri Terme came into view. 

Berzieri Thermal Baths cover an entire city block.

Around the turn of the last century, spas and thermal baths were all the rage, with large sanataria where people went to be cured of everything from tuberculosis to gout, and plenty of things even less mentionable. There was undoubtedly a healthy amount of quackery in some of these establishments, but the warm waters do heal, and the facilities they created were often luxurious and comfortable. The Berzieri spa was actually a bit of a latecomer- only finished in 1923- but it is massive! It has a large institutional look from outside, softened by a crazy Stile Liberty decoration that includes reference to all kinds of exotic architecture from around the world, done in a number of materials, including tile, brick, stone, iron, and glass. The insides are equally done up, with all kinds of beautiful decorations. Most of the work was directed by Ugo Giusti, the architect, and Galileo Chini, the artist.

The Berzieri Terme decoration combines equal amounts of Greek, Chinese, and Meso American motifs... oh yeah, and some East Indian for good measure.

Entry to the baths.

Unfortunately the timing wasn't that good, with WWII lurking around the corner, although the Fascist regime did support the baths, and even built a yet larger facility that sits unused now right next to the beautiful Art Deco train station. Bathing sort of fell out of favor in the 60's, and now it is mostly old people that go to the places, though it seems to be experiencing a small revival. Walking the immense hallways of massage rooms at the Berzieri feels like walking through a ghostly hospital, though it's still really beautiful in the darkened halls. 

We went to the baths hopefully, but were a bit disappointed to see that the facilities downstairs had all been modernized, with LED lighting and modern decor. The pools were great to look at, and had some very good hydrojet massage, but unfortunately the temperature was just shy of hot, which left us really wanting a bit more. Still, we stayed a good hour and a half, felt nicely pummeled by the jets, and went back to our very friendly B&B satisfied and tired. 

Crazy colored lightshows in the recently remodeled baths were nice to look at, but not hot enough for us.