Off to Tuscany (7)

Here is village and gorge of Equi Terme, which lies in the next valley to Casola. As the crow flies, it's about three kilometres from my village, but I am not a crow and the route by road or footpath is more than twice that distance.

Nevertheless, I frequently visit Equi to bathe in the water of the river, which is blessed with sulphuric salts and other health-giving mineral deposits.

Italians have visited Equi for the purposes of "taking the waters" for centuries. In fact, the first triumvirate was plotted here in 56 B.C when Julius Caesar met Pompey Magnus and Marcus Crassus at Equi, whilst pretending to take the waters. Later that year, they sealed their agreement at Lucca and divided up the Roman world between them.

It's quite entertaining to lie in the soothing mud, with the warm water flowing round you, and contemplate these earth-shaking events, now irrelevant in the flow of time.