Wednesday 31 January 2024

Summer in Terni

There's no better time to remember the summer than in the heart of winter. So, on this, the coldest day of the winter I am writing about the week I spent in Terni as a guest in my friend's house after we had seen Bruce live in Monza. That particular concert was such a tiring and exhausting experience, what with all the kilometres we had to walk, that we needed to spend a week doing absolutely nothing. And that's exactly what we did.

So, the day after the concert we left Milano and took the train down to Rome. From Rome, Terni is only about an hour away. You have to be careful, though. Trains for Terni leave from the very last platform of Rome's Stazione Termini, which is a fair distance away from the entrance, So there was a lot more walking to do, what with carrying our luggage and all. Terni is on the same line as Ancona, so I had passed through it in 2015 on my way to the Belle And Sebastian concert that year and I knew about that particular platform.




When we arrived there I noticed a strange monument just opposite the station.


The plaque at its base informed us that it was a hydraulic press from the Terni Steel Works, in use until 1993.

The next thing to do was find the house. While doing that we noticed the trademark of the city. A very tall fountain dominating a big square. When we arrived we had to rest and then find something to eat. This is not an easy thing to do in Italy since most restaurants close early. Luckily, there was a McDonald's near the house. So, no healthy food on the first night.

The following day was spent resting (again). We had stocked up on food, but decided not to cook as we discovered that there was a lovely pizzeria opposite the house.

 

The third day was spent with trips to the local supermarkets for food and a sports store for clothes. All these were opposite the house. So no sightseeing again on that day as well.



We then decided to go out. But where? Again, we noticed that there was a bar near the house so we went there where I finally had the chance to try out an Aperol Spritz the drink everyone was drinking that summer even at the Bruce concerts!



And as it turned out, that night was a Karaoke night!

On the following day, we finally went into town. To get to the center we had to walk through a park. The nature is amazing there. If you look towards the horizon you'll see mountains full of trees in any direction.





 







On one of the cafes, I ate the best Tiramisu I have ever tasted, with coffee to pour over it. (Apparently, this is the proper way it is served in Italy).


All in all, a very productive day!

Terni looks even better at night as I discovered on the following day.



Unfortunately, the Tiramisu served at night was much smaller!





These are not ice cream cones, they are stools in an ice cream bar:



On the last day of July, it was time to go...


From the train station, back to Rome (not forgetting that long walk along the platform), and from then on to the airport to catch flights to our respective countries.