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canyonwalkerItaly Travelog #22
Chia, Sardinia - Thursday, 29 May 2025, 5pm
Early today I wrote about how we decided to take it easy at the resort today. We hung out by the pool from the morning through lunchtime. But there's more. More pools. More taking-it-easy. More. MOAR!
After Hawk was done with her massage in the spa I joined her up there for our "Spa Wellness Visit". It's an membership benefit I get as a Hilton Diamond elite. (The front desk agent at check-in told me there are no elite benefits, zero, at this property. She was so adamant there was nothing for us she refused even to enter my Hilton number in the computer. Another agent later, when we went to book the massage, inquired if I had elite status, took my number, and told us about this. ð)
The Spa Wellness Visit includes using the spa's hot tubs, sauna, steam rooms, and "emotional showers". I was amused by the term emotional showers. Like, what, the water drips out of the shower head accompanied by sounds of sobbing? ðĪĢ Alas, no, it's not quite that emo. It's just colored lights flashing and aroma-infused water.
Well, we weren't interested in the sauna or the steam rooms, and the emo-showers just looked silly. Oh, and the aromas were all mint, which Hawk is allergic to. We've already had enough allergy problems this trip. ð So we tried the hot tob, which is the main thing we wanted anyway.
We pressed the too-difficult-to-find button to start the jets and quickly found... the pool is running backwards. Or rather, the pump is installed backwards. The jets on the sides don't work. Instead, water comes jetting up from the middle of the floor of the pool, from what are supposed to be the return vents. ðĪŠ
We gave up on the buttoh (hint: it's backwards) after a minute or two as a pool that just boils and bubbles like a cauldron of trouble is not very enjoyable.
Upon hearing that there are 3 pools to the resort's "Roman baths" I hoped for the classic trio of caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium. Hot, warm (tepid), and cool. The people at the spa were mystified when I used those three Latin words. I mean, this is part of Italy, and there are Roman ruins around. You'd think someone would be aware of what their ancestors figured out 2,200+ years ago. Nope. These are the clowns who put the Jacuzzi together backwards. Buttoh!
So it turns out all three of these pools are tepidaria. None of them are quite hot tubs. Though at the same time no two of them are the same temperature. So they're like plus quam tepidarium, tepidarium, and prope tepidarium. ð
While the three of these pools were pointlessly different in temperature they were purposefully different in how their jets were positioned. One has lounge seats built in with jets in the seats; another has traditional hot tub benches with jets; and the third has a sequence of paired jets at different depths in the water. We used the latter to massage our ankles, calves, thighs, hips, and back and we waded around to different locations. After both amusing ourselves and massaging ourselves for a while we sat out on shaded lounge chairs to enjoy the afternoon warmth.
Chia, Sardinia - Thursday, 29 May 2025, 5pm
Early today I wrote about how we decided to take it easy at the resort today. We hung out by the pool from the morning through lunchtime. But there's more. More pools. More taking-it-easy. More. MOAR!
After Hawk was done with her massage in the spa I joined her up there for our "Spa Wellness Visit". It's an membership benefit I get as a Hilton Diamond elite. (The front desk agent at check-in told me there are no elite benefits, zero, at this property. She was so adamant there was nothing for us she refused even to enter my Hilton number in the computer. Another agent later, when we went to book the massage, inquired if I had elite status, took my number, and told us about this. ð)
The Spa Wellness Visit includes using the spa's hot tubs, sauna, steam rooms, and "emotional showers". I was amused by the term emotional showers. Like, what, the water drips out of the shower head accompanied by sounds of sobbing? ðĪĢ Alas, no, it's not quite that emo. It's just colored lights flashing and aroma-infused water.
Well, we weren't interested in the sauna or the steam rooms, and the emo-showers just looked silly. Oh, and the aromas were all mint, which Hawk is allergic to. We've already had enough allergy problems this trip. ð So we tried the hot tob, which is the main thing we wanted anyway.
We pressed the too-difficult-to-find button to start the jets and quickly found... the pool is running backwards. Or rather, the pump is installed backwards. The jets on the sides don't work. Instead, water comes jetting up from the middle of the floor of the pool, from what are supposed to be the return vents. ðĪŠ
We gave up on the buttoh (hint: it's backwards) after a minute or two as a pool that just boils and bubbles like a cauldron of trouble is not very enjoyable.
Upon hearing that there are 3 pools to the resort's "Roman baths" I hoped for the classic trio of caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium. Hot, warm (tepid), and cool. The people at the spa were mystified when I used those three Latin words. I mean, this is part of Italy, and there are Roman ruins around. You'd think someone would be aware of what their ancestors figured out 2,200+ years ago. Nope. These are the clowns who put the Jacuzzi together backwards. Buttoh!
So it turns out all three of these pools are tepidaria. None of them are quite hot tubs. Though at the same time no two of them are the same temperature. So they're like plus quam tepidarium, tepidarium, and prope tepidarium. ð
While the three of these pools were pointlessly different in temperature they were purposefully different in how their jets were positioned. One has lounge seats built in with jets in the seats; another has traditional hot tub benches with jets; and the third has a sequence of paired jets at different depths in the water. We used the latter to massage our ankles, calves, thighs, hips, and back and we waded around to different locations. After both amusing ourselves and massaging ourselves for a while we sat out on shaded lounge chairs to enjoy the afternoon warmth.
