Montecatini: Magical Place Amid Pure Waters

Starting your vacation by drinking sulfuric waters of questionable aroma and taste while listening to a formally clad spa ensemble play chamber music may not be your idea of what a holiday is all about, but people have been doing it here, with or without the cellos, since 1370.

What makes Montecatini the reigning doyenne of all Italian spas is a colorful history that entangles such notables as Cosimo de Medici, Mad Ludwig of Bavaria, a clutch of European crowned heads and the likes of Mascagni, Puccini and Verdi, followed by Mary Pickford, Grace of Monaco and Rose Kennedy.

The beauty, belle epoque grandeur, magnificent hotels and site, near the heart of Tuscany, make Montecatini a most pleasant stopover point for anyone touring central Italy or making a sojourn from Florence.

And while you’re here you might as well down a few glasses of the water, soak in a thermal or mud bath and inhale the clear Tuscan air. They say it will alleviate just about anything wrong with your skin, liver, stomach, nerves or metabolism, indeed, “have a therapeutic effect on the entire human organism.”

Here to there: Fly Alitalia, TWA, Pan Am or Northwest to Rome, Italy’s domestic airline on to Florence. Buses make the 45-minute run to Montecatini hourly.

How long/how much: At least a full day for seeing the arresting architecture of all those spa buildings and a trip up to Montecatini Alto with one of Italy’s most delightful little piazzas. Spa treatments are usually over by noon, leaving you the afternoons to roam the hills of Tuscany and their innumerable fetching towns and villages. Lodging and dining costs are moderate to high.

A few fast facts: Italy’s lira recently traded at 1312 to the dollar, or .00076 each. Best times for a visit are May through October. Walk the town, but take a cog train up the hill to Montecatini Alto.

Getting settled in: Hotel Touring (Via Cavallotti 66; $54 double, low season, $90 high, both including lunch and dinner for two) has just been renovated into a chic and shining little place, best of the lot on a street with many two-star hotels. Lobby resembles a four-star hotel, with white leather furniture and grand piano to match, Persian carpets, lots of flowers and plants. Bedrooms are modern and comfortable, dining room in dramatic black and white. Owner very friendly but speaks little English.

Rinascente (Via Trieste 23; $44 and $67 with the same arrangements) is modesty itself, simple and neat rooms, second floor just redecorated and a tad better. Owner Edi Volpi doubles as chef, and the meals he serves are varied and delicious in a pleasant little dining room with fresh flowers on tables. Volpi’s wife-manager is charming and very helpful.

Mediterraneo (Via Baragiola 1; $92 and $100, same arrangements) is one of those small and exquisite hotels that brighten your trip. Well-appointed bedrooms with balconies and TV, private gardens and park, use of tennis courts and lovely pool at nearby Hotel Astoria. Public rooms with attractive period furnishings, small bar, a cheerful dining room with carnations everywhere.

Regional food and drink: Tuscan dining is considered one of Italy’s most varied and delicious, which means plenty of the region’s white Toscanelli beans in imaginative dishes, great steaks, salads blessed with the country’s finest olive oil and seafood from Tuscany’s Ligurian coast.

Two Florentine dishes have made their way throughout the region and country: arista, a loin of pork roasted with loads of garlic and rosemary, and trippa alla fiorentina, a heavenly stew of tripe, tomatoes and herbs and oven-crusted with Parmesan cheese, usually in an earthenware crock.

Chianti, which some Italians consider troppo aceto, or “too sharp on the tongue,” is the perfect accompaniment for the hearty flavors of Tuscan food, so enjoy this regional wine while you’re here, particularly with the area’s marvelous cheeses.

Moderate-cost dining: Most of the town’s hotels require you to take lunch and dinner at their tables, so Montecatini isn’t loaded with good restaurants. But we found a couple.

Lo Stuzzichino (Corso Roma 45) does wondrous things with seafood and pastas, 12 daily selections of the former at about $8 each, 13 varieties of the latter for about $4. They also have a sure hand with veal dishes, as do most Italian kitchens. A long series of connecting rooms with great old pictures on walls, an enormous table of antipasto as colorful as it is delicious, small bar with selection of wines at entry.

Chez les Amis (Via Bovio 1) is fun, funky and decidedly casual, eclectic and a little silly decor within, tables outside on large patio. Superb and aromatic grilled lamb for $8, pastas and risotto dishes for $4. Again, not much English spoken here, but friendly smiles and a helpful manner more than make up for it.

Going first-class: Grand Hotel & La Pace (Via della Torretta 1; $205 to $274 double, meals extra) has been the place to see and be seen since 1870, an absolutely gorgeous and luxurious palace. Huge rooms with splendid antiques, paintings and carpets, mammoth pool, tennis courts, gardens and gym-health center that includes the full baths, mud treatments and massage. The main dining room is right out of Versailles, five-course lunch or dinner a minor symphony of Italy’s best food, preparation and service for about $54 each, plus wine.

On your own: Even if you don’t sample the waters, at least have a morning tea or coffee in the cafe at Il Tettuccio spa, rebuilt as a neoclassic extravaganza behind its 18th-Century facade in the 1920s. It’s the largest and most ornate of the town’s nine thermal spas, a building to be first seen and then maybe believed.

Take the little train up to Montecatini Alto for its numerous sights, perhaps lunch in one of the small trattorie, enjoy the views across valleys to Florence, Pistoia and Prato. Nearby are the towns of Pescia and Collodi, the former with a flower market that ships millions of blooms all over Italy and Europe, the latter famous for its association with the author of “Pinocchio.” Both are magical villages.

After visiting Montecatini’s small but charming Art Academy, perhaps betting a horse at the track, you may take day-trips to Florence, Siena, Lucca, Pisa and a dozen or more other Tuscan towns noted for their beauty and roles in Italian history.

For more information: Call the Italian Government Tourist Office at (415) 392-6206, or write (360 Post St., San Francisco 94108) for a brochure on Montecatini and more information on Italian spas.