2014 The Italian Sea Group Admiral Sail - Silent 76, Carrara Italy

Read article : 2014 The Italian Sea Group Admiral Sail - Silent 76, Carrara Italy

Features:

1. Construction

Hull Construction:

The hull is moulded in GRP from female moulds; it uses a high properties gelcoat and the internal side of the hull is vacuum infused with isoftalic polyester resin while the skincoat features a further application of vi-nylester resin in order to avoid and limit osmosis. Additional reinforce-ments are included to the keel area, the keel longitudinal, mast bulkhead, structural P-brackets, engine room basement, forestay and hull stringers. Limber holes which penetrate structural areas and/or tubes are installed at appropriate points on stringers, bulkhead – landings and floors.

Hull Finishes:

Grey metal hull and with light grey superstructure; red waterline and black antifouling;

Deck Construction:

Moulded in GRP with a PVC foam cored structure for strength and insula-tion. In load bearing areas the core is replaced with plywood for additional strength, and all load bearing fittings have backing plates.

The hull to deck connection is achieved by bonding the deck onto the return flange of the hull and using the glue approved by Class rules in or-der to create a structural junction.

Deck Finishes:

The weather deck, cockpit seats, sole areas and part of the coachroof area are finished with teak planking (10mm). This is laid using epoxy ad-hesive, with no visible fastenings.

The areas either side of the main companionway are finished with teak planking, with open stowage areas and stainless steel rails.

All lockers drain outside and their hinges and catches are recessed or hid-den into Teak planking, as appropriate.

Keel System:

The keel is a high performance bulb design.

The ballast keel is made of lead casting bolted to the GRP hull with stain-less steel bolts. Ballast weight is approximately 14,800 kgs. .

The keel is designed to combine moderate draft with good sailing perfor-mance due to its efficient shape and side winglets. The centre of gravity is very low due to the fact that the centerboard is made of cast iron while the actual keel is made of lead.

Mast and Boom:

Max Spar conventional alloy mast (made of two parts) with Ronstan track for in-boom furling mainsail with top tapered (last 3 meters). Triple spread-er rig with tapered aerofoil spreaders (21° angle).

Custom carbon boom – deep and trapezoidal section incorporating Bamar furling system and electric motor for in-boom furling mainsail.

Mast & Boom and Mast & Vang connections are custom made in alumi-num and feature a special, custom made concealing cover, made of car-bon, which gives a unique design. Also the vang itself feature a custom made concealing cover, made of two carbon conical blocks.

Deck Fittings:

Stainless steel opening pulpit;

Port and starboard navigational lights;

Stainless steel pushpit with gate for boarding;

Custom stainless steel and teak made engine bracket;

650mm stainless steel custom stanchions and bases with double stainless steel rod guardrails;

Pair of gateway stanchions for side access;

Stainless steel telescopic and retractile steamhead fitting with single roller designed to stow a 63kg Delta anchor. The chain flows into the steamhead arm itself, without the need of having an external chainplate;

Pair of custom stainless steel, leather upholstered backrest seats fitted at the helm positions;
6 x pairs of 400mm stainless steel “pop-up” mooring cleats with chafe strips to deck edges;
4 x pairs of aft “pop-up” fairleads and cleats in proximity of the transom bulwark;
Deck fillers – 2 x fuel, 2 x water and 1 x waste;
1000W Sanguinetti Chiavari retractile capstan for mooring lines at bow;

Cockpit:

The cockpit is split into separate guest and steering/crew areas, although they are both on the same level.
The main companionway features a double large horizontal sliding hatchway with stainless steel frames and grab rail. The sliding mechanism is manually powered.
The guest cockpit is over 3m long and self-draining as it’s on the same level of the main deck. There are also cockpit drains which ease the water to drain away while at sea and going upwind. There is a clear walkway giving excellent access from the companionway to the helm positions and side decks, all on the same level.
The cockpit features two teak-topped opening, sliding and telescopic tables.
The tables are permanently installed and have seats on three sides due to the cockpit design. The table is provided with a cover. Under one of the cockpit seats a top opening fridge finds place.
Three pairs of flush mounted waterproof loud speakers are mounted in the guest cockpit with their own cockpit mounted remote control unit for the dedicated ‘cockpit’ CD/Tuner head unit (head unit installed below decks).
Two of those speakers are used by the vhf system, as external loud speakers.
The helm position has twin custom GRP and aluminium steering pedestals
incorporating all the standard controls and instruments with plenty of room for additional equipment, if required. Each pedestal has a flush-mounted compass with internal lighting. There is a double lever engine control fitted at the starboard pedestal. The wheels are fitted in a reverse position, giving easy and safe access to the instruments mounted on both pedestals.
At the helm position an aluminium roll-bar finds place. This is the base where the two fixed points for the mainsheet system are fitted.
Aft the helm positions is a clear flat deck area, which can be filled with cushions, creating a sunbathing area. This area also includes two big lockers with flush-to-deck lids, teak covered; they are designed to host two liferafts or alternatively one can be dedicated to a liferaft and the other one to store lines. A custom flush hatch is fitted with twin gas struts, drain channels, rubber seal and against the wind closing to give access to the large dinghy garage.

Garage & Bathing Platform:

The yacht is built with a flap-down full beam transom, raised and lowered hydraulically, which also gives the main access to the toys garage. The garage can host a good number of toys and actually it fitted to host 3 seabobs.
The bathing platform created by the transom once it’s open it is provided with a demountable stainless steel bathing ladder and it’s covered by teak planking.
A removable ladder also connects the main deck to the transom when open. Alternatively also the gangway can be used for this purpose.
There is a hot and cold freshwater deck shower located in the dinghy garage which can be used on the bathing platform thanks to a flexible hose.
The garage door is also provided with an emergency system for opening the garage, which is placed close to the waterline, protected by a stainless steel screwed in cap and which can be operated by a person in the water.

Hard Top:

The yacht features a custom cockpit hard top, which gives a very good protection to the all cockpit and helm positions. This feature is unique on yachts of this size and contributes to the overall design of the yacht.

The hard has an aluminium structure, attached to the aluminium roll-bar which is placed aft. The practical functions of this will be both sprayhood and bimini.
The hard top has a glass cover and an opening area which is covered with acrylic material (Sunbrella), with battens.
The hard top also features side glasses which deliver complete protection to the forward end of the cockpit seats.

Anchoring:

A Quick 3000w electric anchor windlass is installed below deck and within the anchor chain locker. The windlass, which is two-way and operated by adjacent foot switch controls is well over specified for the size of the vessel.
The 63kg (approximately) Delta anchor stows into the retractable stemhead fitting.
120 metres of 12mm calibrated, galvanized chain is fitted to match the
windlass. The chain is fastened at its 'bitter end' to a through-bolted stainless
steel attachment with substantial lanyard.

Haatches, Windows and Portholes:

1 x Lewmar over forward crew cabin;
1 x Lewmar over forward VIP cabin;
1 x Lewmar over main saloon;
1 x Lewmar over garage (with teak planked lid);
Custom main companionway with double sliding and balanced hatch system,
stainless frames and grab rails (by SeaSmart);
1 x custom GRP hatch to cover anchor steamhead locker;
Custom direct bonded, curved and flat, non-opening frameless deck saloon
windows, smoked glass made (by Viraver);
8 x custom direct bonded non-opening frameless hull windows, smoked glass made (by Viraver);

Whinches:

2 x Harken 1000.3 ST three speed, electric drive, self-tailing primary
winches;
2 x Harken 74.2 ST two speed electric drive, self-tailing halyard winches;

4. Rigging and Sails

Standing Rigging:

The vessel is fitted with discontinuous Maxspar rod rigging for the 3- spreader rig. The standing rigging includes a split backstay which is made of high performance steel and Dynema for the backstay legs, with plates below deck;
Discontinuous rod rigging for tip-cups;
Enclosed rod rigging for tip-cups;
Stainless steel rod, which incorporates high strength, low stretch and high corrosion resistance;
Stemball spreader links and stemball tang fittings used throughout;
Total weight of standing rigging is: 340kg;

Running Rigging:

1 x 16mm dyneema main halyard;
2 x 16/14mm dyneema/dynaone headsail/blade halyard;
1 x 14mm dyneema storm/jib halyard;
1 x 16mm dyneema boom topping lift;

2 x 16mm dyneema asymmetric halyard;
1 x 16mm dyneema mainsheet;
2 x 16mm dyneema blade jib sheets;
2 x 14mm dyneema storm jib sheets;
2 x 16mm dyneema reef lines;
2 x 18mm dyneema checkstay runner tails;

Backstay and Vang Hydraulics:

1 x Cariboni hydraulic backstay tensioners with mechanical lock-off;
1 x Cariboni hydraulic vang with carbon cover;
Operation of these rig hydraulics is powered via a push button console fitted
on pedestal and with a manual backup control unit close to port pedestal;

Blocks:

Spinlock;
2 x stand up single block on bulwark;
2 x pad eyes;

Mainsheet System:

The system is managed by a magic trim system which is installed below deck at mast level. This allows to have a double point mainsheet on the rollbar and therefore the cockpit and deck remain as clear as possible;

Headsail System:

The system uses an auto/tacking jib with single track and single car;

The car can be also used for the removable staysail;

There is a single jib sheet, going from the traveller up to the mast and then down concealed under the coachroof and back to one of the aft winches;

Headsail System:

Bamar electric headsail furling which gives push-button reefing and furling
of the jib;
Unit finished in black anodizing and stainless steel and concealed below
deck to create a flushed bow area;
Manual backup;
Dual controls are provided for each headsail furling function, so the sail may be furled from either side of the cockpit;

Storm Staysail System:

Removable storm jib stay;
Storm jib halyard;
Cariboni hydraulic tensioner;

Rigging Hardware:

Fittings, tip-cups, etc., for discontinuous rod rigging;
Deck ring fabricated in spartite (composite) x 2 kits;
Conduit for masthead instrument wiring;
Spinlock ZS rope jammers for storm jib and blade jib halyards;
Spinlock ZS rope jammers for mainsail halyard and topping lift;
Mast jacking system;
SAILS (by North Sails) Mainsail – SRP 105 – 5 x full-length carbon battens, loose foot, two rows
of reefing points each with custom leech reef block;
Mainsail boom cover in acrylic;
Furling and Selftacking Jib – SRP 105, including a foam luff pad and UV
stripes;
All sails feature a custom graphic design;

5. Electronic Systems

Navigation Instruments:

2 x Raymarine i70, supported data views include: Wind, Speed, Depth,
Tri-data and navigation integrated with the Chart Plotter. The instruments
are installed on each pedestal;
Raymarine SPX-30 SmartPilot autopilot with T3 hydraulic linear drive unit;
2 x Raymarine p70 autopilot remote control located at pedestal and chart
table;
2 x Raymarine e125 Chart Plotter at both pedestals with integrated Digital
Radar and built-in 50 Channel Global Positioning System (GPS), interfaced
with the autopilot;
Raymarine 4kW Radome radar antenna mounted on mast;
Raymarine Ray 240E, Class D-DSC VHF radio-telephone with antenna at
masthead and second station at pedestal;
Magnetic compass;

Entertainment:

Stereo FM Radio/CD Player with iPod and iPhone connectivity. One is fitted with four loudspeakers in the cockpit and has a remote control with twin loudspeakers to the foredeck. Inside the yacht every cabin has a separate stereo system while the master suite and main saloon feature a proper home theatre system which includes stereo and iPod connection.
The stereo system can be also controlled via wifi by an iPad;
8 x OX-Home mirror TV’s are fitted throughout the yacht including bathrooms;

6. Engine Room Equipment

General:

The engine room surfaces are faced with white painted sound absorbing aluminium panels. The engine room access is below the ladder which connects the main saloon to the forward cabin, all other access panels are extra ordinary service panels into the salon floor. The engine room has 24v lighting and is fitted with extractor fans ducted to the exterior through concealed into coachroof grids. An automatic fire extinguisher is fitted with remote indicator light;

Propulsion:

2 x Yanmar Common Rail 4BY2-150 diesel engines, 150hp @ 4,000rpm
ZF reduction gear, which gives a reduction of 2.45:1;
2 x 22” 3 fixed pitch and blades propellers;
2 x 40mm stainless steel shafts lines;
2 x Bronze P-bracket and a PSS water-lubricated lip seal stern gland system;
1 x 15kW SP240 TCi Side Power electric bowthruster with speed control PPC 800;

7. Electrical System

12/24 Volt:

Domestic bank batteries are 24V AGM type, deep cycle series, with a total capacity of 2000 Ah @ 20Ah rate. This battery bank also serves the bowthruster load;
Engine starting batteries are 12V AGM type, heavy duty type (one battery for each engine);
Generator starting battery 12V AGM type, heavy duty type;
2 x 24V/100 Ah alternators (one for each engine);
24V/12V converter, used to charge the engine batteries bank through the alternators;
100A/24V Skylla-TG battery charger;
24V/5000W Phoenix inverter;
12V/30A Phoenix Charger for engines and generator;
24V/12V Blue Power IP20 battery charger for emergency battery bank;
Circuit breaker system;
Victron Easy Control Panel acting as a voltmeter and ammeter for monitoring the vessel’s batteries status;
Batteries isolators;

220 Volt:

1 x 20kW (50Hz) Kohler 4-cylinder diesel generator running @ 1,500rpm installed within manufacturer’s sound shield, located into the fully – insulated engine room. An exhaust water separator and waterlock are installed.

The unit has a remote Start/Stop and instruments mounted on the AC electrical panel at chart table.
220V AC circuit with outlet sockets located as appropriate within the layout;
1 x 63Amp dockside power cable, 3-core double insulated PVC; socket
located on the aft deck;
1 x 100A/24V Victron Battery Chargers;

9. Bilge System

General:

8 x Rule electric bilge pumps;
High level bilge alarm with double level sensor;
Manual bilge pump operated from the side of the cockpit and fitted with a metal deck plate;
Emergency electric bilge pump by Gianneschi, with manual clutch, rated to pump approx. 125lt/min;

10. Fuel System

General:

2 x aluminium tanks providing a total capacity of 1,900 litres, including the
return tank;
Tank inspection cover, one for each;
Tank deck fillers;
Tank gauge system;
Duplex Racor fuel filter and water separator unit is installed with warning lights at the electrical panel. With this system each filter can be isolated whilst maintaining the all machinery up and running, allowing in-use filter replacement and cleaning;

11. Water System

Fresh Water System:

2 x structural tanks totalling 1,360 litres. The GRP tanks are treated with inert gelcoat, fitted with baffles and provided with multiple inspection covers;
1 x 80lt Quick B3 80 water heater; the water is heated by the engine’s heat exchanger or by a thermostatically-controlled 220V, 1.2kW immersion heater element;
180lt/h Idromar MSK 18 watermaker;
Tank deck fillers;
Tank gauge system;

Grey Water:

3 x Sanisplit pressure lines which serve two grey-water aluminium tanks (totalling 220lt) located in the engine room, fitted with a float switch and a Gulper pump, giving automatic evacuation of all showers, washbasins and galley sinks;

Black Water:

5 x Tecma macerator toilets;
1 x 110lt aluminium black water holding tank;
Tank gauge system;
The tank is configured for discharge below water with additional ability to be pumped out from deck via flush-mounted deck fittings.

12. Other Options

General:

60,000 BTU Condaria reverse cycle 220V air conditioning, 8 units;
Barazza Microwave;
Miele electric oven;
Miele Dishwasher;
Miele Washing machine;
Bora 4-plates electric hob;
Bora extractor fan;
Waeco Coolmatic HDC 150 liter 24V fridge, front opening, fitted into the
galley;
Waeco Coolmatic CB 40 Liter 24V fridge, top opening, fitted into the galley;
Third fridge, top opening, fitted into the cockpit, below the seats;
2 x LED underwater lights;
Lopolight tri-wihite light at masthead;
Windex type Wind indicator at masthead with dedicated light;

2 x boom lights over cockpit;
Pair of down and up spreader courtesy lights;
Master gaiter cover in waterproof fabric;

13. Accomodation

General:

The layout allows for a maximum of eight guest berths and two crew, in five cabins, with five heads and separate shower compartments. Owners', guests' and skipper's cabins will have hanging lockers with auto light. All cabins have a mirror fitted.

Deck Saloon:

Access to the Saloon from the cockpit is via a set of teak covered steps, backlighted on the bottom side, with stainless steel handrails on side. The ladder structure is made of aluminium. A custom double sliding, smoked glazed access system is installed at the companionway. This system has a mechanically balanced and assisted operation. The access ladder continues aft, in order to give access to the guest area, and features a Plexiglas divider between the steps going outside and the ones which give access
to the guest area. Below the ladder, in the foyer, a little settee or alternatively a little storage or oilskin locker find place, while below the steps going down into the foyer, which can be removed, there is an access to the main electric switch panel.
Going into the saloon there is a large table to starboard which serves an ‘L’ shape large settee, leather upholstered. The table has a veneered top panel with stainless steel details and it features a sliding mechanism.
There may be also additional stools in order to create more sitting area.
Alternative custom tables are available on request.
To the aft side of the sitting areas, on the bulkhead, a good size mirror TV finds place. A custom drinks locker is fitted forward, surrounding the mast area.
To port side there is a bar area which also works as a kitchen island and which can be provided with tall stools. The island is covered with ‘slatelite onice classico’ on the saloon side which is also backlighted. On the port side, the galley and the chart table find place.
The material used within the saloon are ‘Eucalypt fumé’ for the joinery, white leather and stainless steel strips for the floors and white leather and sand nabuk leather for the headlining. The hull sides, hullports and hatches recesses are upholstered with brown leather, while the venetian blinds are made of wood and leather. The sofa is white leather upholstered.

The Deck Saloon is extremely light and airy, with four bonded to coachroof windows and two opening deck hatches. There are also two long nonopening hullports, one per each side. These hullports contribute to the great feeling of light and space, giving a panoramic view whilst at anchor.

Galley:

The galley has a single, long surface taking the most of the length of the deck saloon. The worktop is covered with ‘Callisto slatelite’ stone with all the appliances being flushed to worktop. The same slatelite material is also used on the floor.
The appliances include a double electric hob for a total of four hot plates by Bora which also feature a particular extractor fan in the middle, again by Bora, fitted on the worktop and assuring a good smoke and odour extraction with the minimum noise. Beside the hob is a sub-counter top mounted ceramic and custom made single sink, which is served by a retractile tap by Barazza. The galley also features an electric oven by Miele
and a microwave by Barazza, together with a front-opening fridge and a top-opening one, better described in the refrigeration chapter. The galley also has a front-opening slim line dishwasher by Miele, for up to nine covers.
Both the refrigerator and freezer have an automatic door light fitted and are provided with their own compressors.

Nav Station:

On this yacht the chart table area is located in order to be a natural continuation of the galley worktop, forward of the galley, and it’s provided with two front-facing panels which accommodate the all electronics, a substantial chart table and a stool which can be removed when not in use.
A small stainless steel support stay is fitted on the chart table lid. There is provision for the stowage of charts. Stowage will be provided also for navigational books, almanacs, etc.

Master Cabin:

The aft cabin is configured with a double berth which is centerlined, one pouf which serves a dressing table and an office desk, plus two large hanging lockers, with drawer and locker space. There is access to the ensuite aft bathroom which is split in two parts, located forward to both sides, one for the shower and the other one for wc, both served by a washbasin.
This cabin is also provided with a safe, flush fitted with digital keypad.

Master Head:

This bathroom is split in two separate areas, on port and starboard side.
The starboard side one includes a separate shower by Bianchi e Fontana and a washbasin; the shower walls and floor as well as the bathroom floor, walls and washbasin counter top are all covered with San Laurant marble with part of the shower corners to be backlighted. Also the washbasin is hollow into the same material and has taps by Fantini and plumbing by Paffoni.
The port side bathroom features a washbasin and a Tecma electric wc (black colour) and the same material as per the starboard one but has Alpilignum joinery instead of marble which is fitted on the floor and on washbasin counter top and stowage doors only. This bathroom also has a mirror TV’ which is hidden behind the mirror.
Headlining for both bathrooms are made of white LED backlighted panels.
Quality large type mixer taps, thermostatic shower controls and fittings are by Fantini and Inda.
Lockers for wash bags, cleaning materials and linen stowage are provided.

Guest Cabins (STB and PRT):

Forward of the master cabin are a pair of guest double cabins, one either side of the corridor.
One of those cabins is configured to be an upper/lower berthed cabin, while the other is a double berth one. Each has en-suite WCs and showers and a hanging locker. The beds also feature a big storage space under the slats net which can be lifted up.

Guest Head:

The two aft guest’s bathrooms serve the two aft cabins and are almost specular. They are both fitted with a separate shower by Bianchi e Fontana and they feature walls, floors and washbasin counter top in “Slatelite Selene”. The headlining is made of “Dani Boxland” leather and of varnished panels. The wc’s are Tecma electric (colour black). Both the bathrooms feature quality mixer taps and thermostatic shower control by Fantini
and fittings by Inda. In particular the taps are fizzed to floor and have a cylinder design.
The washbasins are mounted on the slatelite counter top and are by “Glassdesign” (colour black); the port side one is a gum type (flexible).
In both bathroom there are rollaway stainless steel wirings fitted in the shower which can be used to hang wet clothes; in this way the shower cubicle can be used as an oilskin locker.

VIP Cabin:

Forward from the saloon, which also include the galley on the port side, there is a VIP double berth cabin which uses the all beam of the yacht and has an en-suite good size bathroom on the starboard side. This cabin is also provided with a safe, flush fitted with digital keypad.

VIP Head:

The VIP bathroom takes the all length of the VIP cabin and is placed on starboard side. The shower walls and washbasin top are made of “Slatelite Elios”, while the other walls feature an “Alpilignum” joinery. The floors are made of “Calacatta Oro” marble which is also backlighted into the shower.
The headlining are made of “Dani Boxland” leather. Hidden behind the mirror, a TV finds place too.
The wc is an electric Tecma (Black colour) and the quality mixer taps and thermostatic shower control are by Fantini, while the bathroom’s fitting are by Inda. The washbasin is a ceramic type, squared, over counter top mounted, by “GSG Ceramica” (glossy white colour).

Crew Cabin:

Forward of this cabin is a double crew cabin with en-suite head and integral shower. This cabin is also fitted with a laundry corner which includes a washer-dryer; the access to this cabin is through a generous size deck hatch only.

Crew Head:

The Crew head which is accessible from the crew cabin only, features a Corian type floor with integrated grate for shower drain. The bathroom has an integrated shower and for this reason all the wall, lockers and other surfaces are made of easy to clean material. The bathroom has taps and shower fittings by Paffoni and a Tecma electric toilet (white colour).
In the bathroom as well as in the cabin itself there are rollaway stainless steel wirings fitted which can be used to hang wet clothes; in this way the bathroom can be used as an oilskin locker, while the cabin area can be used as a drying area.

Disclaimer

This offering is subject, but not limited to, errors, omissions, price fluctuation, and prior
sale or withdrawal without notice. All details disclosed are without guarantee and solely
based on the information received by the seller, intended as a general guide to the Yacht.
Engel & Völkers cannot be held liable for any lack of completeness, inaccuracy, or ambiguities
and/or errors contained in the information disclosed. It is the buyer’s responsibility
to disclose the details of any concern(s) to the seller, by the request of a survey, inspection and/or enquiry. The buyer must ensure that the purchase contract properly reflects his
concern(s) and that it sets out any representations and/or details on upon which he may
rely. Engel & Völkers always advises the buyer to conduct an independent survey
prior to the purchase. We are at your disposal for any further information about the
Yacht. Upon receipt of notice, the Yacht is available for viewing at any time, accompanied
by our Yacht Broker. The Seller is responsible for the payment of Commission

Lodging and Dining in Lucca, Italy

Read article : Lodging and Dining in Lucca, Italy

Next stop in our European adventures: Lucca, Italy.  We spent 7 days in this small Tuscan town, the longest stay of any of our stops.  We planned it this way so we’d have a place we could really relax and soak in some Italian culture.

Renaissance-era walls surround Lucca, creating something like a community roof-top garden around the city. On top of the walls, people congregate, picnic, go for a jog or ride bikes.  Once you’re up on the wall you can see a panoramic view of the city within the walls, a city colored by orange and yellow hues, with towers peaking up above the buildings, and a few plazas where people gather.  Lucca has all of the traditional elements of a small Italian town: beautiful churches, ancient statues, delicious gelato shops, and classic regional cuisine all lending itself nicely to your heart growing fond of this city.

Our days went a little something like this in Lucca: We would wake up to the sun peeking through our balcony windows but we’d proceed to stay in bed a bit longer. Then we would walk down our block greeted by a street musician to a little historic cafe (one that composer Puccini, who was from Lucca, frequented); we’d sit on their patio for an unknown and undetermined amount of time while enjoying a capuccino.  After getting some caffeine in our system we might walk around the city for a bit, go to a museum, or see a church, and grab some lunch or gelato or both in the midst of our exploring… maybe take some pizza and picnic on the wall, or grab a famous chickpea crepe and a glass of wine.  After a few hours of that, we would return to our apartment for an afternoon nap. Josh would draw with his newly bought art supplies from the art shop down the street and I would read.  We wold follow this up with showers then we’d venture back out into the city for dinner, trying to wait as long as we could so we could eat at the same hour as the Italians (8-9pm).  Most nights we ended up eating with the early crowd, around 7:45pm, which means we would meet tourists, mainly retired aged, or the older Italian crowd.  Sitting at a dinner table in a small foreign town, casually chatting with the few tables around us, and having a drawn-out 3-4 course true-Italian meal.

If we still had any room left in our stomaches we’d grab a scoop of gelato or what became my favorite treat, a hazelnut gelato bar, and we’d walk around the city at night while enjoying a sweet treat. Then we’d return to our apartment and listen to the noises of the city and restaurant beneath as we fell into a deep sleep.

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Our home during our 6 days in Lucca was a perfect Italian apartment residing over a popular neighborhood restaurant and overlooking the back walls of the famous Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, where citezens used to gather and be entertained. Our cozy apartment had windows you could open up so we could get the afternoon breeze while we read, or over hear the fountain and the people enjoying a late night bottle of wine in the evenings. Every day different tour groups would come by and we’d learn a little more about their area from listening out our kitchen window.

Our days in Lucca were perfect, magical even. This small Italian town will forever be a special place for us.

MORE INFO ON LUCCA:

Lodging in Lucca: I recommend renting a small apartment within the city walls which you can find on the sites below

airbnb

vrbo 

Our favorite places to eat in Lucca:

Di Sumo Cafe, Via Fillungo 58 (where we had capuccino every morning)

Trattoria Canuleia, Via Canuleia 14 (we had our favorite meal here)

Osteria Cia S. Giorgio, Via S. Giorgina 26 (serving classic farro soup and lots of fresh fish options)

I Santi, Via dell’Anfiteatro 29 (the restaurant under our apartment; great wine list and excellent but pricey menu)

Trattoria de Leo, Via Asili (hopping locals cafe with cheap house wine and traditional cuisine)

Pizzeria de Felice, Via Buia 12 (famous chickpea crepes)

Our favorite sites in Lucca:

San Giovanni Church – not the main church that tourists come to see but this was the first cathedral of Lucca and gives you an idea of what the city used to be like through the archeological finds that are exposed under the church. You can see remnants of ancient bath houses and roads, discovering there’s a whole other city under the modern-day Lucca. We also learned that a disciple of S. Peter of the Bible became the first bishop of Lucca, revealing that the remnants under this church date back to the time of Christ.

Guinigi Tower – tallest tower in the city built by a wealthy silk baron, giving great views of the city.

Piazza dell’Anfiteatro – ‘the archetectural ghost’ of a Roman amphitheater (as Rick Steves would say). This theater used to seat 10,000 people. (pictured above)

Wall around the city – grab a picnic of fresh salami and cheese and find a shady spot on the wall or rent a bike for a couple of rounds along the 2.5 mile jaunt.

Traditional Luccese Foods:

Ceci or cecina – garbanzo bean crepe, an ideal cheap snack best accompanies by a nip of wine

Farro – spelt grain often served in tomato soups in Lucca

Tordelli -homemade ravioli stuffed with pork and beef and served with more meat sauce (Josh had this literally every day)

Buccellato – bread dotted with raisins

Torta de Lucca – sweet swiss chard tart with pine nuts (pictured above)

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‘Twin Peaks: The Return’ Episode 14 – “We Are Like the Dreamer”

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An episode of connections.We’re so close to the end I can taste it, but I can’t identify the flavor. With only five episodes before the conclusion, whatever that may be, the plot is still ramping upwards. This week’s episode was, for lack of a better word, PERFECT. It had the artistry of episode 8 and more meaningful narrative clues than any other episode this season and maybe in the entire series. I almost fainted at least four times during the episode, which it took me 90 minutes to get through because I kept having to pause and process. Deep breath, Peakies, here we go:The story continues in Buckhorn, South Dakota, with Gordon Cole making a phone call to an old acquaintance: Lucy in Twin Peaks. After a brief catch-up, Lucy connects Cole to Sheriff Truman, whose call he’s returning. Cole thinks he’s getting Harry, but it’s Frank, who shares his brother’s condition with Cole, then goes on to bring the director up to speed on the missing pages from Laura Palmer’s diary Hawk found hidden in the station bathroom which seem to suggest there are two Coopers. Frank thought Cole might want to know this, even if the Sheriff doesn’t know what it all means. Cole can’t comment but to thank him.Elsewhere in Buckhorn, Albert is sharing the details of Blue Rose Task Force case #1, the one that “started this whole thing,” with new recruit Tammy Preston. In 1975, he says, two young agents were sent to investigate a murder in Olympia, Washington. The agents arrived to arrest the suspect, one Lois Duffy, at a motel, but before they could apprehend her, they heard a gunshot from her room so busted in and found not one but two women there, one dying from a gunshot wound, and one holding a gun. Lois was the wounded one, and shared with them her last words: “I’m like the blue rose.” Then Albert says, almost like an incantation, “She smiles, she dies, then disappears before their eyes.” The other woman, the one holding the gun who’s screaming her head off now, is also Lois Duffy. Not a twin – they checked – but another Lois. This Lois goes to trial for murdering the other Lois, which she swears she didn’t do, but before the verdict comes in, the living Lois hangs herself. Now Albert reveals the names of the two young investigating agents – Gordon Cole and Phillip Jeffries – and asks Tammy what’s the one question she should be asking back? She knows: what’s the significance of the blue rose? The same question Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) asked Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak) in Fire Walk With Me but Desmond didn’t answer. Albert asks if Tammy also knows the answer. She says a blue rose doesn’t occur in nature, like Lois’ disappearing death, it’s a conjured thing, “a tulpa,” which is a Buddhist term for a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through sheer spiritual or mental discipline. It’s also translated as “magical emanation,” “conjured thing,” or “phantom.” Sounds to me like a dream made real, something one imagines and then somehow translates out of imagination.Courtesy ShowtimeCole interrupts to let them know Diane’s on her way. Sure enough, she enters and immediately lights up. Cole asks her about the last night she saw Cooper, not in the prison but at her apartment in Philly all those years ago; he wants to know if Cooper mentioned Garland Briggs. Diane doesn’t want to talk about that night – we remember an insinuation of sexual assault – but Cole persists. Diane says Cooper did mention Briggs. Albert takes over and brings her up to speed on the Briggs case, how he died, or was supposed to have died, and how he really died. He also reveals what they found in Briggs’ stomach, the wedding band inscribed to Dougie from Janey-E. Diane seems to know what this means, and then drops the biggest connective bomb of the entire third season so far: she has a half-sister named Janey who’s married to a man named Douglas Jones; everybody calls him Dougie, and her Janey-E. Last she heard they lived in Vegas, but she doesn’t know for sure, she and Janey are estranged, or, more specifically, Diane hates her. They haven’t spoken in years, and it would seem like Diane has never even seen this Dougie, as he looks exactly like Cooper (at least to us, and to him. We’ve seen him seeing his reflection in a mirror, but I don’t think we’ve seen a picture of Dougie to this point. He could look like someone else to the world). Cole jumps off her recollection and has Tammy get the Las Vegas FBI branch on the horn. He tells the agent, Randall Headley, to get him everything they have on Dougie and Janey-E, pronto. Cole then thanks Diane, dismissing her. Cole shares what he learned from Frank Truman with Albert and Tammy, as well as the fact that last night he had another Monica Bellucci dream, referencing the actual, beautiful Italian actress of such films as Irreversible and Matrix Revolutions: he was in Paris on a case when Monica called and asked to meet him at a certain café, she had something to tell him.The picture shifts to black-and-white, the scene to a Parisian café. Monica and Cole meet, and Cole says Cooper was there, only he couldn’t see Dale’s face. Monica was very pleasant and she’d brought friends, a man and a woman. They all had coffee. We see Monica shed a single tear, then she recites what Cole calls “the ancient phrase:” “we are like the dreamer, who dreams and then lives inside the dream.” Why do I feel like Lynch just gave away the whole shebang right there? Cole told Monica he understood, and then she asked a question for her coda, the same question we were all thinking after what she just said: “Who is the dreamer?” Any guesses? I’ll save my speculation for the end of the recap. In the dream, Cole says a very powerful and uneasy feeling came over him. He says Monica directed him to look at something over his shoulder, where Cole saw himself from long ago. What he’s seeing is the scene from Fire Walk With Me when Coop comes in to tell him about a dream he had, the 10:10 February 16^th dream. Is the implication that we’re all in Coop’s dream? Which Coop, though? This, of course, is the infamous Phillip Jeffries scene, and right now I’m sweating I’m so excited. Sure enough, we see Jeffries (David Bowie, to whom the episode is dedicated), specifically, the part of the scene where he points at Coop and asks “who do you think this is, there?” For a quarter-century Twin Peaks fans have been debating this one facet of the scene, and now it feels like a revelation is on the horizon. What kind of Moebius strip are Lynch and Frost plotting? And which Coop was in Philly, then, bad posing as good? Conundrums on top of conundrums. Cole had forgotten about all this until just now, as had Albert, but now they’re both remembering it, and recognizing its significance.In Twin Peaks, Andy, Hawk and Bobby are setting up lunch, but it’s really just a sting to arrest Chad for his part in the Chinese designer drug traffic.A fog settles over Ghostwood Forest and Frank, Hawk, Andy and Bobby are now preparing to ascend the mountain to reach the coordinates left by Major Briggs. Electrical wires hum tellingly overhead: there’s power in the air. They start off. Shades of Coop, Harry, Doc Hayward, and Hawk hiking up to Jacques Renault’s cabin in the original series; I’m hoping for a character-fan shot or a Log Lady run-in, but get neither. Our foursome arrives at the site of what’s left of the station where the Major worked and was “killed.” Bobby went inside the place a couple times when he was younger but doesn’t know what his dad did there, it was all classified. He just remembers a bunch of machines. There is one spot on the property Bobby knows all about, though, Jack Rabbit’s Palace, basically an old tree stump, but to Bobby it was a father-son bonding place where he and the Major traded tall tales. It’s also the starting point of the Major’s directions. They put soil in their pockets as per his instructions, then Bobby mentions a cautionary memory: his dad always told him never to wander around here without him. I bet they all wish the good Major was there now. They press on until they round a corner and find a cloud, fog, steam, mist, smoke, or something of the sort, but very localized, covering just one spot. Light flashes, crackles more like it, from an unknown source. Then the smoke or whatever clears and we recognize the locale: Glastonbury Grove, Twin Peaks’ entrance to The Black Lodge. The circle of 12 sycamore trees, the ring of stones holding a puddle of scorched oil, it’s all there. And so is a body, female, naked. They turn her over. It’s the eyeless woman from the inside of the tower overlooking the purple ocean, the woman who led good Coop to the cube in space then fell into the cosmos right after turning on an electrical devise (like the one in the Dutchman’s quarters that triggered the belching of the Laura bubble in episode 8), and right before we saw the floating head of Major Briggs. Naido is her name according to the credits, and she is alive. She is trying to speak but her words are that same scrambled whisper-echo from the last time we saw her, thus indecipherable. Frank looks at his watch and confirm it is now 2:53, the time the Major’s instructions said they were supposed to be there. Right on time, another vortex – like the one Cole experienced in Buckhorn outside the abandoned house where they found the body of Ruth Davenport with the Twin Peaks coordinates on her arm, these coordinates, most likely – opens in the sky. This time they all see it, and it seems to cause Naido pain. Andy, who is holding her hand, drops it, hypnotized by the vortex, and stands. It’s like something is calling him. Light envelops him and he blinks out of the scene, only to reappear a second later in the Dutchman’s quarters. The Dutchman approaches and sits opposite Andy, just as he did Cooper in the season three premiere.“I am the Fireman,” the Dutchman says, and raises his right hand. Andy is holding something now, like a large rose made of paper, very angular and with a spout in its center that spits smoke into the air. This smoke is sucked away through a skylight or something like it, a large, domed, lit circle. Andy looks at this, his concentration slipping into it. It goes dark. We see the box monster (billed in the credits as The Experiment), the mucus strand it regurgitated that birthed BOB, the convenience store, the Woodsmen milling about it – essentially all we were shown in episode 8, including “Gotta light?” guy. Then scenes from the original series: the unknown student running across the TPHS quad upon learning of the death of Laura Palmer, the curtains of the Lodge, Laura’s homecoming photo flanked by reflections of an angel, I assume the same angel who came to Laura at the end of Fire Walk With Me. Then Naido, unresponsive on the ground. Then the two Coops, good and bad, side-by-side. Then a ringing phone, Andy and Lucy in the Sheriff’s station, everything trembling. He’s showing her something, Lucy, but we don’t see what. Naido again, trying to speak. Then the 6 on the telephone pole from Fat Trout Trailer Park by which long ago Teresa Banks’ trailer parked, the pole by which, presently, I think Becky, Shelly’s daughter, might park her trailer. Then the message is over.Courtesy ShowtimeAndy blinks out of the Lodge and back to Jack Rabbit’s Palace, where the others are waiting for him (because of the soil in their pockets, I think, it’s a metaphysical anchor that tethers them to reality). In his arms Andy holds Naido. They have to get her down the mountain, he tells the others, as she’s very important and there are people who want her dead. She’s fine physically, he says, but needs to be in a cell for her safety. He tells them to say not a word to anyone. They don’t object. In an aside, Frank asks Hawk what happened to them out there, but neither can remember.Courtesy ShowtimeIn a cell at the station, Lucy helps Naido into some spare pajamas. Chad heckles Andy from his own cell nearby, but gets an earful from the Deputy for his thoughts. A drunk in another cell with a busted mouth parrots their conversation. In her cell after Andy and Lucy leave, Naido feels the air and makes her strange sounds, which the drunk also imitates. This drives Chad bonkers, but he deserves it. The drunk bleeds profusely from his mouth.Across town at The Great Northern, a pair of security guards are on break. One of them is James Hurley, who mentions they have one more job then they can hit The Road House. The other guard, Freddie Sykes, a young Brit who has a glove on his right hand that makes it difficult to crack nuts, knows James just wants to see Renee – the girl who cried tears of joy while watching him sing last week – then adds this interesting tidbit: Renee’s married. What is it with James and unavailable women? Laura was with Bobby when she and James were together, Donna was technically with Mike Nelson when James moved on to her, Evelyn Marsh was married when they had their tryst, and now Renee too is bound in the eyes of god to another man. Get a new type, dude, for your own safety. And side-note: “Freddie Sykes” is the name of the one-armed man, the true killer, in The Fugitive movie (in the TV show the one-armed man was called Fred Johnson); this is not the only such reference in Twin Peaks – the human name of MIKE, the one-armed man of Twin Peaks, is Philip Gerard, which is the same name as the detective in The FugitiveTV series (Sam Gerard in the movie). Coincidence? Not bloody likely, especially since Freddie, like MIKE, has a limb issue. James mentions today’s his birthday, then changes the subject by asking about Freddie’s glove. Freddie says he can’t take it off, he tried once but bled like crazy, it’s a part of him. James asks where he got it, but Freddie isn’t supposed to tell, he doesn’t think James will believe him. James convinces him otherwise. Freddie was living in London six months ago. After a night in the pub he’s walking home alone and turns into an alley. He gets a peculiar feeling like he’s wasting his life, out drinking when he should be helping people. Then, for some reason, he jumped onto a high stack of boxes and above him a vortex opened. A Lodge vortex, sounds like, especially when Freddie says the vortex sucked him up and put him in front of a fella called himself “the Fireman.” The Fireman tells him: “Go to the hardware store near your flat and there you’ll find a rack of green gardening gloves. One pair will already be open, with only a right-handed glove inside. Purchase that package and place that glove on your right hand. That hand will now possess the power of an enormous pile driver,” and then poof! He was back at home. Freddie did as he was told, found what he was supposed to find, but the hardware store clerk didn’t want to sell it to him since the package was open. Freddie insisted, but the clerk held firm. Freddie tossed the cash on the counter and headed for the door, putting on the glove as he went. The clerk attacked him and in defense Freddie popped him with his gloved hand. It almost killed the clerk, and in the moment Freddie remembered one more thing the Fireman told him: “Once you put the glove on, go to Twin Peaks, Washington, in the United States of America, and there you will find your destiny.” So here he is. James, and I, am flabbergasted. He wants to know why Freddie thinks the Fireman chose him, a question Freddy asked the Fireman. The answer: “Why not you?” Furthermore, when he went to buy a ticket to America, he was told he already had one. It was all arranged. Help me out here, gang – what’s a word that means painfully curious?James goes to check the furnace in the boiler room, the last job of the night. It’s predictably creep AF, and it has me thinking of the boiler room in which BOB revealed himself and his intentions at the end of the international pilot back in 1989. The whole place is throbbing with power, with electricity. But nothing happens, nothing we see, at least, only a bit of attention on a closed door.Cut to Elk’s Point #9 Bar. A figure walking towards it in the dark, smoking. Shades of a Woodsman. It’s Sarah Palmer. She enters the bar and bellies up, orders a Bloody Mary. Seems like foreshadowing to me. At the end of the bar there’s a man with a ponytail and a ball cap nursing a shot and a beer. He notices Sarah. Doesn’t seem like a good notice. He pounds the rest of his shot and approaches. “Truck You,” his shirt says, so you know he’s classy. Turns out he means to hit on Sarah, but she wants to be left alone. Truck You has a hard time taking a hint, and in fact he’s a rude prick. Offensively rude. He tells her she eats cunt. She says she’ll eat him. He finds this funny; I realllllly don’t think he should. Sarah is too calm, scary-calm, dangerous-calm. Truck You threatens physical violence, and then the shit hits the fan. Sarah TAKES OFF HER FUCKING FACE, just like Laura did in the premiere, but where there was light behind Laura’s face, behind Sarah’s there is murky darkness and a bony hand, fingers splayed. In a crackling voice Sarah asks Truck You, “Do you really want to fuck with this?” Hell-to-the-fuck-no, sir, you do not. But it’s too late. She bites his throat out, then screams and acts like she doesn’t know what happened. The bartender naturally questions this. The cops are called. Sarah is unconcerned. Or should I call her BOB?Courtesy ShowtimeThen we’re at The Road House at a table with yet two more lovely young ladies, Sophie (Emily Stofle) and Megan (Shane Lynch, but not related to David; she is, however, the daughter of actress Kelly Lynch). They’re talking about how Megan’s been hanging out at what Sophie calls a “nuthouse” getting high, which Megan denies, explaining she only gets high at home. Then another connective tissue. Sophie asks Megan if she’s seen Billy, Audrey’s Billy. Megan hasn’t, not for a few days. Seems like the running answer around town. Sophie heard Megan was among the last to see him. It’s true. Megan was in the kitchen with her mom and maybe her uncle, and they saw Billy jump a six-foot fence into their yard, running like he was being chased. He busted into their kitchen with blood coming out of his nose and mouth. Everyone started screaming, natch. Billy hung his head in the sink, then turned to look at them, then ran out the back. Sophie can’t believe they didn’t tell anyone, but Megan wants to know what were they supposed to tell? She says she knows Billy and her mom had a thing, and that means either Audrey has a daughter as well, or Tina does, and Tina was also banging Billy, which would explain why Audrey doesn’t care for her. Megan confirms this latter theory, her mom is the mysterious Tina. Anyway, Billy took off and left blood all over their kitchen. Megan still can’t remember if her uncle was there. This “uncle” has to be someone we know, or at least someone of significance. Then the music starts, Lissie, and the episode ends.___This hour was all about connecting storylines: Diane and company to Dougie Jones, to Twin Peaks; Cole’s dream hearkening back to the Jeffries scene in Fire Walk With Me; Andy et al to The Black Lodge and Cooper’s guide Naido; Freddie’s mysterious connection to The Black Lodge, to the Fireman/Dutchman/Giant/?????; Megan, Tina, Billy and Audrey, the unknown uncle – the strands are lining up to be braided. It was a masterful episode, no doubt about it, and one that hints at the structural genius of the series, how the pieces have been in places for decades waiting to align into a complete if mystifying narrative. There’s never been anything like this in the history of television or film, there’s never been a narrative this complex and captivating, this ingenious and insidious, this nuanced and multi-layered. This makes at least the second time – this season – that Twin Peaks has changed how its medium tells stories. TV, more so than film, is a mainstream art form, meaning it’s largely designed for various common denominators. Twin Peaks isn’t designed for anyone, for any standards, or for any expectations. It’s independent TV, for lack of a better term, it doesn’t adhere to the medium’s restrictions, it reshapes them. If you’re out there right now writing your first TV series spec, start over, the rules have changed.There’s a showdown coming, one bound to be set in The BlackLodge just as the showdown at the end of season two was, but if you’re expecting a clear-and-true resolution, watch Game of Thrones; that’s not Twin Peaks’bag. I have ideas on what’s coming – who is this dreamer, and just how long have they been dreaming? We did see little Sarah Palmer (who I’m calling the black-and-white girl who swallowed the bug-BOB in episode 8) fall asleep back in the 50s – but I know they pale to what we’re actually going to get in just three short but soul-crushingly-long weeks.Fourteen down. Four to go. Brace yourselves.More to Read:

Word Wenches: Keeping it Clean

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Joanna here, talking about Georgian and Regency bathtubs and the joys of getting clean. 
 
There is a general view that historical people were rather dirty, there being a dearth of historical folks getting up at six and grabbing a bar of soap and popping in to warble un bel dì vedremo in the shower.  I'm afraid we all feel rather smug about our acres of colored tile with the running hot and cold.

How clean were they?  The townsfolks as they merrily hung aristos from the lamposts, Ninon de l'Enclos, Voltaire, (Did you know Ninon left money in her will for the 9-year-old Voltaire to buy books?) Napoleon, Jane Austen, the kitchenmaid grinding coffee in the morning? How clean were they?

This is a case where the written historical record tends to desert us, somewhat, as folks do not record in their diary, "I got up and Mary-the-perky-maid brought me six liters of water and I washed my face, hands, underarms and, last off, various parts south of the waistband." any more than we text to our BFFs to say we've had a morning shower.

So we end up making some 'best guesses' about this whole business.

You had your everyday getting clean.  You had your getting wet for recreational purposes. And you had your washing the body to treat diseases.

This last one gets written about a lot in a 'I went to the baths to see if I could get rid of this nasty skin condition' or 'the physician prescribed a course of cold baths with sulfur powder in them and I feel much better now that I have stopped' sorta way.  Marat, you will recall, was in exactly such a medicinal bath when Charlotte Corday brought it, and him, to an abrupt end with a knife.

Medicinal Baths and Thermal Spas.  The mineral baths at Bath and other spa towns provided an immersion intended to improve the health, not so much wash the body, though it did that too.  Some places there were separate baths for men and women.  Some places, everybody bathed together.
They went into the water dressed. Wearing their periwigs and bonnets.  I should think the fumes did neither periwigs nor bonnets much good, frankly.

Up at four o’clock, being by appointment called up to the Cross Bath . . .  very fine ladies; and the manner pretty enough, only methinks it cannot be clean to go so many bodies together in the same water. Good conversation among them that are acquainted here, and stay together. Strange to see how hot the water is; and in some places, though this is the most temperate bath, the springs so hot as the feet not able to endure. . . . Carried away, wrapped in a sheet, and in a chair, home; and there one after another thus carried, I staying above two hours in the water, home to bed, sweating for an hour.
         Pepys' Diary

Let us leave the whole subject of medicinal baths very quickly, as it is generally unpleasant, even if you're not getting stabbed.

Though I should point out that folks still do this medicinal bath bit, in the way of putting baking soda in a bath for some poor sufferer from poison ivy, and modern herb baths hold anything from lavender to chamomile and thyme.  The 'it's good for you' bath is not going to disappear anytime soon.

Out in the Fresh Air.  The opposite of taking a bath because it was good for you was getting wet just for the fun of it.  Any warm day would probably see the local youths sporting in the local river.  There are a good many references to folks doing exactly this -- including a Paris ordinance forbidding nude bathing in the Seine, but only near the bridges -- to avoid the scandalizing the public.

Pepys, in his diary, notes the sad death of a young boy bathing in the Thames.
and at Somerset-stairs do understand that a boy is newly drowned, washing himself there, and they cannot find his body.

Or this Englishman travelling in America.
Early the next morning, my kind, attentive host entered into my bedroom and inquired if I should like to take a bath. I replied in the affirmative, and immediately rising, was conducted to one in an adjoining field which is filled by a small brook and is therefore always fresh.
          A summary view of America, Isaac Candler  1824

Period pictures are not an entirely reliable guide to actual practice.  Showing folks bathing in pools and rivers is a great excuse to paint nekkid people, after all.  But from an extensive personal survey,it looks like bathing -- where folks actually got wet all over as opposed to wading in the water -- tended to be young people and they were segregated into women and men.  

Bathing in the sea, for fun and medical benefit, became fashionable in the Eighteenth Century, with 'bathing machines' on offer from mid century. 

The fourth is its fondness for bathing-machines,
Which it constantly carries about,
And believes that they add to the beauty of scenes-
A sentiment open to doubt.
          Lewis Carroll

Bathing machines were high-wheeled wagons, with a canvas or wood structure on top, towed from the shore into the sea. 

Image to yourself a small, snug, wooden chamber, fixed upon a wheel-carriage, having a door at each  end, and on each side a little window above, a bench below – The bather, ascending into this apartment by wooden steps, shuts himself in, and begins to undress, while the attendant yokes a horse to the end next the sea, and draws thecarriage forwards, till the surface of the water is on a level with the floor of the dressing-room, then he  moves and fixes the horse to the other end – The person within being stripped, opens the door to the sea-ward, where he finds the guide ready, and plunges headlong into the water – After having bathed, he re-ascends into the apartment, by the steps which had been shifted for that purpose, and puts on his clothes at his leisure, while the carriage is drawn back again upon the dry land; so that he has nothing further to do, but to open the door, and come down as he went up.
                                   Tobias Smollett  1771

Men plunged into the waves starkers.  Small children, of course, went into the water naked, as they do in European countries today.  Women wore a long flannel shift, sometimes with lead weights sewn into the hem to keep the skirts from floating up.

In all this bathing, women took to one end of the beach and men the other, so modesty was maintained, in any case.  Hefty and agile attendants supervised so folks didn't drown, a real possibility when wrapped in several yards of soaking flannel, I should imagine.  

But how did people wash? I hear you asking.  How did they keep clean?

Public Baths.  In France, the custom of public bath houses, cheap, respectable and widely available, never died out.  This was an amazement and joy to travelling Englishmen and women who have left us detailed records of the process since this was something they did not have at home. 

Paris baths had private rooms with hot and cold running water, big tubs, fireplaces, nicely heated robes and towels, waitresses offering coffee and drinks, and a selection of bath oils and bath herbs.  There were also bathin g pools for both men and women and, in one bath on the Seine, swimming lessons for both.
I'm surprised English folks every went home again.

Meanwhile . . . at home. In England, in this period, folks did their actual getting clean by sponging off with a pitcher of water and a little basin on their dresser, or by immersing themselves in a tub not too different from a modern bath tub, or by standing in a smallish tub on the floor and washing with a pitcher of water.

The habit of washing the body and the introduction of wash basins and portable bath tubs began to spread among wealthy households in the late 18th century.
     The Family, Sex & Marriage in England 1500-1800 Laurence Stone

You had yer bath tubs.

I think and feel that, after a day's bard riding, there is no luxury comparable with a 'warm bath—it is so grateful and refreshing, and disputes the title of "tired nature's sweet restorer" with sleep
The Inspector, literary magazine and review, Volume 2

These were not necessarily in a 'bathroom'. 

The idea of having a room devoted to washing in a tub goes right back to the Seventeenth Century.  Pepys mentions such a bath in a private home.

Thence with Mr. Povy home to dinner; where extraordinary cheer. And after dinner up and down to see his house. . . .  his grotto and vault, with his bottles of wine, and a well therein to keep them cool; his furniture of all sorts; his bath at the top of his house, good pictures, and his manner of eating and drinking; do surpass all that ever I did see of one man in all my life.

But this would have been rare.  Rooms devoted to bathing were for palaces and the grandest mansions.

Moveable tub baths were more common.
What folks of middling means did when they wanted to take a bath was fire up the hearth in their bedroom, pull a screen round to close off the drafts, and send for a tub. 

And water.  They had 'running water' of a sort.  They sent a footman to run and get it.  It came up in biggish cans, generally one hot and one cold.  A housemaid might linger nearby and keep a kettle on the fire and add more hot water from time to time as the bath cooled.
This process was what you might call, labor intensive.  Water and bath hauling was done by footmen.

Warning:  Author anecdote time.  My father grew up in a house with exactly this kind of 'running water'.  His job was to go to the well and carry in all the water used for cooking, cleaning, bathing and washing for a household of ten people.  It will come as no surprise that he ran away to sea.

How common were these tub baths?

Every house of every nobleman or gentleman, in every nation under the sun, excepting Britain, possesses one of these genial friends to cleanliness and comfort (bath tubs).
           The Mirror of Graces (1811) 

So the British may have been well behind their continental counterparts in the matter of home bath tubs, just as they were in matter of public baths.

And when there was a tub in the house, it's worth noting that its use involved a whole production.  Boiling water, carting it upstairs, and then carting it down again after use.  I wonder how many of the ordinary gentry folk would have seen this as a daily necessity when you could get just as clean with . . .

Basin and Pitcher.  This was the standard wash equipment all through the period.  

Washing with a pitcher of water would be part of the morning routine, or undertaken again after a long day of work or play.  This was what you'd expect to find waiting for you in a decent inn.  This was the normal way folks got clean. 

Pitchers held about the largest amount of water one person could easily manage to pour.  Call it one to two gallons.  (Four to eight liters.)  You wet a towel or flannel and washed yourself, using the basin to catch the used water. Or you might pour the water in and splash it on yourself. 

The towels, by the way, weren't the fluffy terry cloth we think of today when we say towel.  That's mid-nineteenth century fabric.  Our Georgian and Regency folks used woven linen to dry off. 

The soap would most likely have been spherical, about the size to fit in the palm of the hand, because that's how it would have been form -- piece by piece between the palms of the hand.  Your character might have called this a 'wash ball'.  

It would be kept in a soap ball holder on the washstand. After the 1790's the soap might have been 'Pear's Soap', which was transparent and flower scented. And . . . There might be sponges. 

Your basin and pitcher might sit on a sideboard or a dresser, or you might have a fancy, purpose-built washstand in the corner.  It was typically a maid who brought the pitcher of hot water up to you. The amount of water was limited by the amount you could lift and pour yourself.  That meant a maid could easily carry it. 

How clean did you get, washing this way? 

I don't see any reason to believe you couldn't keep yourself just as clean as bathing in a tub.  Even today, this is 'how it's done' for most of the world's population. 

Whether our Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century folks felt the need to wash as often as we do today or righteously refrained from washing on the grounds that it 'opened the pores' and let sickness in . . . I don't think anybody will really know.

It's not a British reference, but:

Having completed it, [my work]  I went to the stream to wash myself thoroughly, and then to the sailor's chest to change my coat, that I might make a decent appearance at breakfast, and give my sons an example of that cleanliness which their mother was at all times eager to inculcate.
                   Swiss Family Robinson 1812

And Beau Brummel advocated frequent washing. 
On the other hand, he felt he had to advocate frequent washing.

Rub a dub dub.  A couple final questions remain in my mind.

Why the devil did women sometimes wear their shifts in the bathtub?  And what is with putting a sheet along the bottom of the tub?

I have cogitated upon this from time to time when I am not concerned with other great issues of the day like, 'Why does the car always break down when I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes?' and 'Why are taxes so complicated?' and 'Why would anyone name his kid Cedric? Isn't it obvious he's going to be a supporting character and come to a sticky end in a graveyard?'

I won't call this the final word on sheets in bathtubs . . . But this is what I think:
There is cloth on the bottom of the tub because these tubs were either (a) wood and full of splinters or (b) metal and cold.

  So why are women wearing a shift in the water?

I think bathing in a tub was seen not so much as washing to get clean, as it was an enjoyable interlude. 

Think of modern habit of spending an hour reading in the bathtub.  If it took a couple man-hours to prepare and clear out that tub, it seems to me you wouldn't put your household to that much trouble and then not take full advantage of it. 

Washing with a basin and pitcher was solitary, but tub bathing, by its nature, was a group effort.  It seems to have been something of a social occasion for some folks.

Marie Antoinette wrote:  I dictate from my bath, into which I have just thrown myself, to support, at least, my physical strength. I can say nothing of the state of my mind;"

If Marat had not been of the opinion that receiving visitors in the bathtub was an unexceptional practice he might have lived a while longer.

So maybe -- a shift was worn for modesty when the bedroom was apt to be crisscrossed by servants running errands and you planned to be in the tub a while? 

washstand from the Victoria and Albert. Ewer and basin, soap ball, and the Degas statue of Woman Washing Her Leg are from the Metropolitan Museum. 

What do you think?  Were they clean and sweet in Regency times, or deplorably . . . uncleanly. 
(Not Mr. Darcy.  Say it ain't so.)