“Abano Terme is one of the most surreal places you can conceive. Imagine a seaside town, full of hotels and pools, but only 51 kilometers from the sea and at the foot of a hilly chain.
Imagine it full of old people who take care of themselves with mud.
Imagine it all built after the bombings of war almost completely destroyed it, except for a couple of elegant 18th century hotels, masterpieces of national architecture. Imagine walking through its wide streets and perceiving a hospital aseptic.
So maybe you'll understand that a crazy and delirious band like Jennifer Gentle could only be born in a place like this.”
(From Rock.It notes on Jennifer Gentle).

A fulgure et tempestate is a local history book written by Sergio Giorato in the 90s dealing with the local historiography of Abano Terme an Italian medium size city and popular tourist landmark, also known as “the city of mud”. I came across this essay when I asked myself the same question as its author: do I really know and understand the place where I grew up?
The main purpose of this work is to shake the feeling of everyday life and static banality of these lands, thanks to the research of a methodology of viewing aimed at clearing the look from the preconceptions of the context from which I come.
The approach consists in seeking new ways, both physical and metaphorical, to interpret the city and the complexity of the forces that govern it, and like a broken mirror reflect multiple images of its human and topographic reality.