brooklyn gal for a while

steam got in my eyes

Last night I headed to the Russian and Turkish Baths for the very first time. I knew it was old (since 1892). I knew it wasnt a spa. I also knew you get to borrow as many towels as you'd like while you are there. But, I was expecting there to be a "bath" or tub of hot water or something. The closest thing was this mini pool with FREEZING cold water (i mean it made the polar bear swim look tepid). But there were 4 different kind of hot rooms. They varied from super steamy (the US) to dry (the Finnish). The Russian room was by far the coolest in style (while being the hottest in temperature). It was basically a cave with slabs of water-soaked oak to sit on and buckets of cold water to dump on yourself when you got too hot. This is also the room they do the Platza treatment in. This involves a person lying down while the attendant basically whips you with broom made of fresh oak leaves. There is soap involved too and the action of broom over a person's body makes the whole event look like a person is going through a car wash.
Overall, I probably wont be "russian" back (oh God did I really just say that?) soon; it was kinda pricey. But I must say I felt REALLY relaxed afterwards, so its definitly worth trying if you havent yet.

posted by gordian knot @ Friday, February 03, 2006