The Banya
I love the banya.
I have had the pleasure of going to one in Saint Petersburg and also using one at a dacha, but could not wait to go to one here in Ukraine. This past Sunday my host mother and her friend took me to a private banya early in the morning to banya-it-up Ukraine style.
It was a rather big one, with a sitting area and TV where you can remove and hang up your clothing and what not. The next room had a long wood table with benches, where obviously you could drink and eat. There was a small but deep and cold swimming pool where you can jump in to cool off from the exhaustive heat. There was a showering area and of course, the banya itself, a sauna like room made out of wood with a weird kind of stove and several different levels--one to sit at and another to lay down and beat each other with sticks if you so desired. There were no sticks present here this time.
After getting down to business and sitting in the 90 degrees Celsius heated room (I could do the math, but why bother, I know that it's really freaking hot) we decided that it was too hot to stay for too long and took a dip in the pool. Afterwards we returned to the heat and then we decided that it was time for beer, accompanied with dried fish and some kind of flavored calimari. It was tasty. We repeated the process for a few times and it was all so relaxing and wonderful.
I really do love the banya and next week we will be going again, and I think that this time some of the Americans will accompany me, since they were somewhat afraid that it would not be clean, nice, or big, all of which it was.
I have had the pleasure of going to one in Saint Petersburg and also using one at a dacha, but could not wait to go to one here in Ukraine. This past Sunday my host mother and her friend took me to a private banya early in the morning to banya-it-up Ukraine style.
It was a rather big one, with a sitting area and TV where you can remove and hang up your clothing and what not. The next room had a long wood table with benches, where obviously you could drink and eat. There was a small but deep and cold swimming pool where you can jump in to cool off from the exhaustive heat. There was a showering area and of course, the banya itself, a sauna like room made out of wood with a weird kind of stove and several different levels--one to sit at and another to lay down and beat each other with sticks if you so desired. There were no sticks present here this time.
After getting down to business and sitting in the 90 degrees Celsius heated room (I could do the math, but why bother, I know that it's really freaking hot) we decided that it was too hot to stay for too long and took a dip in the pool. Afterwards we returned to the heat and then we decided that it was time for beer, accompanied with dried fish and some kind of flavored calimari. It was tasty. We repeated the process for a few times and it was all so relaxing and wonderful.
I really do love the banya and next week we will be going again, and I think that this time some of the Americans will accompany me, since they were somewhat afraid that it would not be clean, nice, or big, all of which it was.
posted by Molly | 2:31 PM
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