Russian Banya - Warning, this contains references to nudity

Sorry to say there will be no pictures in this post :) my camera is at my desk.

So, Katie and I set out today find Sanduny Banya..... We had quite a time... We fould the area, but there were like 4 or 5 bulidings - the restaurant, men's section, women's section, and who knows what else...

We start noticing the very expensive cars parked on the sidewalks. We think this means there are some rich people at the banya.

We find one building, and decide to go in........ Of course our Russian is horrible, and we have no idea which area we are going into....

You guessed it! We picked the men's banya!!! Oh my! It was a surreal experience.... Obviously, we had coats and hats on, and were GIRLS.... We are standing there looking incredibly stupid - not knowing exactly what to do.... no one says anything to us. no one even acknowledges we are there... A bunch of guys walking around in towels, smoking and drinking....

Ok, so, we were not really "inside" the banya. What we later found out in the women's banya, is that you come into an area - much like a restaurant - booths and tables.... and people in various stages of undress. This is not the part of the banya with water..... that is further inside. This is the area where you eat/drink/rest.

So, we are still a bit shellshocked as to how this experience works.... but, in a few minutes, we are inside the banya proper. In the main room, there are showers, bath tubs, pools, lots of buckets for pouring water on yourself....

Then there is the sauna. Ok, we didn't have our banya shoes, so it was like firewalking.... The sauna was the hottest one I have ever been in. You come out and you can dump cold water on yourself, or stand under a bucket that will spill water on you from above.

Here, they wear felt hats in the sauna.....
http://www.rusher.ru/en/catalogue/8_en.html?Page=5

This is no joke... these pictures are for real, people wear these hats. I would take a picture of my hat, but my camera is at work as previously mentioned... Supposedly, the hat will keep you from getting too hot. Not quite sure how that logic works..

This place would not be good for anyone who is very modest. People are not shy with their bodies here... We wanted to get "soap massages," but that will be for another day.

We were both quite proud of ourselves for actually going there and actually doing "banya." Now, we know how it works... and we know we need to buy flip flops - or the very large Russian woman will keep yelling at us :) I didn't care so much because I did not know what she was saying!

I certainly think banya will be something I like to do here. It reminds me of Gray Bear...

I guess I forgot to go to Red Square today to see if anything was going on for the Men's Day Celebration. I can hear fireworks going off at the moment.

The next holiday is March 8 - which is Women's Day... I can't wait to see what that is like..