Riga, Latvia

What an interesting Sunday I had with two very different activities.

A few days before the Sunday in question I met one of my host friends, a very nice Russian man that was very eager to show me his Riga.

He invited my host and me to attend services at the Lutheran Anglican church, where the services are in English so I would be able to participate. I told him that I am not a religious person but he was being so nice wanting to share part of his life with me, so without wanting to hurt his feelings, I accepted.

The service was nice, a little different than catholic services and they were only one hour long, so it wasn’t that bad.  After the services I was introduced to the congregation. The Pastor was very nice and charismatic and in attendance were the American Ambassador and her family, so I was introduced to them also.

After the services we walked the old town toward the market, which as you know, I like markets.

Then back to my host’s home for a few hours and then to a country sauna, and what experience that was.

A 73 yrs. old Russian lady, which is a wind surfing instructor, invited us to her country sauna.

Country saunas are run by a wood stove with the stones on top, and they are very hot, some are 86° and some over 100°. It is recommended to wear a thick hat and gloves as not to get burn.  So there I was, naked and wearing a wool cap and ready for the experience.

After being in the sauna for a while it is recommended to cool down rapidly, so these saunas are usually located near a lake or cold pool, or at least a shower.

After a few times in an out, everybody run to the lake and jumped in, except me. As my feet touched the freezing water while listening to all the other ladies scream as they dived in, I could not do it. I just got wet with my hands and that was it for me. I know, I should have got in, after all, that is one of the benefits because the sudden contrast from hot to cold is good for the blood vessels and renews the skin making it more flexible, but I am a chicken.

Then one more time to the sauna where I lay while a lady swatted me. The swatting is done with dry brunches of birch, oak, linden or juniper. My swatting was done with oak branches and pine branches. These branches are wrapped into a bouquet and tide with their own leaves. These bouquets get wet before they are used.

First they fan the bouquet in the air sprinkling the water around and making the sauna even hotter, and then I got rubbed with the branches and then swatted with them. Actually, it felt good, very relaxing even that it was very hot and I could hardly breath, but they put a bouquet of wet pine branches over my face so I could breathe better and it worked.

Then one more time everybody went into the lake and this time I did not even try, I just stood under the rain feeling relaxed while cooling down. Besides it is such a feeling of freedom to stand naked on a field feeling the water falling on my body, just great.

One more time into the sauna for a honey scrub and then a nice shower and a good night sleep.

Next morning I felt brand new and so revitalized…

I have been to saunas all my life, and I have heard about the swatting Nordic saunas, but this was the first time experiencing one and hopefully won’t be the last one.