Nie jestem rannym ptaszkiem, ale na termy wstaję bladym świtem 💚 #hotsprings #termal #termy #banjaluka #bosniaiherzegovina #bosna🇧🇦 #bałkanykamperem #Bałkany #balkan #bosniakamperem #travelgirl #wcześnierano
Soaking or sauna?
Let's head for current soaking content firsat, revealed and/or published recently.
Worldthermalsprings, has been all over southwestern Europe earlier this year, with visiting the then still to be opened Nancy Thermal. From their Facebook page (Mar. 29) and translated:
'Travelling along the thermals in Eastern France. Nancy Thermal had an open house today and anyone could walk into the restored thermal baths and new pools. World class thermals! This is what France was missing! Congratulations to everyone who created this thermal complex and who will work there!
'The Paliano thermal baths finally see the light: to begin with, it will be a structure that will make up for the closures of Bagnaccio and Masse di San Sisto'.
Armenia Travel (Apr. 22) with it's Top 5 hot springs of the nation.
MindfullexperiencesGreece has their overview (Apr. 19) of Greek soaks. Maybe just an updated article.
'There are around 700 natural hot springs all over Greece. Of these, 84 are known to have healing properties'.
Blog23b.de has a blog on mostly Greek hot springs (n=21) and the odd one from the Azores, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. All from the last 3 years, very up-to-date. Marks are given: examples of near full marks: Eleftheron, Thermopilae and Rupite with near excellent credentials. There's also a 1.5 out of 10 attributed to Geoagiu-Băi in Romania. From the latter:
'Nothing to bathe really, Roman baths are nice to look at'.
One of the former:
'Loutra Eleftheron, Thrace, Greece: Clear perfectly hot water pools with in a remote location surrounded by nature? For free? Come on… – bert'.
Mandate
The recent sauna news is much more. Suppose if commercial interests are foremost, then it's to be expected.
The Well Norways most expansive wellness resort seems to have (invited?) a number of English speaking journo's along.
South China Morning Post (Apr. 1) possibly jokes. How the article hits off:
'It feels rather odd to be packing a suitcase for a weekend spa break – and deliberately leaving out a swimsuit.At least, for some it is strange. For European spa-goers hailing from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, as well as Swedes, Finns, Japanese and Turks, going completely naked in a public spa is entirely acceptable. In many bathhouses, it is mandatory'.
Then the Daily Mail also report (Apr. 7):
'We’re men and women of all shapes, all sizes, all ages — and all starkers. A lithe woman (clad in swimsuit and sarong) is dancing around the sauna, artistically waving a towel to spread the heat and scent from the coals.Her wahey is in sharp contrast to how I’m feeling. I’ve always hated my body (my mother put me on my first diet aged eight — which pretty much wrecked my body image). So it’s no wonder I approach my visit to The Well, just outside Oslo in Norway, with trepidation.The Well is the largest spa in northern Europe — sprawling over 10,500 sq m with 13 pools, 15 saunas and steam rooms, and 140 showers....Eventually — albeit slowly — I come to embrace the naked thing. You realise people do, indeed, come in all shapes and sizes; that nobody cares how you look except you. And yes, swimming naked does feel wonderfully liberating'.
madeleinelovesthis (from The Well):
These photos accurately represent the sheer euphoria of ditching my clothes and inhibitions in one fell swoop and walking nude - in broad daylight - into an icy pool.Granted, I am generally quite game for all manner of forays in the name of feeling more vital, more resilient, less like my body has been dragged through yet another soggy British winter complete with attendant colds and covid.Nonetheless, being schooled in England and having been handed a lifetime’s worth of thoughts about my body courtesy of, y’know, other people/attitudes/assumptions/adverts/etc. and, well, no wonder both @shireendd.stylist and I unanimously felt that before stripping off and joining everyone else in nudity @thewellspahotel, it was worth detailing the things we considered ‘wrong’ with our bodies.Aside from the delicious freedom of just going for it, we both found that within around five minutes starkers, it really wasn’t a big deal. Just bodies. Some smaller. Some bigger. Some softer. Some harder. Some more lumpy. Some more smooth. But just homes of flesh. Truly truly truly liberating. That said, pick your companion wisely to do it alongside; we both lucked out in that regard.P.s. I zoomed in and I don’t think anything is visible but apologies if it is.P.p.s. Photos are of course not allowed in the spa areas for obvious reasons - these were taken during a private tour.P.p.p.s. I’m a guest of The Well - but posting here isn’t a stipulation of my stay.
Other Norwegian excerpts.
Sauna Times (Apr. 7) has the news on floating saunas, a fad increasingly becoming popular in the Scandinavian countries so says they:
'Typing the words “floating sauna” into the search bar on visitnorway.com returns us a dazzling list of 68 beautiful floating sauna options, from city harbor to deep nature fjords'.
Sauna Channel with another vdo (Jul. 22, 2022), this time from the Lofoten isles, northern Norway:
The Dailymail (again) reports (Apr. 20) on one man's love for Swedish saunas:
'I've recently moved to Sweden with my wife and two children so I'm new to the country, the culture and the phenomenon of winter bathing. The first time I cycled to the beach in the freezing cold and wandered up the pier with a towel, flip-flops and zero swimming trunks in my backpack I was more motivated by having a funny story to tell about those 'crazy Swedes'. What I've found is a health-improving, mood-enhancing high from nature's very own supply....The health benefits are clear, but for me a few psychological wins have also crept up.One in particular is the rather liberating realisation that the human body is so very weird. Scratch from your mind almost every crafted and curated image you've ever seen on your phone. We are all lumpy and oddly shaped. Some people have hair in places others don't. Some people have broad powerful shoulders but really weird-looking feet. Some people have no shoulders to speak of but incredible jawlines - and for all people it simply does not matter'.
Holland's Blootgewoon has announced it's national awards, amongst them that of the best sauna. The (excellent) Spaone has won for the second year running the title: spa of the year.
An American couple get to enjoy a Dutch wellness resort. And make an vdo on this (Mar. 25):
They compare with their experiences from Germany, with the single (Fort Beemster Wellness resort) Dutch experience. The luxury of the Netherlands with the everyday sauna experience in Germany? Hmmm, the Fort Beemster resort is regarded as one of the best in the Netherlands (Google: 4.6 stars), so possible basing you experience of this with what I suppose are many others in Germany might not be fair. The article garners 100+ comments, most explaining where else a good Dutch sauna experience can be had.
Zasloužený relax dvou matek 🖤🥹 #matkynatahu #rodina #sestenice 👩🏻❤️💋👩🏻 #novatradice✨
What's with Germany and it's love of rules?
From Germany's TV channel Kabeleins a pointer (May 5) as to how to navigate the German sauna:
'Heiß, heißer, Sauna. Die Deutschen lieben Saunieren. Doch gibt es einige ungeschriebene Regeln, an die man sich halten sollte: Wie viel Abstand hält man zu den anderen und wie viel Gucken ist eigentlich erlaubt? Abenteuer Leben beantwortet diese Fragen'.
Beninwanderland (Mar. 9) shares that culture shock of 1. heading to the sauna for the first time and 2. doing so in Germany:
'The concept of baring it all, with no clothes to hide behind, might seem strange to most, but it is part of the German culture that has been embraced by locals and tourists alike.As a writer, I sought to experience this concept by visiting a reputable sauna during winter in Berlin. My journey taught me a lot about nudity and etiquette, revelations I'll share with you....Today, nudity is widely accepted in many areas of German society, including beaches, parks, and saunas. It is seen as a natural and healthy expression of the human body, and there is no shame or embarrassment associated with being naked in public.However, this cultural attitude is not universal in Germany and may vary depending on the region or individual. And Germans also place a strong emphasis on etiquette and respect for others when it comes to public nudity. For example, it is considered rude to stare or make inappropriate comments towards others who are naked.This attitude is in contrast to that which Australian society has adopted, the country of my childhood and adolescence'.
The lessons learnt:
'I have learned a valuable lesson on nudity during my sauna visit in Berlin. Being comfortable with our body should not be a privilege withheld for certain people or societies. Non-sexual nudity around others, especially those of the same gender, is about having a healthy attitude towards body image.Although I don’t condone brazen acts of nudity performed in unsuitable social settings, I feel people should be comfortable enough within their skin to be naked around others.Ultimately, whether we’re tall, short, thin, fat, hairy or bald, we are all born in like manner - without clothing. Anatomically, within either gender, our architecture is the same.Embrace your body and liberate it by visiting a sauna in Berlin (or elsewhere in the world)!
Worldofsauna looks (Mar. 28) at Spanish sauna culture:
'When I started researching the Spanish sauna culture, I was laughed at and told that the Spanish don’t take saunas....So I found out that Spain has a long spa culture. Spanish people are especially familiar with Turkish saunas or hamams.The Spanish do not take saunas as often as the Finns or have as many saunas as the Finns. At least not yet'.
The sharing concerns just one experience and that at an hotel.
Finally, another country, another TV channel. Denmark's TV2OstJylland reports (Mar. 28) on a sauna "battle" in Silkeborg. Translated:
'A meeting of the Culture, Leisure, Outdoor and Sports Committee in Silkeborg Municipality on Monday evening resulted in the city council politicians slamming their hands on the table and terminating the agreement with the sauna club Almind-Wellet.It comes after several weeks of trouble about whether it should be allowed to use swimwear in the sauna or not.The sauna club, led by chairman Freddy Skovbo, has fought for a swimwear ban, but that battle has been lost.In any case, a majority in the Culture, Recreation, Outdoor and Sports Committee has now decided to terminate the user agreement with the association'.
