The first thought that crossed my mind when I was planning for my week off in London (which I took last week) was the spa. The infrequent yoga session and hot pink salt baths are definitely wonderful mid-week stress-relievers, but I had been craving something more. You may know by now that I’m quite the
Justin Bieber and new squeeze Bronte Blampied have failed to keep a low profile after spending the night together at the pop star’s London pad. The Canadian singer has been joined by the pretty model while in the capital to perform at the annual V Festival, and while it was believed earlier this month that
WHAT Parenie (£28) and Russian massage (£35 for 30 minutes) WHERE Banya No.1, London THE LOWNDOWN Russian Banya is a full experience, not an in-out treatment, so if you’re in a rush, save this for another dy. After a relaxing cup of tea, you’ll be laid down in a steam room where the therapist uses birch, oak and
The history of the Russian banya in London goes back to late 19th century and is connected to numerous Jewish immigrants that arrived to London during Pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. The immigrants liked to create close-knit communities, preferring to live and work near to each other and within walking distance of a synagogue,
Hanging out at a Rainbo event a few months ago my beautiful friend Alice told me she and her husband Pete were going on a hot date that evening to a Russian spa “where you wear and felt hat and they beat you with birch leaves”. Sign me up! I cried, and the next week
Kate Weinberg is massaged with twigs at a Russian bathhouse Photo: Paul Grover Banya involves being hit by branches and having a bucket of icy water chucked over your head. Kate Weinberg visits a bathhouse in London. It’s 9pm. I am lying face down on a wooden slab in a hot room, musing on how
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