The Times Press Review: Janice Turner visits a traditional Russian banya

Award-winning journalist Janice Turner received a visit to a Banya No.1 – Hoxton as a birthday present from her sons and described her experience in The Times column.
Like many of our guests, she experienced a bit of cultural shock when first introduced to the intense heat and leafy branches of our signature Parenie Ritual. But surprise quickly turned into an exhilarating experience once she felt its powerful effects. Here’s what she had to say:
“The traditional “parenie” involved a bush of wet oak leaves being draped over my face and others being drummed up and down my body. I felt like an old van going through a car wash. Then a wiry Russian woman rubbed me all over with the sort of salt used to grit roads, brutally hard, as if I was being prepared for the oven…”