travel

nowflakes had just begun tumbling, tiny little flecks that felt like cold cotton balls when they landed on bare patches of my exposed skin. It was springtime, but here in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the snow was still thigh deep. I knew this because I’d fallen in once or twice already. I was watching as Edik and Irina, two distant relatives of mine, were preparing the banya (wet-steam sauna): sawing wood; making broom-like veniki from birch branches; feeding the fire; and loading water into the tank for steam-making. They’d been lauding this traditional Russian bathhouse experience for days, telling my husband and I how wonderful they feel after a session. Seeing as today was Saturday and they were not at work, it was finally time for us to experience this famous custom for ourselves. The banya, or wet-steam sauna, is an important weekly activity for many Russians (Credit: Vermontai...