The bagna! Russians love it, I find myself somewhat indifferent to the experience (though some Americans convert quickly to it, even building their own bagnas after being in Russia – something Natasha would like someday for us to do). You can use the bagna in two ways. One is simple bathing. You heat up well water until it is very hot, and then mix it with cold water to make warm bathing water. A husband and wife might then clean each other off, pour the water over each other to rinse, and have in essence a nice hot bath – something that in places lacking running water is a luxury. The other way to do bagna – the traditional way – is to heat up the sauna room to about 200 degrees, and sweat. You lay down and someone takes birch branches and literally beats you with them, supposedly to get the blood going. I thought that was as near to torture as I’ve been – not because of how hard I was being hit (that was OK), but how hot it got, as they heated up the branches and used them to fan the hottest air to you. When it was done, I found sitting naked outside among misquitos a very pleasurable experience. But geez, I was the one getting the treatment, the guy who was working (Slava, when we had bagna up north) was doing what would be a sweat producing workout in normal conditions! Bagna can take hours, with several sessions if you want – and often vodka or beer is the preferred drink (which seems a bit unhealthy to me, given the heat and sweating, but who am I to question tradition?). In winter you go out and roll naked in the snow afterwards, something that sounds uncomfortable, but seriously – I would have really loved to see snow after I got out! It used to be a once a week bathing ritual, often on Sundays, and hence it would be the highlight of the day. No dacha is truly complete without a bagna, and the one Natasha’s parents have is already functional. It’s not fancy, but I imagine it’ll get a lot of use. Here are some pictures of it: