Yesterday, I took Lena to Banya 5, a Russian style bath house/day spa. It was amazing. They have 5 areas in the downstairs pools to circulate. First, the hot pool, then the Turkish steam room (very steamy), next a Parilka (dry sauna), a cold plunge, and lastly a warm salt water pool. You make that circuit a few times and by the end (as long as you drank a lot of water  in between), you feel like you were just born–without the crying and shock of a new world order.

After spending most of the day at Banya 5, we cooked dinner and watched Munich, a fascinating film that was sort of the opposite of Banya 5. It brought back the realization of what kind of world we live in. But I couldn’t help thinking how the world would be different if everyone spent a couple days a week soaking in a banya.