The Russian Banya.

For anyone who is interested in Russia or Russian culture this is a must! Ok its like this. You strip off naked. Go into a steam room of about +100 degrees C.You do this in 10 to 15 minutes bursts. In the between times you drink and wash under a cold shower or in the snow if its in winter. In the steam room you can choose to be “beaten” or as it feels to me light brushed by some Burch tree branch which helps open your pours. It’s a Russian male social event and I go with my future father in law and his friends every week. I like it. I like drinking))))))))Thats lots of bad Banyas in Moscow though full of gangsters and prostitutes. Luckily the one we go to in Moldova is run by religios believers and theres non of that.

Banyas are awesome Sure beats meeting the girls for coffee to talk about "Glee", which I hate

They sound quite interesting. I hope I get the chance to one day use one. I've been in saunas before, so I imagine it would be similar, is that correct?

I thats right. Women can go to but mixed is not allowed unless its a brothel. Theres mens rooms and womens rooms.My fiancees mother often goes with my fiancee.

Banyas sounds like a great place to socialise and I would prefer the unisex ones to the male ones.

Wow, looks like banya is a good place to chat and have some relaxation with friends in the weekend. And, what is paritsya comrade Felix? Is that same with banya?

Its the part of the banya where you sit and steam. Maybe you mean Parilka?
We were in the Banya yesterday but its was far to hot.
The Banya is not just the steam room (Parilka) but its a whole complex. Theres a room where you can watch TV, a shower room and a changing room. These rooms altogether make up the Banya complex.

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Its the part of the banya where you sit and steam

I see

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Maybe you mean Parilka?

Um, no comrade. I've read a book which tell about the experience of Koesalah Subagyo Toer, famous Indonesian writer who attended school in USSR at the '60s. Here is a citation from page 35 when Koesalah went to a banya with his friend:

"...Misha asked me to beat his back with a small branch. I took the branch and hit it to his back. "Hey, Koesalah, do you know what is it?" Misha asked. "It's paritsya !"

There's no footnote or explanation about paritsya. So, I asked you and much thanks for the explanation.

paritca is the action
in this case the actual getting hit on the back but also more general

Perhaps I would not enter the banya fully unclothed, however it sounds like a nice place at which to spend time with friends. I have often thought such houses would be good, that is even without the sauna facilities. I am thinking of a complex where you can chat, eat and drink tea or simply sit and watch television. Sadly these do not appear very common. A great deal of socialising seems to be done either at loud restaurants where you feel compelled to leave after a short while, or at clubs where the sound is blaring and you cannot properly discuss.

when i was young Grandpa took me to the banyajust to take a bath (inckuding popatitsya)
My granda says - "You can really wash youself only at the banya. At the bathrom you just smudge the dirt "

Iron Felix wrote:

For anyone who is interested in Russia or Russian culture this is a must! Ok its like this. You strip off naked. Go into a steam room of about +100 degrees C.You do this in 10 to 15 minutes bursts. In the between times you drink and wash under a cold shower or in the snow if its in winter. In the steam room you can choose to be “beaten” or as it feels to me light brushed by some Burch tree branch which helps open your pours. It’s a Russian male social event and I go with my future father in law and his friends every week. I like it. I like drinking))))))))Thats lots of bad Banyas in Moscow though full of gangsters and prostitutes. Luckily the one we go to in Moldova is run by religios believers and theres non of that.

Yes, banya's are very nice. I am getting married to a Russian woman in a month. We are staying at at Ukrainian banya/apartment. The last thing we will do before we retire for the night is spend some time in the banya. I have been to Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Kazan, Nikolaev, and Sevastopol. I absolutely love Russian culture. Someone else said it in this thread, but it is nice to talk to a woman that has intelligence and doesn't want to talk about worthless pop culture constantly.

Sounds pretty awesome. Way better than American bar culture.

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Same tradition exists in Finland: Modern type Sauna's and 'oldfashioned' smoke-sauna's with birch trees beating and all. In Finland you sometimes also encounter Unisex Saunas.

In Sweden there is no beating and the Sauna's are usually according to gender.
At the place I live there is both a family-sauna and a gents sauna. The Swedish term for Sauna is 'Bastu'.

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