I took a trip down to the Russian bathhouse Sandoony USA yesterday and was finally enlightened to the exoic pleasures of the banya. With three saunas, a steamroom, hottub, small pool and ever-essential frigid dunktub, there was plenty of extreme temperature variation and testing of human tolerance; the body only enjoys so much warmth before it enters pre-panic mode and begins to sweat, then finally begins screaming at the brain to remedy the situation. At that point evacuating 190 degrees of heat and plunging into 50 degrees of water seems like a pretty good idea. And it is extremely refreshing. But Sandoony USA is so much more than just hot and cold. It is a community center and social scene, a bar and a cafe, with sports and music videos on the multitude of TVs. It is a vibrant spa and relaxing spot to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Today, I complemented my Russian experience with brunch at Korzo, which serves fantastic Eastern European food and beverages. I was totally thrilled with my Halusky and sausage hash with eggs and pickled vegetables, topped off with a tasty Bloody Mary or three! It is experiences like these that remind me why I live here; while it may not be the same as the homeland original, Brooklyn always serves up great international culture.
Hey Stephen, MJ here from your 9:15 Th Music Together class. Just wanted to drop a line that Nate and I are taking a little break from MT but will most likely be back in the summer or fall. Thanks for the great classes! If you haven’t seen this yet, I thought you might dig it:
http://soundcloud.com/mjs538/five-seconds-of-every-1-pop-1
AND I want to second the shout-out to Sandoony; we went there last winter and have been jonesing to get back. Meanwhile, I’m going to make an excursion to Korzo, for sure.