Bric-a-Brac 62
The Cure Edition: Checking into a Roman water-cure spa, the only sneakers you ever need to pack, a Nordic sauna tour and Swiss immunity-boosting soup.
Happy New Year! We hope 2024 is filled with exploration and adventure, whether near or far. For the first time, we spent the holidays in Rome. While it was a little disorienting to depart from my beloved Christmas routines, it was a treat to see how differently they celebrate here. First off, the tree! Most of our friends have artificial trees, and there are no cut trees lined up on street corners, like in New York. Matt had to go to an outdoor garden store where most of the trees were sold in pots, but luckily he found a sweet 4 ft cut tree (90 euros!), and the owner was kind enough to make a wooden cross stand on the spot. The lighting required a trip to Prati, a more residential neighborhood. Luckily, Clara had carried velvet ribbon from Paris (the TikTok bow trend was very convenient for us), and I brought some small satin ball ornaments and our tree topper from home—I needed some tradition! We had Christmas Eve dinner (got up to 7 fishes with Matt’s fish soup) at our place with a friend who came down from Milan, and then on Christmas Day we joined friends who live down the street. I had no idea that nobody does Christmas Day dinner here—it’s all about lunch, which starts around 1 and goes until early evening.
After two weeks of indulgence alla Romana—including an amazing 24-hour stay at the Bulgari, where we spent New Year’s Eve (more on that in a future post)—I am so ready to kick off our first newsletter of 2024 with a focus on wellness! We’re also trying to make good on our resolution to be better about planning ahead, and in that spirit we wanted to let you know that we’re pulling together a Japan Travel Planner! So please post any questions you have—the best hidden cocktail bars in Tokyo, artisan visits in Kyoto, how to hike the Basho trail, etc.—in the comments section. We’d also love to hear from you what you want more of and destinations you’d like to see us cover, so please let us know at the bottom, too! —Y.E.
GUEST BOOK: Palazzo Fiuggi
By Yolanda Edwards
Best for… A wellness medical retreat that combines holistic traditions with Western medicine, incredible food, and hours spent taking in the waters.
The background…If you’ve ordered bottled water in Rome, it’s likely that you’ve drunk water from here—the “acqua di Fiuggi” flows from its source at the base of the Ercini mountains, and from the town’s natural springs. I was familiar with Fiuggi because I’d been drinking it for ages—then I started hearing about Palazzo Fiuggi from friends and colleagues after it opened a couple of years ago. Just an hour outside of Rome, this sleepy spa town has been attracting cure-seekers since as far back as the 14th century—including Michelangelo, who came for his kidney stones (“the only stone he couldn’t love”). While Palazzo Fiuggi is only two years old, it’s had many incarnations over its 110-year history, and turning it into a medical retreat where people can come and take the waters in a modern setting feels like it’s exactly what it should be.
The vibe… The 20-acre estate property begins just on the edge of town—a long tree-lined drive brings you to the very grand entrance–a 6-story, Liberty-style palazzo—built in 1913 to be the grandest hotel in Europe, and the first on the continent with a swimming pool. Today the ballroom is the largest and most lovely, light-filled gym I’ve ever seen; there’s a library with a huge collection of ancient books, chessboards, and a record player, and a screening room where they’ll put on whatever you ask for. While most guests book for a week or longer, you can arrange for a shorter stay—not a bad way to finish off a gluttonous Italian vacation. And because the property is so close to Rome (40 minutes from Ciampino Airport and an hour from Fiumicino) and from Naples, the hotel encourages guests to do afternoon day trips (after doing their program in the morning). I love the idea of a quick trip to Pompeii from here (staying away from the delicious temptations of Naples).
The rooms… Great light, high ceilings, and lots of space—we had a junior suite and it was easy to work out of. There’s no coffee on the premises, but you have a tea kettle with a good selection of teas (including some black tea options, a welcome sight for us caffeine addicts). Our room was on the back side of the hotel and overlooked the hillside town of Old Fiuggi, which looks like a Wes Anderson set at night.
The wellness… We opted for the longevity program (there are also detox, restorative, and medical diagnostic programs you can sign up for), since Matt and I will be doing a fast later this month (stay tuned!). We had body scans, EKGs, a body mechanic evaluation, thalassotherapy, and chose to do the “optimum weight” program, which meant 1,200 calories a day. While all of it was very interesting, the thing we were most excited about was the body mechanic evaluation in which our walking/running/stance was evaluated, which showed we needed to strengthen our dorsal muscles for better posture. We also couldn’t get enough of the spa. Each day, we did long swims in the indoor/outdoor pool, followed by a Kneipp bath routine (a shallow pool with hot water on one side and cold on the other, which you walk between 10 times), followed by infrared sauna, a sauna/steam/cold plunge, and ending in the salt room (a room made of Himalayan salt bricks). Heaven.
The food…Meals are served in one of the most epic Liberty-style dining rooms with phenomenal ceiling detail. The menu is created by Heinz Beck, the 3-star Michelin chef at La Pergola in Rome, who works with the staff doctors to create dishes that are delicious and thoughtful and within the caloric program. After dinner there is a tea cart, and having that roll up to the table, even if there isn’t cheese or a dessert on it, feels very special. Every day at 11 and 5 there’s a juice that’s served in their “tisaneria” (tea room). And in the spa area there’s always a tea of the day and some fruit-infused water that’s way beyond the cucumber variety—think pomegranate/apple/lemongrass. We were never hungry—we only craved coffee—so every morning we walked the 5 minutes into town and had a delicious Americano at Caffè Michelangelo. (Our secret.)
Extra tip goes to…Luca the biomechanical therapist, who worked through his lunch break to show us exercises we can do on our own.
Date of stay…Jan 1-6, 2024
ARMCHAIR TRAVELER: Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat
I've known Emma O’Kelly since she and Matt were traveling to Africa together for Wallpaper* (where she is still a contributing editor), back in the late ‘90s—she was the writer and he was the photographer. We ran into each other several years later at the Villa Feltrinelli on Lago di Garda—one of those IYKYK spots—and, of course, she knew. She has always had a nose for what's next and what's great. Naturally, her new book, Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat, is just brilliant, and at a time when so many books are filled with stock photography, she actually traveled with a photographer, Maija Astikainen, to create this beautiful tome. We caught up with her recently and drilled down on the book, which we hope you pick up--it's just lovely!
You drove 10,000 miles to track down saunas in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia. How did you identify which ones you wanted to experience?
Maija, being Finnish, was practically born in the sauna, so we made a hot list, packed up her van (tent sauna included) and pinned our route to windswept archipelagos, deep-scented pine forests and empty lakes. Every sauna had to be photogenic (which is easy in the Nordics) and (mostly) accessible to the public. Some, such as the treehouse sauna in Estonia or the ice sauna on a frozen lake in Lapland, we stumbled upon by chance. For me, growing up in the UK, it was a fascinating journey of discovery; I had no idea just how precious and sacred sauna bathing is in these cultures.
You visited many saunas and narrowed them down to 50 in your book. What in your opinion makes a good sauna?
As any sauna aficionado will tell you, a sauna is not a proper sauna unless you can pour water on the rocks. Steam, or löyly in Finnish, is a sacrosanct ingredient. Without it, the heat is dry, sterile and immutable. Maija, like most Finns, judges the quality of a sauna on its löyly and if the steam was poor quality, the sauna didn’t make the edit. We sought out spaces that were close to nature - next to a lake, or a river, or nestled in a forest as this enhances the experience. And we tried out a ‘smoke sauna’, and ancient type of sauna which takes hours to heat up, has no chimney, tiny windows and soot-covered benches. For many, particularly Estonians, this is the ultimate sauna.
Why are saunas, and especially the hot-cold duo of sauna + cold plunge, good for health?
Ever since German priest Sebastian Kneipp advocated the “cold water cure” in the 1800s, the cold plunge has been hailed for its curative powers. And throughout history many cultures have enjoyed sweat bathing—think Ottoman hammam and Mayan temezcal, Russian banya and Japanese onsen. But a 26-year study into the health benefits of sauna in Finland found that regular sauna bathing leads to a 50 per cent drop in cardiovascular diseases. This has led to further studies into heat therapy, and practiced together, hot and cold immersions, or “contrast therapy”—provide a thermoregulatory workout which in turn improves circulation, lowers blood pressure and reduces inflammation. Contrast therapy also helps with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. Many bathers we met said sauna is their favorite way to rest and reset.
What were some interesting differences in sauna rituals and culture that you came across?
In ancient times, the sauna was the heart of the community. All life’s rites of passage would be held in the steam. The Finns called it the Poor Man’s Pharmacy; in its midst, the sick were healed, babies were born, the dead prepared for burial. Healers, seers and ecstatics would travel from sauna to sauna working miracles, casting spells and hosting rituals. Some of these, such as the bridal sauna, are still practiced today. The steam was seen as a portal between the living and the dead, the gateway to spiritual transformation. In Estonia and the Baltics, bathers use whisks (typically made of birch) to manipulate the steam in peaks and troughs and induce a trance-like state. In Finland, silence is preferred, and in countries such as Norway and the UK where sauna is a new trend, anything goes, from whisking and honey scrubs to aufguss (using towels to waft the steam), and storytelling.
What were a few of your favorite saunas that are accessible to travelers?
Best overall experience: Ästad Vingård, Ästad, Sweden - Having started life as an organic dairy farm with a restaurant and rooms for overnight stays, it now has its own wine label (sold onsite only), Michelin-starred restaurant Äng, a 25-room hotel, cabin cottages and a luxurious spa. Surprise is key. Diners are taken on a choreographed mystery tour around Äng’s highly designed glasshouse between every dish, and sauna-goers get to sweat in different settings. There’s an underwater sauna; a sauna with a hammock; a sauna with a lake running through it; and a fire sauna, where specially charcoalized wood feeds the fire.
Best nature experience: Eldmølla, Vang i Valdres, Norway - Getting to Eldmølla is part of the adventure. When you finally hit the steam, almost 1,000 meters above the treeline, it’s a joy like no other. Eldmølla means “fire grinder” in Norwegian, and the sauna design takes inspiration from local Kvernhus buildings - small mills from the Middle Ages used to grind grain. A bridge across the stream carries water into a bucket inside the five-square-meter sauna, which holds up to six and can be rented for a couple of hours at a time. For those who want to stay longer, Knut has built a cabin for rent nearby that sleeps up to ten.
Best off the beaten track: Kammi-kylä, Nummijärvi, Finland - To sauna at Kammi-kylä is to bathe in a work of art. It’s not just that the three saunas open onto a virgin peat bog rich in health-giving properties, or that there’s a freshwater moat to swim in, or even that there’s a dining room where (as long as you bring your own food) you can stay for hours. It’s more that to visit this surreal swamp complex is to experience the ethereal, wonderful world of octogenarian “swamp man” Erkki Kalliomäki. Erkki spends almost every day at his three-hectare playground building, carving, tinkering, and sauna bathing. His saunas look like dwellings from a different era, which in a sense they are, because everything is built with materials and relics salvaged from the mossy depths: hairy moss – “as waterproof as a goose’s back;” grassy thatch, which Erkki burns with tar to keep critters and birds at bay; and peat bricks hewn by hand.
Best city sauna: Löyly, Helsinki, Finland - No trip to Helsinki is complete without a steam at Löyly. It attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year, and is the youngest building in Finland to be listed as of historic importance, but don’t let that put you off. Shaped like an upturned boat on the stony, once-unloved shore of the former industrial district of Hernesaari, it offers two wood-fired saunas and, best of all, a large double-height smoke sauna, rare in any city.
Best ritual: Mooska, Võrumaa, Estonia - Don’t let rumors of viper poison, spells, ancestor worship and bloodletting put you off a visit to Mooska. Yes, these can be part of the mix at this smallholding in Võru County in south-eastern Estonia, but only if you want them. Owner Eda Veeroja has spent a lifetime acquiring knowledge of and practicing ancient Estonian sauna customs, and she’s eager to share them. Her rituals range from a three-hour guided session involving whisking, salt scrubs, honey wraps and essential oils based on local ingredients and beliefs, to specific rite-of-passage ceremonies. People suffering maladies, from thrombosis and arthritis to fertility problems and depression, come from all over the world to be treated by her healing hands.
Best community sauna: Oslo Badstuforening, Oslo, Norway - What started as an illegal sauna raft on the Oslo fjord in 2013 has grown into a sweat-bathing community of 7,000 members, a tourist attraction and a showcase of Norwegian architecture. With a mission to “bring sauna to the people,” the Oslo Sauna Association is brimming with novel ideas, from wooden Estonian “iglu” saunas to elegant architectural versions. “Skarven” has huge picture windows and a shape that echoes the beak of a cormorant; in 2021, it featured in a retrospective by Norwegian artist Sissel Tolaas at Oslo’s Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. New additions are a super sauna on a former ferry, with space to hold aufguss rituals (the art of manipulating steam with a towel), and Bademaschinen, a collection of red and yellow saunas that echo the Victorian “bathing machines” of old.
What’s your advice to travelers for experiencing saunas in other cultures? What should visitors keep in mind?
Everyone is welcome in the sauna! It’s an inclusive, non-judgemental space as bathers will always tell you. Men and women typically bathe separately in public saunas and you don’t have to be naked. But there is an etiquette: the sauna is about being clean. It’s polite (sometimes compulsory) to wash before you enter and between each round, and to sit on a towel. Ask fellow bathers before you pour steam on the rocks and if you come across a sauna in the wilds, treat it like you would your own bathroom; replace any firewood, wash the benches with buckets of warm water and clean up your trash. And don’t forget to leave an offering in the form of a log for the trolls, the fairies and the elves, for they are the “guardians of the steam.”
THE RECIPE: Turmeric Coconut Soup
I’m definitely not the cook in our house, but if I am cooking, it’s going to be something that I can have for lunch over at least a couple of days. Ideally, I want it to be a one-bowl meal (read: hearty), and especially in winter, I want an immunity booster as well. I reached out to Martin Stein, who I met at the Burgenstock Hotel just outside of Lucerne, Switzerland, which we visited in early 2018, just after it reopened. He was (and still is) the chef at the Waldhotel (the wellness hotel within Burgenstock Resort), and as a part of our press tour, we were invited to eat at their health-oriented restaurant. Many moans and groans from my husband and daughter later, we sat down to an incredibly delicious vegan meal, which we all ended up loving. Martin came out to meet us, and we learned he had just come from the Mayr Clinic, where he’d been for years. I’ve thought about him and that meal many times since then, so I’m so happy to have something from him here. This is his signature turmeric soup, which he says is highly anti-inflammatory and can prevent minor colds. Matt recently made it, and he shared some tweaks in italics that are added in below. —Y.E.
Turmeric Coconut Soup
Potato Base
5 floury cooking potatoes
Water
Turmeric Base
500 ml coconut milk *I would increase the coconut milk to 750 ml.
2 tbs. turmeric powder *Or a 2-inch piece of fresh turmeric root grated and 1 tbs of dried powdered turmeric
½ ginger root (grated) *A 1-inch by 3-inch piece of ginger peeled and grated
1 lemongrass (diced)
Salt
3 tbs. liquid ghee *Or good farm butter if you don’t have ghee
70ml hempseed oil (cold pressed and organic)
½ lemon
Peel the potatoes and cut into 2 x 2 cm cubes. Cover gently with water and boil til completely soft. Blend hot in a mixer to a smooth consistency.
Heat up the ghee in a pot, add ginger root and lemongrass; sweat the mixture for a few seconds then add turmeric powder.
Add the coconut milk and reduce on low heat until you have half the amount of the liquid.
Strain the liquid through a sieve and add the blended potato base.
Season with salt until it fits your personal preference.
Finalize with some lemon juice and the hempseed oil to substitute your intake of omega 3 fatty acid.*Once I incorporated the coconut milk mixture with the potatoes, I added the juice of one half lemon and then salt and pepper to taste
TRAVEL UNIFORM: A sneaker that doesn’t read sneaker
We’ve been desperate to find a sneaker that can be all things. You know—we want to manage with carry-on only, but given how much we love a morning run—it's one of our favorite ways to discover a new place—we don’t want to leave our running shoes behind. We asked our style editor, Sarah Meikle, to scour the market for sneakers that work from park to cocktail bar.
3. Toast Novesta Marathon Trail Sneakers
7. Spalwart Navy Marathon Trail Low Sneakers
8. The Row Owen Nylon Suede Runner Sneakers
MOODBOARD
Esperanza in Los Cabos is introducing a visiting masters series with Mexican spiritual practitioner Fernanda Montinel March 2-9 at their newly renovated spa, which opened last month.
Europe’s favorite mindful movement brand Sanctum is bringing their popular classes to the US for the first time, partnering with four Auberge resorts across the country.
Spectators are welcome at Shetland’s Up Helly Aa (fire festival) events throughout January where torchlit parades, viking pageantry and well-spirited galley burning mark the Sun’s return after the winter solstice.
United aims to provide the “best sleep in the sky” with its Polaris experience, having recently incorporated Therabody recovery devices and amenity kits to Polaris lounges, and Saks 5th Avenue bedding across their international business class seats.
Six Senses La Sagesse is opening on the Caribbean island of Granada this May with the brand’s signature stripe of high-tech wellness, including sleep tracking and biohacking.
This March, Shou Sugi Ban House is hosting a ‘Living with no excuses’ retreat with military hero Noah Galloway leading functional fitness classes and workshops on living a life with purpose.
Nihi Sumba’s iconic Spa Safari is already one of the best wellness experiences we’ve ever had; now they’ve amped it up with ‘Wild Wellness’ experiences like equine therapy with wild horses and a butterfly meditation lounge.
Thai wellness sanctuary Kamalaya is hosting a Blue Zones retreat on Koh Samui this May, with nutrition and fitness programming grounded in 20 years of research from the world’s five longest-living regions.
A round up of amazing hotels with a kids club please!!! Anywhere in the world ❤️❤️❤️
These saunas are unreal!! And this sneaker edit is fantastic.