Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 31

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1970 Section 6 11 Good Clean Fun 11 uiuu This is a lakeside Finnish sauna: a hot hut for steaming, a small lawn for rolling in the snow in winter, a lake for icy dips in summer, and a porch for just sitting on long sum- 'l PlSiiliii WKI1HMM.1IMIIJ1II IIJ1JU1 Continued from page 1 V-y I fm -r" M-5' Cfi Iw 1 a f'p vriirrri II 1 "I 4 Si a rj-M rur sii i cM6 jri itom -frags 1 A bunch of the boys are whooping it up, sitting around naked in the cold air and enjoying a bottle of beer after a cold dip in the lake while awaiting the ministrations of the washerwoman the last step of a Finnish sauna. The beer, of course, is absolutely necessary to replace body liquid lost in the sauna's extreme heat. Tribune's travel editor is at extreme right. (Walt Damtoft Photg Some timid folk tremble at the thought of jumping into a cold lake after a summer time sauna in Finland. In winter the best way to cap a sauna after the bather has roasted himself for an hour or so and subjected himself to a beating with birch branches is to jump thru a hole in the ice or roll in the nearest snowbank.

Whether you've been scrubbed by yourself or by a washerwoman, you linger under the shower a while, and then retire to the relaxing room. No, don't get dressed yet. The sauna's not over. Don't get dressed Until the skin is dry and cool. Sit around in a towel or sauna robe and let that gentle glow creep over you, that overall feeling of well-being that comes with complete refreshment of mind and body.

Now comes the (aunopala, the sauna snack. You've lost a great deal of water and mineral salts thru perspiration; despite the beer between rounds you've still got an intense thirst. It's time for another beer or coffee or 'soft drinks. But you don't just drink; you eat some, too, something a little salty. Perhaps sausage or fish or hors d'oeuvres.

If there's a fireplace in the relaxing room, stick a piece of sausage on a stick and roast it hot dog-style. And just continue to sit around and enjoy an almost animal contentment. Your skin is glowing the Finns say a woman is at her most beautiful after a sauna your body has never felt so clean; your mind is at ease. But you feel a little sorry for some of the other tourists who passed up a chance to take a sauna. They've missed one of life's greatest but she's all business.

You take her ministrations lying down literally. She throws a bucket of water over you warm this time, praise be! smears on the soap and gets to work with a couple of big brushes. You get the doggondest scrubbing you ever had in your life, first on one side and then the other, from the tip of your hair follicles down to your toenails. And the woman has absolutely no compassion for people with ticklish bottoms of feet. The brush and her fingers-probe deep, lathering everything from pole to pole and coast to coast, including the middle west.

When she's thru it takes about 12 to 15 minutes she first rinses you off with buckets of warm water, then completes the washoff with shower-like nozzles on a hose leading from the water tap. For the first time in your life you truly know the meaning of the expression, "cleaner than clean." Compared with you, in fact, Mr. Clean of the TV commercials is a dirty old man. Some saunas don't have washerwomen if yours doesn't, retire to the washroom and do the scrubbing and washing job yourself, up to a point. Sauna mates soap and wash up together, and it's a thoughtful gesture-good manners, really to offer to wash each other's backs.

with your sauna mates. Naked in a steam room, you find that reserve falls away with your clothes, that minds open up with your pores. Stiff necks unbend and any hostilities begin to look pretty silly; it's impossible to remain snooty when clad in nothing but your pelt; you feel a close kinship with everybody. It's no mystery now why Finland's President Kekkonon dragged Khrushchev and Kosygin in here. You can go back to the hot room as many times as you like, but three is a good number.

You take a third dip in the cold lake if there's no lake or pool nearby, a cold shower or even a cold bucket of water over your carcass will do, and have a cold beer while sitting out mother-naked in the cold air on the terrace this time while you wait your turn to be scrubbed down by one of Finland's famed washerwomen. The smiling, muscular old woman wearing a white uniform and a rubber apron pummeling one of your sauna buddies right now is a holdover from the old days when big farm households took saunas together. The kylvetiaja was a farm employe who had a very important job scrubbing her lords and masters clean. It's your turn a few minutes later. With some trepidation you walk in, wishing perhaps you had a washcloth-sized towel to cover up a little bit anyway.

She smiles, least a weekly sauna session. To be asked to join in a sauna is to be asked to join the family. You take sauna nowadays with members of your own sex; some bath periods are set aside for men, some for women. It's been many ears, alas, since men and women outside the family circle bathed together. Don't let that large and benevolent woman attendant you got a glimpse of down the hall mane you nervous; she's been around a long time; you won't see her again until the sauna's about over.

She's there for the scrub-up, your scrub-up as well as the sauna's. "There's no need to be scared," smiles the friendly Finn who is to be your escort. "There's no hazard. Finns didn't even think about it until foreigners brought the question up. He who can enter a sauna on his own need not fear he has to be helped out.

"Why, you see one-year-old children in saunas. And the very, very old. Not too many 'years ago the sauna was used as a delivery room. As the cleanest and warmest spot on the farm, it was the most suitable place for producing more Finns to enjoy more saunas." Leave your clothes, your watch and wallet-and your cares and worries in a locker in the dressing room. First, weigh yourself if you lose three pounds, it's been a good sauna, take a nice lukewarm shower, dry it's best if you don't enter a sauna wet, and before you head for the hot room grab a bucket of cold water it's useful to' cool off the bench before sitting down, or take along a towel or pallet-like cool piece of wood to sit on.

Talk about a "hot the term must have originated in a Finnish sauna! The bucket of water is best, tho, especially for the novice. When things get too hot, you can put your feet in the cold water and be able to endure more heat. With great trepidation you walk in. There are other bodies in there; you can spot them thru the haze, sitting or lying on the boards of the three-tiered wooden platform. "Maybe you'd better sit on the lowest level the first time," advises the friendly Finn your friendly executioner, you think, You find out later that the lowest step is also where the youngest children sit during a family sauna.

"Heat rises, you know, and if you sit upright on the top step, your head will be in the hottest spot: You're not quite ready for that." The friendly Finn is right. You touch a spot on the lowest bench, and your hand recoils. Not quite as hot, tho, as sitting on a hot stove lid! Thank God you brought the bucket of cold water! You splash some on, sit down gingerly, and look around. It's a strictly functional room, no frills or furbelows of every pore. You feel a nice lassitude; you're limp and relaxed, both physically and mentally.

You're a bit sorry to leave, but it's time for another cold dip in the lake, another cold beer, another 15 minutes of rest. Then back 'to the sauna's hot room for the third time. This trip something new has been added. Your Finnish friend lugs in the vihta, a bundle of soft, whippy birch twig switches with the leaves on. It's far from being self-flagellation.

He shows you how to dip them in the warm water and demonstrates how to beat yourselfwhisk yourself, really-all over. You flick your legs, arms, shoulders, chest, back to work up your blood circulation at the skin surface and to encourage vigorous perspiration. You find the vihta gives off a wonderfully fresh fragrance, too. The switches are particularly delightful in midwinter, the Finns say: They bring back the smell of summer. They're gathered in the summer time and preserved; even in the middle of the bitterest winter you can them in markets thruout Finland.

Then more loyly, more easy, relaxing conversation ing it! And this time you find yourself saying it: "Let's have a little loyly!" A big ladle of water is thrown on the hot stones, the temperature seems to shoot even higher and the scalding air comes in an almost unendurable cloud of steam. You gasp as you get a lungful that makes you think the end is near. But the feeling quickly passes. In fact, tossing water on the hot stones has resulted in a lowering of the temperature and a simultaneous raising of the humidity. The temperature is now down to 194 you arent going to be parboiled after all.

This rise and fall effect doesn't last long, either. In a few minutes the humidity has been absorbed by the wooden walls and roof, the temperature has climbed back to its earlier level, and you're ready for another round of loyly. Next time you learn to hold your breath when the stifling blast of hot air comes. You stay there another 10 to 15 minutes, lying on the top bench this time, toasting your toes by placing them against the wall up near the ceiling, the hottest spot. Sweat is streaming out -r-unpainted and unvarnished wooden walls, floor, roof, benches, door handles, all made of light, dry, resin-free wood which does not conduct heat easily.

And with and oh boy, is this important! all nails well-sunk! Over in the corner is the stove, in saunas out in the country the stove is wood-burning, in the cities usually gas or electric. Sticking out of the top of the stove are layers of hard, nonexpanding stones which retain the tremendous heat. The stones are the source of the loyly, the almost untranslatable Finnish word for the very hot, slightly humid wave of air produced when a little warm water is thrown onto the stones. You sit there on your hot seat stripped to. the buff, and pretty soon you feel proud of yourself.

You've been in here only two or three minutes and already you're getting used to the incredible heat. "How hot is it?" you ask the friendly Finn. "Let's see." He steps over to the thermometer on the wall. "About 80 Centigrade that's 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Not too hot yet." You felt pretty good until now.

Not too hot! Only 180 degrees! You feel a bit dizzy just thinking about it. Not quite hot enough to boil water! "Oh, it isn't 180 down where you are," says the Finn. "The temperature varies at the different levels. Near the floor, around your feet, it may be as 'cold' as 85, about where your head is maybe 125, up near the ceiling over 200. Let's warm it up a bit." You want to scream, decide not to yet.

At least, here on the bottom step, there's enough air to permit a yell for help. This one is a wood-burning stove, so he opens the door in the casing that holds the hot stones. For less heat, close it, he explains. The temperature slowly goes up. You can feel it, even sitting down there at the lowest level.

Your pores open up, and the sweat starts to run off in streams. It's a dry heat, and strangely enough, in a very short while you're enjoying it. But the enjoyment is short-lived. "This, is better," says the Finn, looking at the thermometer. "It's about 100 Centigrade 212 Fahrenheit." Just about the temperature you cook lobsters, you think.

"But there's no humidity. Let's have a little loyly." He reaches for the bucket, scoops up a little water in a dipper and heads for the stove. You've heard about the loyly, the steam of the sauna, the curtain of hot air that is perhaps the sauna's most important ingredient. You resist the impulse to run for the door. And then you think of something and smile: What an exotic way for a travel editor to die.

Nothing routine like being run down by a car. Broiled in a Finnish sauna, as naked as a chicken in an oven! What a way to go! The Finn pours water on the rocks. You brace yourself and here it comes. Even on the lowest bench you can feci it: a wave of burning steam that hits your face like a hot wind and flows down your back. For a second or two, it's painful; then the tears that fill, your eyes dry up and you're ready for more.

Perspiration is running off you like a brook. Your skin tingles. Your arteries are getting a workout. The heat, you're astonished to find, seems almost pleasant. "It's been about 10 minutes," says your Finnish friend.

"For a first-timer that's a long enough first round. Now let's cool off. Follow me!" Clad only in his birthday suit as you are, he dashes out the door into the chilly fall air, runs a few yards down to the pier and jumps into the cold lake. Maybe it's the old Marine Corps training, but much to your amazement you follow your leader's orders. You find yourself right behind him, find yourself jumping in, too.

It's amazing-the water temperature must be in the high 40s but you don't feel the abrupt change. It's a tingling sensation, rather than painful. The heat of your skin takes off the first chill of the water, and you're Insulated from the cold by your sweat. In the winter time-praise be, it's jump thru a hole in the ice or roll in the snow! You feel only exhilaration! "Don't stay in long enough get chilled," your Finnish friend cautions. "You'll undo all the good work of the sauna.

We'll be back for other dip. The sauna is just getting started, you know." You march back naked to the building, take a quick shower and gulp down a cold beer-to replace all the water you lost, of course. In a sauna you lose weight, then drink it all back. Then you wrap yourself in a towel or sauna robe and allow your body to dry naturally as you rest quietly for 10 or 15 minutes. Give yourself total relaxation; don't make a move to cause further perspiration.

Just lie or sit back and enjoy a feeling of complete leth-argy. "It's time for the second round," says your Finnish friend, and you head back to the hot room, eagerly this time. Much to your amazement you climb to the top shelf, even tho the thermometer still reads 100 Centigrade 212 Fahrenheit. You quickly learn how to breathe jn a sauna short breaths thru the mouth. You're enjoy Aweelc Hawaii pto air fare.

1 I CONTINENTAL HOLIDAYS P.O. Box 4187 North Hollywood, California 01607 Yes, plfHue send Hawaii brochura. Mjr uperial interest Waikikl Beach Tour (IT-CW-6C) Pakela Tour (IT-BPAIA-fiOOC) Four Island Holiday Royal Hawaiian Pageant (IT-HPSE-300) J' ft If If VJl If: TsfdX J- 1 I It i HAWAII: It's tropical, delightful, There are so many delights awaiting: you in our fascinating 50th State. And there's a Continental Holiday to suit any taste, time period and budget. For more information on Hawaii and an Air Cruise all the way to Honolulu on our fabulous 747 call usorourpartnerin getting things done for you, your travel agent.

Or send the coupon. Meanwhile find the Hawaii tour for you: WAIKIKI: A wonderful week in Hawaii. Choose from a selection of fine hotels. From $63.50 per person (double occupancy), plus tax and airfare. (IT-CW-6Q.

PAKELA TOUR: 5 fascinating; (lands, count 'em 1 15 wonderful days, featuring escorted tours including the highlights of Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii. From 273.00 per person (double occupancy), plus tax and air fare. (IT-9PAIA-500C). FOUR ISLAND HOLIDAY: 15 days, with exciting times on Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, including a week on Oahu with Hawaiian feast, Circle Island Drive, Mount Tantalus, Honolulu, Pearl Harbor Cruise, Koko Head, Oceanic Sea Life Polynesian Center. From $381.00 per person (double occupancy), plus tax and air fare.

(IT-MAC-15-57-H). ROYAL HAWAIIAN PAGEANT: A deluxe 15-day escorted vacation at luxurious Sheraton resort hotels. Waikikl Beach, Kauai, Maul and the Kona Inn on Hawaii. Sightseeing, air fare from Chicago, inter-island air fare, and airport hotel transfer! Included. $499.00 pet person plus tax.

(IT-HPSE-300). Namf. Adflraii. City. My locil trivtl igtnt to.

ORO 'CT CONTINENTAL The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail Finnish children enjoy saunas, too. Here older brother gets ready to pour little water on the hot coals, while little sister braces herself for the wave of burn.iing steam to come. At right is water bucket, also used to dip birch branches in before you beat yourself with them. tPlnnlih Trtvtl Aiioctitlon Photo) 1 1.