This weekend I have mostly been......

This weekend I took a trip to the forest and visited a very plush dacha for the purpose of experiencing a Russian Banya. That's a sauna for all you folks who don't know. It's a wet sauna which makes you feel like you can't breathe and just when you get used to that you feel like your blood is literally boiling. Strangely, though, the effects are rather relaxing and this feeling is enhanced if you jump into a hole in the ice straight after leaving. I opted for a bucket of cold water to be poured over me instead. It's good for the heart apparently. And I had the traditional massage which consists of being hit with a bunch of wet oak leaves.

Then yesterday I made my Russian family and my Russian friend (who has forgiven me for being British) a traditional English breakfast, which they all liked, well they said they did. I'm not too sure they were keen on the fried-ness of everything, but it gave me a chance to share with them the delights of baked beans. We followed this culinary delight with a cake, which although not tradition in England, should be.

And then I braved the muddy streets and went souvenir shopping. As it's nearly the end of my Russian experience I though that I better start getting ready for the big day; the day of departure. So off I went to get some matrioshka dolls and some wooden things made by poor Russian peasants.