SaunaScape

Finnish Embassy in Washington DC. Photo by NCinDC on Flickr

The Washington Post today published a piece on the monthly Power Schvitz by the Diplomatic Finnish Sauna Society of D.C. held in the basement of the Finnish Embassy. The Diplomatic Finnish Sauna Society, according to the article is more than 150 members strong, and includes many Washington insiders and the reporters that cover them.

The embassy began the sessions two years ago to compensate for Finland’s predictable reputation and low international profile. The organizer is Kari Mokko, the embassy’s press secretary.The reporter goes on to describe the sauna:

At first blush, the sauna does not feel so blistering. (“It’s got proper airflow so you don’t feel like somebody is putting a blowtorch in your face,” said Erik “Erkki” Lindstrom, who built the embassy sauna in 1994.) Its walls are built from Virginia pine logs, and its benches are made from boards of African obechi wood. (“It’s cool to sit on,” Lindstrom explained in a phone interview.) An electric heater in the corner warms 200 pounds of igneous rocks and, according to a thermometer on the wall, raises the room’s temperature to about 190 degrees.

The sauna is used in two separate sessions. One for the women, one for the men.

Most interesting is the reference to the Swede’s sauna.

[The Washington Post]

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Hot & Dry, news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.