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Published: June 19th 2010
UNDIPLOMATIC TOM
TAKEN BY MY WIFE IN OUR TALLINN APARTMENTExcerpted from my book; OUR SUMMER IN ESTONIA: AMAZON.COM
A famous practitioner of sauna culture was the Cold War Finnish
President, Urho Kerkkonen. He would assemble his Soviet counterparts
in the sauna at his estate and not let them out until agreement was
reached on the items being discussed. A famous story surrounds the visit
of Dean Rusk, at the time US Secretary of State. Rusk had previously
removed from the agenda a visit to the President’s sauna. Perhaps it was
not his sort of activity. Kerkkonen, being the host, persisted, and besides,
it was his sauna time of the day. He showed Rusk around his estate and
they ended up at the sauna. They, along with their ambassadors, sat for
while. The heat came on and Kerkkonen took off his jacket. Naturally,
Rusk did the same, others followed. Soon, off came the shirts, ties, and
other trappings of diplomatic dress. Out came some cold beer, bathing
water, and the American’s experienced a “refreshing” round of Finnish
Sauna Diplomacy.
I don’t want to leave the impression that only the Finns practice the art
of the sauna. It is present throughout the Nordic region. Every hotel Elysee
and I have
IN OUR TALLINN APARTMENT
WHIRLPOOL BATH, SAUNA AND TURKISH BATH stayed in, featured their sauna. And, as I have noted earlier when
describing our apartment, we not only have a sauna but a whirlpool bath
and Turkish steam-bath as well. I have become accustomed to taking a
sauna many afternoons, afterwards shaving for the day and showering. It is
very relaxing and sets me up properly for the evening cocktail and the news
of the day. In fact, as part of the bath, I find it much more practical than the
hot-tubs found throughout Florida, which generally are seldom put to use.
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Heather
non-member comment
I came across your blog accidentally but I thought the excerpt from your book was interesting. How long have you been in Estonia, and what are you doing there? I have a community blog where we post weekly features on foods from around the world, hostel reviews, travel book recommendations, etc. If there is anything you'd like to contribute, or if your book suites the interest of our readers, perhaps we can feature it in our "Written for the Road" section? We welcome all contributions from fellow travelers! If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Heather