Day 1,351: vihta, birch

To improve blood flow, enthusiasts can slap themselves with Finnish vihta, fragrant bouquets of birch branches.

Britons warm up to saunas

Artwork of the day 
Birch grove
Isaac Levitan
Original Title: Березовая роща
Date: 1878; Russian Federation
Style: Realism
Genre: landscape

Word of the day 
vihta: bath broom, a kind of whip made of birch twigs and used in the sauna to enhance the effect of heat by beating oneself with it
birch: a tree with smooth, often white bark (= outercovering) and thin branches

Quote of the day
“So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.”
― Robert Frost