Saunaing by moonlight // Mondscheinsaunen

(Not a sauna moonlighting as something else, mind you)
Pop quiz:
Are you
(a) an exhibitionist?
(b) a voyeur?
(c) an unassuming but curious sauna virgin?
Alternative answer: (d) Finnish?

So, I'm fairly certain I am neither (a) nor (b), and clearly not (d), but Saturday midnight sauna-ing on a floating ship was still pretty damn cool.

The concept works like this: in the winter, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. - 3 a.m., you can sauna, swim and shower (erm, probably not in that order...would it be reverse order? Probably.) to your heart's delight. Which, when it's cold and disgusting outside, is actually a really lovely state of affairs.

The evening began like this: after walking, no, gliding gracefully to the floating Badeschiff near Treptower Park with two friends, we paid 8 € to run from a separate changing room to the sauna room proper - i.e. OUTSIDE - clad only in bathing suits, towels and too-big yellow flips-flops printed with the Corona logo.

Luckily, once we got there, and got over the initial awkwardness of being surrounded by people in various states of undress, it was really worth it. The atmosphere was very chill and clean, but not anaesthetic. There was lounge-y type music playing, dimmed light, and S-shaped wooden chairs with plushy white felt blankets. Plus showers and two separate saunas, one heated at 65º, the other at 90º.

It also seems to have been stunning Euro twenty-somethings night. I heard, like, five different languages being spoken in the sauna, and there was a high quota of HOTNESS. Not what I expected from a sauna, but I guess the sauna-bar combination attracts a different set than the Hallenbad in Marzahn would. Also: the place HAS to be listed in a guide book or two.

Did I also mention it was super-relaxing? i.e. I don't think I had ever *really* had the full sauna experience, I guess. What was less cool were the (two) couples who were monopolizing the pool, ostensibly to engage in some kind of PDA-off, and the loner-creeper who paid 8 € to keep his clothes on and creep on people. But overall: fun!

So: a great night. I also now have a new, lovely verb to add to my vocabulary, because one of the lovely features of the German language is its near-dizzying capacity for compounding words, is sure to become a fixture: Mondscheinsaunen, or: saunaing by moonlight.