eucalyptic utopia..

my love for eucalyptus is directly related to the russian bath houses of chicago and nyc.. the bath house is about $20 for the day and they have rooms nearing 200 degrees which you stay in until you almost die, then you throw your limp body into a pool of ice cold water around 30 degrees.. as if this isnt enough, a russian guy massages and washes you while hitting you with bunches of leaves in the hottest part of the hottest room.. its like heaven, in some rooms the eucalyptus is so strong that it will burn your eyes if you don't close them.. so you can imagine how excited i was when we camped amongst hundreds of eucalyptus trees, breaking the leaves open and spreading the oils on our bodies.. then cooking over a fire with the eucalyptus wood the sausages actually get like a sappy glaze that tastes like eucalyptus.. amazing