After making a few perfunctory laps around the store and tossing deliciously scented bath salts, a random smattering of melamine plates, ceramic mugs, and tea into my mini shopper, Brett and I plunked down to enjoy an afternoon cup of tea before I would be whisked away for my spa treatments. Floor to ceiling windows accommodated the gentle sunshine filtering subtly onto our faces and we quietly sipped our “Sea Mist” tea, referred to also as Mermaid’s Potion—a heady blend of lemongrass, mint and seaweed that is at once calming and invigorating. Lining the dilapidated brick walls are a number of crisp white wooden shelves with a myriad of tins featuring every possible tea one might imagine from the traditional English Breakfast or Jasmine to the less common choices such as Pu-erh and Yerba Maté. The wall behind the tea bar where we sat is host to traditional tea ceremony appurtenances which are so treasured that no photography is allowed.
While partaking of our tea, we made small talk with the gentleman behind the counter who looked like Alan Cumming’s doppelganger. He told us about a new chocolate endeavor in which Silk Road partnered with Roger’s Chocolates to create tea infused organic chocolate bars in Matcha, Earl Grey and Chai flavors. Before he could even finish his sentence, I darted off to grab a handful of these bars and added them to my loot.
Shortly thereafter, Brett made his way back to our hotel and I ensconced myself on an overstuffed velvet couch at the periphery of the store, pretending to be profoundly captivated by a book on Mosques. I wasn’t waiting too long (time becomes irrelevant on holiday anyway…) before a lovely young girl approached me. With genuine warmth she smiled and said that once we passed through the door we should whisper so as not to disturb anyone enjoying a treatment and to promote an environment of relaxation. Behind the small antique-looking door, a narrow stairwell descended toward the inner sanctum of private rooms. Classical music quietly issued forth from the walls as Lindsay ushered me into my suite. I was taken at once by how quaint, rustic and simple the room was. A definitively French feel to the barren brick-walled chamber gave off the perception that I was privy to a very secret club.
As I prepared myself for the luxuriating that was to ensue, I noticed a pleasant lack of torture tools usually prominent in a spa (harsh lighting to inspect pores, extraction devices, whirring towel heaters etc.) Instead, I was guided through what I might expect during my facial and body wrap before Lindsay left me to get ready amidst nothing but my bed, a mirror, and a tiny little side table on which to place my jewelry. I had nearly drifted from consciousness by the time she returned to the room so I barely noticed that she had brought in bins of everything with her (oils, salts, hot towels etc).
Perhaps one of my favorite things about the experience was that Lindsay didn’t feel the need to inundate me with questions and chat me up while she administered my “treatments”. Too often I go to a spa only to have my esthetician make small talk while I’m supposed to meditating so it meant a lot that I was simply allowed to rest. As my body was buffed and moisturized, my face detoxified, and my pressure points massaged; I slowly drifted into a delicate oblivion wherein I most definitely lost track of time. My pampering lasted two hours before Lindsay agilely and quietly left the room.
Afterward I slowly readied myself in a bliss-induced haze before I was quietly guided upstairs to enjoy another cup of tea and offer my feedback on the experience. I emerged from the spa glistening and glowing as though I had been dipped into a bath of honey. I felt absolutely replenished and didn’t even mind the sheets of rain smattering against the sidewalk as I wandered back to the hotel.
Ahhhhh....spaaaaahhhhh :) I need some cucumber slices stat!!! :)
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