Ow?

Spent the day at the Dragonhill Spa yesterday. After soaking in every kind of bath that wasn't hot enough to boil me alive, I decided to go for the Back/Shoulders Oil Massage in the "Relaxation Hall." It was 70 minutes, ridiculously cheap, and many parts of it I very much enjoyed. However, there was a 20-minute warm-up Sports Massage to kick it off and "relax the body..." I assume it's only meant to start working after it's done, as you are so relieved that the torture has ended you can't do anything else but go limp. The surly-looking lady at the front desk did it, and I feel like she was working off all of her job frustration on every crevice of my back. Ensuing 50-minute treatment by a younger and gentler woman and full day of lying in tubs notwithstanding, this morning I woke up feeling as if I'd been beaten around the neck and shoulders with a very big stick, possibly studded with iron lumps.

My back feels great, though! And I smell pretty and my skin is quite refreshed, so all in all good deal.

Today we are undoing all of yesterday's possibly-therapeutic bumming around and hiking up a mountain, after visiting the International Zen Center. I am armed with a couple bananas, some sunflower seeds, a full canteen of water, my sketchbook, pencils, inks, and pastels.