Spa Vacations
ALBERTA SPA VACATIONS JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD
Author: Travel Alberta
The ancient Romans knew a thing or two about spas. While Alberta's Aboriginal
peoples were discovering the healing benefits of
mountain hot springs, Roman warriors halfway across the planet
were plunging into mineral hot springs to heal battle
wounds. The Roman population soon caught on--in fact, the word
"spa" comes from the Latin "salus per aquam," or "health through
water."
You'll think of Rome when you visit Calgary's Spa Europa. This luxurious day spa features the statues, pillars and marble that evoke the ancient Mediterranean--and its Turkish Hammam Treatment offers a modern twist on the Byzantine and Roman empires. "In ancient Greece, bathing would be a ritual," says co-owner Laura Ezekiel. "Now, bath is 'in and out' - it's not a ritual any more. Our Turkish hammam, however - our signature treatment - is a ritual."
At 3.5 hours, the treatment includes head-to-toe exfoliations,
aromatherapy steam sessions, hot and cold hydro treatments,
Swedish massage, cucumber mini-facial and a full body milk
rinse--along with a hair shampoo and condition, and scalp
massage. And, to keep up your energy levels, there's an elegant
lunch, too. "It does everything," says Ezekiel. "It refreshes
and purifies mind, body and soul."
WHEN IN ROME
The Romans transported their love of baths throughout their
far-reaching empire--a legacy that the crowned heads of Europe
made their own. Mountain spa resorts, with views as good for the
soul as the treatments were for the body, became especially
popular in the 1700s and 1800s. Today, that legacy flourishes at
the Willow Stream Spa in the Fairmont Banff Springs
resort--just 90 minutes from Calgary, and tucked into
its own stunning alpine valley. Sarvar Thermal Crystals,
distilled direct from Hungary's Sarvar springs and containing
such ingredients as potassium, magnesium and iodine, turn the
pool at the heart of the Willow Stream into a truly therapeutic
soak.
"The Hungarian mineral pool is the traditional spa," explains
Pam Ouellet, assistant spa director. "It has the healing waters
that assist in relieving sore muscles and aching joints,
promoting circulation, and detoxifying and re-mineralizing the
body." She suggests that spa guests also spend time in the
nearby hot, warm and cool plunge pools, with their cascading
waterfalls (all of which look out onto magnificent Mount Rundle.)
The Willow Stream taps into another European tradition in its
thalassotherapy treatments, which literally mean "from the
ocean." Ouellet explains that--from the Mediterranean to the
Dead Sea--the sea contains minerals, trace elements and vitamins
that are indispensable to our lives.
The Willow Stream's Thalasso KUR treatment, she notes, uses
sea-borne ingredients that nourish, rejuvenate and detoxify the
body, starting with a re-mineralizing algae body wrap,
continuing with a sea salt bath, and finishing with a marine
firming cream. Your body will thank you.
ASIAN FUSION
In the mountain resort town of Lake
Louise, 30 minutes from Banff, the Post
Hotel's Temple Mountain Spa evokes a European feel, with
its beautiful dark woods, slate and glass tiles--but its unique
new signature treatment takes you to Thailand, says spa director
Anne Witzaney. The Thai Herbal Stem Massage uses herbs such as
ginger, cumin and plai (from the ginger family), wrapped in
unbleached cotton, steam heated, and then used in a kneading and
rolling movement as part of a traditional Thai massage. "It's a
wonderful experience because of the aroma," she says. "It helps
release toxins and improves circulation, and is combined with
deep pressure to release blocked energy, and increase awareness
and vitality." And while the aromatherapy might take you to
Asia, she notes, you still wake up in the Rocky Mountains,
surrounded by peaks, glaciers and lakes--making it an ideal
Alberta spa vacation destination.
There's more of Asia at the Eveline Charles day spas in Calgary
and Edmonton, with their Indo-Chine Fusion. The Coco-Nilla body
scrub combines coconut milk and crushed vanilla beans, followed
by a tropical mist Vichy shower, Javanese floral bath, and shea
butter body wrap, plus massage. Can you say "aaaaah"?
JOURNEY EUROPA
You can wrap yourself in Europe in Kananaskis, 1.5 hours west of
Calgary, where the Delta Lodge's Summit Spa body wraps use the
best of European ingredients. Need a Rocky Mountain spa weekend
to recover from your week? Try blissing out to a blend of French
and English lavender, or detoxifying with a combination of
creamy spa mud and Italian mineral salt thermal waters. Need
some stimulation? How about pure marine algae from Brittany,
with a slenderizing and firming effect?
About the author:
Travel
Alberta is the destination marketing organization for the
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delivery of tourism marketing programs. For information about
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