Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2014

Pampered or Punked? Adventures in Spa Land

    Pampered or Punked?      Adventures in Spa Land If you’re looking for unusual spa treatments, you can have a snake massage in Israel, a beer bath in the Czech Republic or a chocolate facial in Pennsylvania (according to this article: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/feb/03/best-weird-spa-treatments ). Or, if you’re in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty, you can visit Villa Donna Retreat. Let’s start with what Villa Donna is not: it’s not a villa Under the Tuscan Sun. It’s not a resort. It’s not what one might typically associate with a spa.  Villa Donna Retreat, Tauriko, Bay of Plenty Villa Donna consists of a single-story brick house in Tauriko. Just follow the sign set against a bicycle and head for the carport to get inside. My friends Donna (no connection with Villa Donna), Paula and I have driven here via the Mount and Tauranga for a day of pampering, combined with a cooking class. I’d encouraged my fellow running mates to spend $60 for a