Getting a massage away from home…
Yup, loaded title I know it. I will start by saying the young man that gave me my massage was perfectly polite and respectful. With that said, it was the weirdest massage ever. Ever.
I am currently in Zadar, Croatia. A beautiful tiny town on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
I asked for the 45 minute aromatherapy massage. The cost was 150 Kuna, which today comes in at about $26.55. I check in a few minutes early, like any good spa customer. The guy at the desk stands up and points to the room right next to reception, leads me there. He is like 9 feet tall (ok, more like 6’8” or more) and young enough to be my son little brother. And the whole thing felt like it was a massage from my little brother. You know, here brother $5 now rub my back!
The room is pretty bare, lots of bright lights, classic rock playing in the background and no place for my stuff either. Like glasses, clothes, etc. And the door is kinda frosted glass but kinda you can see thru it. The massage table in the middle had one sheet on it. One. Dude walks out and says to take off my top (standard for a massage, nothing wrong here, but keep reading). No place to put my clothes. So I hang my tank top on the door knob and put my glasses on the edge of the sink.
So back to that one sheet. Over it or under it? I am not a prudish American, not bothered by nudity, mine or others. But this was not a situation I could win. I am either that American lady that wanted to be naked when she wasn’t supposed to be, or I am that American lady that was a prude and ashamed of herself. I can’t really wait for dude without committing, remember see-thru-ish door?
Ok, I figure I will error on the side of prude. As I start to go under the sheet, dude comes back in, he giggles at me. Ok, so I should have been on top of sheet. No big deal. I tell him this is different than I am used to in America, where should I be? Over or under the sheet. He said under. So I start to go under the sheet. He giggles again and says he meant the sheet should go under me. He told me to lay on my face (not in a rude way, in a cute English as a fourth language kind of way). Ok, I got this now, face down on massage table, there’s the little hole for my face. I lay down prepared for my aromatherapy massage.
He says he mixed lemon juice and orange juice for my smells. I think he meant oils, but I was like oranges and lemons? Maybe it’s something special that I am just missing by being a snobby American. (Nope, by the way, this adds to the little brother massage vibe, cause little brothers would use what was close and what they know)
He takes a towel and folds it into the waistband of my pants (to keep the oils from staining) and then he starts to rub. Not massage, rub. He actually also did that karate chop thing all over my back too. About 20 minutes in he asks if I want only the back or the whole body. Considering the whole over/under sheet thing AND the aching back that motivated the massage, I said just the back please. There were moments of actual massage, but mostly little bother like rubbing and karate chopping.
Nearing the end of the back rub dude walks over to the sink area and grabs a handful of paper towels from the dispenser (like from a public bathroom type towels) and rubs them all over my back (to absorb the leftover orange/lemon oil-juice?). Then takes the towel he had placed in my waistband and covers my back with it, then rubs my back some more with the dry towels. They have never heard of fabric softener here so it was a nice little exfoliator to end with I suppose.
All this for $26.55.
You've gotta love the intricasies of spa days in foreign countries. My last day in Turkey I decided, like you, to pop to the spa in my hotel for a massage. It was genuinely the weirdest spa experience of my life. The woman mounted me, yes, mounted me. Not just once though, TWICE! On one occassion, while straddling my back, she pushed down and lifted her body off the massage table while balancing on my back! And yes, what is that karate chopping thing supposed to do? I want to be massaged not hit.
I'm with you on nudity. I'm OK with it, but I am a little cautious sometimes because you never know what the culural norms are in other places do you? So when this woman flipped me over and started massaging my breasts I was a little alarmed, but I went with it as I had no frame of reference for a Turkish spa.
All-in-all though, I think I might give it a miss next time.
Posted by: Rachel | October 01, 2013 at 06:12 AM
One of my favorite blog posts of yours to date!! hee hee <3
Posted by: Jen Young | October 06, 2013 at 02:22 PM
This is hillllllarious!
Posted by: H S | January 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM
Wow that certainly is CRAZY! I'm a licensed massage therapist and I have plenty of crazy stories about weirdos myself! Hahaha! I think when I'm in a foreign country I would ask about their massages before I got one ... jus saying ❤🤣
Posted by: Melissa | April 04, 2018 at 08:40 PM
What type of service were you expecting for paying $26? You got what you paid for
Posted by: Laide | July 09, 2018 at 06:36 AM
The best article or massage! Keep t up
Posted by: masajes eroticos | August 03, 2018 at 02:20 AM
It sounds like you had quite the unique massage experience! From the unexpected lemon and orange "aromatherapy" to the karate chops, it definitely sounds memorable, if not exactly what you were expecting. At least you got a bit of an exfoliation with those paper towels at the end!
Posted by: Miranda | April 04, 2024 at 09:17 AM