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Swim in a bank

We’d all like to wade waist-deep in money, but if that dream eludes you, why not go for a swim in a former bank vault at Berlin’s grand new Hotel de Rome? The hotel, which overlooks Bebelplatz, opened in 2006 following the two-year conversion of a bank built in 1889. The pool itself once functioned as the bank’s jewel safe, while the smaller safes now accommodate spa and beauty treatment rooms. The solemn doric pillars surrounding the pool make it feel like you’re doing laps in ancient Rome (with fluffier towels), and after a quick session swimming or working out in the in-house gym, you’ll leave looking a million dollars.

Hotel de Rome
Behrenstraße 37, Berlin
+49 (0)30 460 6090
www.hotelderome.com

Get beauty tips from Buddha

We’re not sure that Buddha would have seen his spiritual legacy as ‘Buddhattude’, a marketing buzzword if ever we heard one, but that’s the theme at the new Buddha Bar Spa in Evian-les-Bains, 45km from Geneva. This new feature of the Hilton hotel is an offshoot of the glamorous red-and-gold nightspot in Paris, complete with an oversized Buddha statue. Spa director Hélène Coulon travelled to Tibet, Korea and Thailand for inspiration, returning with an idea for a spa that incorporates a garden for meditation and offers treatments based on the five Buddhist principles: space, water, earth, fire and air. Highlights include the Abhyanga Tibetan massage (80 minutes for ¤130), which concentrates on secret marma (energy) points to revitalise the body.

Buddha Bar Spa
Hilton Evian-les-Bains, France
+33 (0)4 5084 6000
www.hilton.com

Take tea with a difference

Sing Tehus opened at the end of 2006, and it’s one of a raft of new teahouses helping to redefine what the cuppa means to Copenhagen. Owner Mette Marie Kjaer is keen to promote the healing and restorative powers of the right brew, and serves up the mother of all green teas: the potent matcha tea, a fluorescent green powder that requires gentle crushing before the water is added. Kjaer even has a selection of white and red teas, as well as more familiar black teas, including darjeeling, assam and kemun. For further proof that the tea trend is really taking off in Denmark, this year a dedicated tea master from Kyoto will be making several visits to Copenhagen to hold Japanese tea ceremonies at the café.

Sing Tehus
Skindergade 25, Copenhagen
+45 3311 6601
www.singtehus.dk

Chill with the Iceman

There’s a good reason Norwegian musician Terje Isungset is known as the Iceman – all his instruments are made from ice, and his concerts happen below 0ºC. Having released Igloo, the second of his ice-music albums, in 2006, Isungset has created an ice trumpet as well as a stalagmite-style xylophone. “Perhaps the water I use has passed through another person,” muses the Iceman, who relishes the challenge of battling the elements to get the best from his fragile instruments during live shows. “I can’t promise that each concert will offer the same experience, but I can promise that we will create music out of whatever nature gives us.” The Ice Tour comes to Eidsvoll, just outside Oslo, in March.