Bathing in Budapest

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After last night’s merry making I, along with all the other guests at the hostel, took our times getting up and getting ready. I still hadn’t done any research on what there is to do in Budapest when Steve asked what I was up to today. He said a lot of people were going to a Turkish thermal bath in the city. Sure. I’m in.

We walked to a nearby metro which we’d use to get to the bath house. The metro here is apparently the second oldest in Europe. And it shows. The trains are very short and the stations are tiny with minimal advertisements. But they do have quite a bit of classic character.

We got off in the northeast section of town near Heroes Square and City Park and walked to Széchenyi Baths. When we got inside, Steve’s credit card wasn’t working so he took off to find an ATM. I went in and got changed. At this point I should have waited for him. But I thought I’d get a feel for the place until he got back.

I walked around the indoor baths for a few minutes and eventually came upon doors that led outside. They have three huge outdoor heated pools. And they were packed with people.

I decided I better head back to the locker room and meet up with Steve. But getting there was an ordeal. The inside was like a maze with numerous different bath rooms and it was hardly marked. It took me a good 10 minutes to find the one door that led to the locker room. By the time I made it back Steve was nowhere to be found. I’d just have to hope we find each other later.

I took off to the outdoor pool. The air temperature had to be about 40°F so people raced back and forth between the building doors and the pools. I set one foot into the water and was immediately relieved. The water temperature at this pool was in the 90s. Ahhhhh.

The pool had a sitting area in the center with several water jets, a current stream surrounding this section, a water fall that people could use for water massages and several other jets that could massage the legs. Along the perimeter were several fountains that people could sit under and have the water massage their necks. I took advantage of each of these throughout the day.

After a bit in this pool, I wondered over to another pool at the opposite end of the large inner area. This one was even warmer, with a temperature above 100°F. It also had fountains around its perimeter. It had about eight pressure fountains used to give guests a deeper water massage. These were fantastic as I stood under them several times while trying to loosen up my neck and traps.

For lunch, I went inside the bath house’s café and grabbed some Hungarian goulash and rice. This goulash was more like a soup than the Czech version. Its base is a broth, unlike the much thicker gravy-like sauce in the Czech Republic. I prefer the Czech version.

After lunch I hung around the baths for a couple more hours. All in all, I spent several enjoyable and relaxing hours at the bath.

Around 5:00, I took off to go back to the hostel. I still hadn’t found Steve. On my way back, I stopped by some of the nearby sights like Heroes Square (with the Millennium Monument) and the Vajdahunyad Castle, in City Park.

I managed to find my way back to the metro without a map and got myself safely back to the hostel. There I found Steve. Apparently I had walked by him on my way out to the pool but didn’t see him. He had waved at me but I didn’t even notice. He wasn’t quick enough to catch me.

Steve also found the place like a maze. He didn’t even realize that there was an outside section.

Tonight I took it easy with a few of the girls and Michael from Canada while the others went out again. I can’t handle two nights out in a row. I’m getting old.

We watched Clerks, an offshoot of the Jay and Silent Bob movies. Clerks was not nearly as funny.

Tomorrow I’m still in Budapest. I have a couple touristy things in mind.

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Photos

Bath House
The outside of the bath house where we went.

Metro
The metro is the second oldest in Europe.

Heroes Square
Heroes Square and the Millennium Memorial is near the bath house.

Comments

[Peter]

Gastronomic remark
The goulash is Hungarian, what Czech call goulash is porkolt in Hungary, which might be similar to the one you tried in Czech, though much more tasty. Czech goulash is like french pizza...