Szechenyi Baths & Gödör Club

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Hangover and late start after our cray-z night out at the Ruin pub, led us to get a fire-roasted dough roll thing called a Kürtoskalács, also known as chimney cake. It’s a traditional Hungarian pastry that originated in Transylvania, I’m told. It’s made with dough strips glazed with sugar over a fire. After it’s toasted it’s rolled in toppings like sugar, cinnamon, or nuts. We got ours with cinnamon! Oh it was GOOD!



After a couple blah blah shopping stops for Robyn (who is looking for overpriced Hungarian perfumes which cause a person to smell like rotten peaches), we were off to do some real Budapest stuffs. Fortunately for my nose, they were out of the rotten perfume, so Robyn is a little richer and I have narrowly escaped a fruity headache.



We took the underground metro to City Park and no sooner did we ascend to the surface did we find our destination, the famed Szechenyi Baths. There’s something very strange about waiting in a line in the 30 degree weather to go get in a pool of water. And the strange feelings didn’t end once we got inside the building and purchased our entry (given in the form of a strange digital watch-like bracelet). We were in for an experience, as we walked aimlessly around the wooden doors, not sure where to enter. Luckily for us, Hungarians can be the kindest of people. An elderly local (Hungarian Father Christmas, let’s call him) with a full belly and the requisite speedo, explained how to enter the changing room and then fold down the bench so that it blocks/locks the door. There you can change in privacy into your suit, which we did. So far so good.



Robyn isn’t too fond of going barefoot in public bath houses and chastised herself for not bringing her flip-flops, but I reassured her that everything would be fine. She just doesn’t like having dirty feet.



After we changed, we each found a locker in which to put our belongings, but were slightly confused about how they locked. No sooner were we puzzling over this, did the little Hungarian Father Christmas from before reappear to show us how the lockers work. You push the button on the handle with your digital watch and it locks itself to your bracelets. Amazing! He even brought us some hangers to put our coats and clothes on. What a nice Christmas present. Robyn and I thought for a moment that he might be an employee, because he was so friendly and helpful, but later we saw Hungarian Father Christmas in one of the baths. He was just a kind old man. Merry Christmas to you too, Hungarian Father Christmas!



Okay, enough, so we sauntered through the men’s and women’s shower area and met each other on the other side. There were several warm baths right off the bat, beautifully designed with columns and arches to feel posh and inviting. We got in the first one we saw. The plan was to get in and soak in as many of these baths as possible. That first one was warm, very warm. And had kinda green water. So we got out after not too long. Next we got in another one, the one with fancy columns this time. It was still warm, but slightly cooler than the first one. Lots of old people in it though, so we got out after not too long.



After having gotten our feet wet and all the rest of us too, we were finally ready to take the outdoor plunge. We made our way to the door and took our last breath of warm air. Boom, the ice-cold air hit us like a ton of bricks! But we weren’t looking back! We were headed to the enormous “Relaxing” pool in the outside atrium.





Wrapped in our towels we headed to the water we knew was beneath the steam, our feet were icebergs by the time we got there and the warm water felt especially soothing. Once we immersed ourselves in the warm water we finally began to fully enjoy the experience. Surrounded by the mist, I ferried Robyn around the pool, because it was just a little too deep for her and she wanted to keep her hair dry.

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