A Winter Soak

Sunday, February 6, 2011

When our friends told us we absolutely could not miss Budapest, one of their selling points were the Hungarian public baths. There is something about soaking in hot water that is irresistible to me (even if it means soaking with a bunch of strangers). Since we were in Turkey at the time, we skipped the Turkish hamams because we were looking forward to the ones in Budapest.

There are close to a thousand hot springs in the country of Hungary--it's no wonder the city is known for it's baths. The thermal baths in Hungary have a long history, beginning with the Roman baths which were used for therapeutic purposes and then developed by the Turks during Turkish occupation. Some Turkish bath houses in Budapest are still in operation today. There are also Hungarian baths from more recent times, influenced by the Hapsburgs.

We chose to visit Szechneyi Bath, partly because it's the biggest thermal bath in Budapest and mainly because it allows men and women to bathe together (there are some public baths in Budapest for men only and just recently they decided to modernize and reserved one day a week for women!).

We didn't really know what to expect, except a pool with hot water. When we approached the Szechneyi Bath, I almost kept walking right past it. It was too big and beautiful a building to go bathing in. But sure enough, this gorgeous neo-baroque piece of art surrounded by manicured lawns was the bath house. I felt like I was entering the doors of a royal estate, and the lobby was no less grand than the exterior. After buying a pass (about $10), we passed through an enormous locker room to the baths.

We found that the enormous mansion-like building had rooms and rooms (more like a maze) full of pools, all at different temperatures. Yuriy and I had a ball skipping from pool to pool, dipping our toes into the water, and only sitting in the hot ones. Each pool is clearly labeled with the temperature of the water (ranging from ice cold to burning hot), but degrees in Celsius still don't quite register in my head. This isn't your dinky neighoborhood YMCA. The baths are set in gorgeous tiled rooms with high ceilings, decorative arches, and woodwork.

But wait, that's not all. When you step outside, there are even more steaming pools in the courtyard! And with the frigid winter temperatures, I don't think a hot soak ever felt better. Fountains, statues, flowers.. the place is a beauty, and you can't help feeling like royalty.

Despite the beauty, I did have quite a few thoughts about what was swimming in the water that did not belong on my body. Sitting around in hot pools with sweaty strangers doesn't sound very appealing when you think too hard about it scientifically. But never mind that... oh the beauty!

We ended our stay at the bath house by cleansing our pores in the eucalyptus-scented sauna.

This is not one of those tourist activities that you go to see once, take a few snapshots, and never think about again. I have no doubt in my mind that my next trip to Budapest will include a trip to a local bath house. If you ever find yourself in Budapest, please go.

- Julia

23 comments :

  1. a winter soak sounds aaaamazing!

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  2. I am a big fan of public baths. Back in Ukraine, every Saturday, we went to one of these public baths. Everyone was naked though (i was too young to be shy). Of course, Men and women were separated. And after, we always enjoyed a glass of tomato juice. Good memories!!

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  3. Wow, I honestly didn't expect it to be that beautiful! Amazing!

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  4. As always, inspirational. Thee world is so beautiful and you two take beautiful pictures of it :)

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  5. Wow!!!! I sooo wanna go there! It is absolutely beautiful and looks so relaxing! Unbelievable architecture on that building!

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  6. Amazing! I want to go there right now!

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  7. would not have given a lot of thought to Budapest before reading your posts... We will definitely put that on our list of places to visit! Your photographs show a gorgeous, architectural STUNNING place! Thanks! Hope Ya'll are having a blast! :)

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  8. Ethereal. Looking at your blog is like taking a vacation!

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  9. I'm so glad you took these pictures! when we went to the Hungarian Baths (these same ones!) I didn't think I'd be able to take my camera around with me, so I didn't get any pictures of it. Now I'm very glad to see yours :)

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  10. you are so brave for taking these photos in the baths - i would be so nervous! but totally worth it, they're absolutely gorgeous. especially those ones at night! wow.

    these actually remind me of the turkish hamaams - except with bathing suits on! (ooooh yes, everyone was naked!).

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  11. You look beautiful, Julia! I actually went to Hungary a few years back but didn't go to the baths... Looks like I really missed out!

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  12. Well, if this doesn't make you want to go to Budapest.. I don't know what will! Awesome stuff!

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  13. how incredible, such a beautiful building for a bath house

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  14. breathtakingly beautiful. love that I stumbled upon your blog - so refreshing and inspiring! thanks for sharing.

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  15. your photos are ahhhmazing! i need to add budapest to my travel wishlist! i am new to your blog, and i love it! now following :) xoxo jcd
    www.cornflakedreams.com

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  16. absolutely stunning! and i wish i could transport there at least once a week! as always, spectacular photography!
    (p.s. did you get my email?)

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  17. so glad you were brave enough to carry around your camera with you, hope it didn't get wet. we didn't when we went and i've always regretted not having the pictures. thanks for transporting me back!

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  18. I knew you guys would like this post. :)

    Yeah we almost didn't take our camera either, but we wanted to show you guys so badly how amazing this place is. So before we got wet, we ran back to our locker room to get the camera, snapped some shots, then ran to put it back in a safe place. It was hard because I wanted nothing more than to jump into a hot pool right away!

    Janis- I didn't know baths in Turkey were nude?! Darn, we missed out.

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  19. This is amazing! I would love to do this sometime! But the chances I'll get this opportunity are more than slim. They're microscopic!

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