Budapest spas

Budapest is a wonderful holiday spot because of the spas. I will remember most the glorious luxury at the end of the day to lounge in a Turkish or Romanesque setting, enjoying the hot waters. On a relaxed day, as an example, we woke late, did yoga and took off in the van provided by the hotel to the city. After a brief hour catching up on my classes (great to earn a living while on vacation!) we hopped on to the Metro and got out at the Parliament building (shown below). During the day we visited the museum of ethnography to catch up on current photography and ancient Hungarian lifestyles. After a lovely Italian meal we headed off by Metro to City Park. A few short minutes later we were deciphering the sign at the spa.

We visited three spas while in Budapest. The Rudas is a recently reopened Turkish style building. The Turks loved their numerology and the symmetry of a central courtyard with four adjoining rooms. This translates in the spa world to a central pool, where small bits of glass let in shafts of light, surrounded by smaller pools of differing temperatures. What I loved about the Rudas was tripping from very hot to very cold waters.

The Gelheirt is probably the most famous bath on the Buda side of the river. A huge underground cave, segmented into a mens and womens area, the Gelheirt allows both sexes to join in the swimming pool, where they are surrounded by Romaneque columns. I confess to liking single gender bathing more than mixed gender as the commaraderie among women who are strangers seems more comfortable. I also loved the very hot steam (50 degrees centigrade) followed by the cold plunge. By the time I left I could survive in both temperatures creating a very powerful exuberance after dunking in the cold.

The bath in City Park is altogether different from the others. Large and Romanesque the bathers are primarily sharing large pools out of doors. One is a perfect 38 degrees centigrade with crystal clear water. On the other side of the swimming pool is the pool with bubbles and jets. Metal plates in the floor of the pool release jets of water and people vie to occupy one of the plates when the jets are on. There are two 3/4s circle of 1 meter tall tiled walls in the center of the pond with powerful jets on the outside walls. These set up a whirlpool effect that sucks the unsuspecting bather into a wild ride around the wall. Most go laughing and screaming a few times around before battling the water at the entrance to get out. Not everyone is successful escaping the ride on their first time. From amusement to complete comfort, strolling between the two pools, Margie and I watched the sun go down.