Day 18
Location 4: Budapest
Nov. 18, 2022
Today, Lucas (who was my teammate in Pub Golf) invited me to the famous Budapest thermal baths. It ended up being my favorite day in the city.
After we fought for our survival in the trenches of the locker rooms which were decorated with old, naked men, we made a beeline for the baths. Click here for a photo of one of the naked men.
We went through the thermal bath complex with a specific strategy:
sauna
big thermal bath
steam room (w/ herbs)
steam room (w/out herbs)
small thermal bath (with a whirlpool)
super hot sauna
cold bath
repeat
The whole experience was pure joy and lasted like 6 hours. The saunas were filled with zombified sweaty people staring off into eternal darkness, which was meditative in a strange way. The thermal baths had elderly locals playing games of chess in the pool. The steam rooms were a return to the zombies. The cold bath was incredibly refreshing and while fully submerged, it felt like that photo of Muhammad Ali training underwater.
Yea, that one.
One more thing. On the way to the baths, Lucas (who is French) and I were looking for a place to eat and passed a McDonald's. He proceeded to insult me for being American, saying stuff like "Americans eat McDonald's for every meal" and "everyone in America is fat" or whatever. It wasn't mean spirited, he was being funny. We ended up opting for a small pasta place instead.
Later that night, Lucas was too drunk during the pub crawl. I gathered him and walked him home. But not before a quick stop on the way to get some food in him. He loved it. America: 1 - France: 0.
