Budapest: once the seat of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now, a big bathtub. Nested on the banks of the Danube River in central Hungary, Budapest is unique as a major city in three notable ways:
1.) It is the only major city built over an extensive cave system
2.) Modern Budapest is actually the result of three cities merging (Buda, Obuda, and Pest)
3.) It is situated on a hotbed of geothermal activity and boasts dozens of classical and medicinal bath houses.
The third quality inspired me to make the 7hr bus ride down to Hungary. Due to a Turkish occupation of 140 years and an abundance of natural hot springs, Budapest has some of the world’s most developed and luxurious thermal and mineral bathhouses.
My first visit was to the Rudas bath. Originally built by the Ottomans and subsequently restored, this gem of a bathing center was like a trip back in time. When first entering the main bathing hall the unmistakable odor of sulfur plunged down my throat. The sulfur is found naturally in the spring water sourcing the pools and is purported to be cleansing for the skin and good for digestion if consumed in small quantities. Fortunately, I became accustomed to the smell and was soon delighted with the flavor it added to the air.
The layout of the Rudas is simple and classical. There are four corner baths, each receiving a constant flow of mineralized and slightly radioactive water of a specific temperature (32°, 36°, 38°, and 42° Celsius). The center pool has a perfect combination of minerals and temperature that simulates weightlessness; when I waded there extensively it caused me to lose track of the limits of my body. The ceiling is a dome with dozens of heptagonal pieces of stained glass hewn into the
construction. Sunrays passing through the glass create beams of colored light that take full form in the warm soggy air. Innumerable colored patterns refracted off of the water dance on the brownstone pillars in this solar lightshow.
The sauna was Turkish (unfortunately so because Finnish saunas are much more rewarding in my opinion, being smaller and often lined with cedar wood). It was composed of three separate chambers of different temperatures, none of which were unbearably hot.
I preferred the steam room which was located just off of the main bathing hall and was separated into three tile-clad chambers of increasing heat and steam density. The most intense chamber sears the skin, especially where it is thin such as the hands, feet, ankles, ears and…it was all male and 99% of the visitors were naked or in linen loin cloth.
A common practice is switching between the steam room or very hot pool and a nearly freezing plunge pool; it confuses the body, tweaks the blood pressure and heart rate. The result is lucidity of thought and movement which provides entry into an airy and transcendental dimension. The Rudas bath is a trance inducing place.
Healthy? Not really. Hungarians die at an average age of 68, the second lowest average in Europe next to Turkey (which is hardly the standard model for a European nation) and 10 years lower than the average for other European nations (an average of 78). They have the highest rate of cancer in Europe and death rates of persons younger than 65 are growing rapidly.
Many Hungarians are very fat, smoke a lot and eat heavy meat based foods. The constant juggling of the body between near boiling and near freezing waters is also quite taxing on the heart. After doing this for only one day I had a strange experience lying in bed that evening of heat pulses and alternate fits of shivering; it felt as if my body was suddenly boiling and then cooling off on its own.
The other bath house I attended was more upscale and luxurious, the Gellert Bath. It was much larger and included an outdoor pool area, large indoor swimming pool, steam room, Finnish sauna, and several hot pool chambers. Although it is much nicer, cleaner, and larger I prefer the Rudas traditional bath hands down.
A short tour of town was sufficient; I was a bit tired of walking after the mountain excursion a few days prior. Budapest does boast some impressive monuments and political buildings, many of which are too big for their purposes nowadays but once served in administration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Other loose ends:
1.The “Blue” Danube is not blue, but a musky green.
Hungarian wine is pretty good but nothing special for my palate.
The Hungarian language is completely abstract – a bouncy Slavic tongue-twister.
I posted some pics on Picasa. Looking forward to seeing everyone in October.
Thomas
