I woke up with a fairly significant hangover. My vision was a little blurry, my head was pounding. Then I sat up and my stomach broke into a million painful pieces.
I was not feeling too pretty.
I quickly made myself some tea hoping that drinking it would cure my self-induced ailments. No go. A shower usually helps. I was getting ready to take a shower when the receptionist informed me that there is no hot water. That wasn't going to work.
Luckily, I had planned this day around being completely hungover.
When the Turks conquered Hungary, they brought with them the wonderful Turkish Baths. When the Turks left Hungary, they left behind the wonderful Turkish Baths. Today, in Budapest, the Turkish Baths are very popular.
I was banking on the fact that they were the perfect cure to an awful hangover.
I grabbed my swim-suit, borrowed a towel, and asked the receptionist where the biggest, best Turkish Bath was.
We picked up some breakfast on the way at the most authentic joint we would visit during Spring break. The menu was only in Hungarian, the lady did not speak a lick of English, and we could see the one cook and his kitchen from the window. Ordering food consisted of pointing to the menu and giving a questioning thumbs up and receiving a head nod or shake. This process continued until I landed on something which turned out to be eggs seasoned with paprika.
I also ordered the international Cs, Coke-a-Cola. Just about anywhere in the world, you can always find Coke-a-Cola.
Some odd-ball guy eating at the cafe said to me, "you Americans still drinking that Coke?" I was a little shocked that there was someone who spoke English here. He was strange. That was all he said to us until a while later when he said, "well, gotta go work. Work's never finished!"
That was strange.
As we were about finished with breakfast, we saw him walk down the street with a cat in his arms. Of course, he's a cat guy. Then he walked into the cafe and got yelled at by the cook. I imagine, even in Budapest, cats are not very welcomed in cafes.
The rest of the time we watched a Hungarian teenager trying to fix his little moped with two older, larger Hungarian men. For some reason, it was really entertaining. The moped was so old and puny, but all these guys were pouring their heart and soul into fixing it. Eventually they got it all fixed up.
Mickey didn't have a swimsuit along with her so we decided to stop at a second-hand shop, very popular in Budapest. I love getting my clothes from second-hand shops back in Madison. They are usually pretty unique and they are always really cheap. At this one, you literally paid for your clothes by the kilo.
Finally, we were ready to go to the baths!
It was really busy when we got there. This was the most popular and the largest bath complex in Budapest.
It was all done in Turkish style with a modern twist. Everything was a beautiful pastel yellow which complemented the blue skies brilliantly.
I changed into my swimming suit, took a shower, and got ready for some hangover exfoliation.
I eyed up my target. It was a bath to the right of the entrance where everyone looked at peace with the world. I stepped in and it was amazing! It was like one massive hot-tub without the chlorine and without the funky mineral smell. It was just pure, hot-spring water.
My favorite part about this bath was old guys playing chess. One guy in particular appeared to have been in this pool for years. He was balding with semi-long, bright grey hair and a full curly grey beard. He had some wicked shades on and a half tan because he hadn't moved for the entire 5 hours we were there. I want to be that man (far right) when I grow up.
We spent most of the time in this pool. It was the warmest outdoor pool and it was the most entertaining. I got a much needed back massage from the water fountain.
I could feel all of my sins and impurities leaving my body. All of the smoke from Central Europe was slowly dispersing from my respiratory system. My mind, body and soul was purified.
There was a chart which showed the exact chemical make-up of the water. The water was slightly acidic. This gave my skin a nice smooth feeling, as if sanded with super fine sandpaper.
I felt amazing!
I sat in the sauna for a while. I was sweating everything out of me. The good stuff and the bad stuff. Everything.
I guess you are supposed to do a cold plunge after the sauna to re-close your pores, but I couldn't get myself to do it.
Inside there was a super hot pool. I tried it out, but I could only stay in for a couple of minutes. It was unbelievably relaxing.
5 hours later, my hangover was gone. If only I could do this every Sunday morning.
We walked back very slowly. It was a nice evening and I was feeling very relaxed. It was the perfect way to end spring break. We picked up some bottles of Hungarian wine that was recommended to us by our tour guides, but they weren't all that good. Definitely not Italian wine. It was about time to return home to Rome.
We grabbed some dinner at a nicer looking Hungarian restaurant in a pretty neat little square.
We walked along the Chain Bridge and the rest of the Danube River one last time before calling it a night.
That was it. Besides losing my keys, it was mission accomplished. All we had to do now was head back to the hostel, go to sleep, wake up at 3 in the morning, catch our shuttle at 4, and get on an airplane. That shouldn't be too bad, right?
We got back to the hostel and I checked my e-mail one last time.
Holly shit! Sir Toby found my keys! Sir Toby, you're the best.
I went to bed feeling pretty accomplished. I had my alarm set for 3:00 in the morning.
That was really stupid. It was daylight savings at 2:00, and my phone wasn't going to switch from 2:00 to 3:00...
Day 10: Close Call
I woke up in the middle of the night. I was feeling really sleepy so I was just going to go back to sleep, like I normally do. Then I looked around a bit. Where was I again? I certainly wasn't in Wisconsin. I wasn't in Rome either.
Oh yeah, I was in Budapest! Cool.
Wait, didn't I have to get up early or something?
I checked my phone... 2:35.
Which meant it was actually 3:35, because 2:35 doesn't exist on daylight savings.
And, our shuttle was at 4:00. Which meant... WE HAD TO GET MOVING!
I woke Mickey up and broke the bad news. Luckily, we packed up last night so we were pretty much set to go in 5 minutes. I woke up the receptionist who was sleeping on the couch and told her we were checking out. I gave her the keys and booked it out the door.
I sure hoped we had everything with us this time.
We walked through the Jewish Quarter, where most of the nightlife took place, and things were still bumping. We walked through a hipster biker gang, which I thought was pretty interesting. They all had their bikes locked to each other's and they were all drinking in the streets.
I don't think we fit in, but I don't think they cared. I love Budapest.
We made it with 4 minutes to spare. We jumped on the shuttle, made our way to the airport and boarded just as the sun was starting to come up.
We arrived back in Rome and I as a little hungry for a victory breakfast. We stopped by Malva, my favorite cafe, and in true Italian style, had a coffee and pastry. It was good to be back in Rome.
I needed many things: a shower, a shave, a haircut. But, what I really needed was a set of spare keys. The housing desk was kind enough to loan me one. I got back home and passed out on the couch for a good 4 or 5 hours.
I did it.
I backpacked Central Europe.
