Turkish Bath anyone.....but of course! Well, to say the bath houses are a centerpiece of Budapest life is probably an understatement. The bathhouses are wonderful, ornate affairs that we imagined for many years were the great retreats for the "Party Officials" and off limits to the people. The first one we went to almost had a military feel; dour expressions, information desk staff that appeared bothered with our questions, and a labyrinth of hallways, rooms, changing rooms, towel rentals, hot baths, cold baths, massage rooms and WCs that would confuse the best navigator. So--we finally get in, buy what we think are the right tickets, get changed in what appeared to be the correct gender change rooms (but Fiona insists she saw the bearded lady), rent our towels, and go out to the main pool. It is ornate, massive fountains, not too crowded and the water is tepid at best. Tepid? Where are these steaming thermal baths? But we figure the other 200 people can't wrong, so we "soak" in the luke-warm bath for about 40 minutes. We finally notice two small doors a few people seem to be trickling in and out of at the far end....no signs, no instructions from the staff, but curiosity gets the better of us so we head that way. I send Fiona into the door I think says "Ladies" and by golly, message rooms, hot baths, very hot baths, and saunas! Unfortunately they are male/female and Fi and I part ways agreeing to meet in the lobby in an hour and a half. Well, after massages, hot baths, cold baths, eucalyptus steam baths and way to many men in a loin-cloth type bathing towel that would make a cave-man blush, we felt totally relaxed, refreshed and content. One you broke the code and got used to Communist-style customer service it really was very enjoyable. In fact, so much so we went to a different bath two days latter and had a similar experience, but even better; coed so we could enjoy together, no loin-cloths, and a wonderful, huge outdoor pool/whirlpool with HOT water....best enjoyed at night as the thick clouds of heavy steam billowed up into the clear night air. Of course as closing time approached, in our limited Hungarian, Fiona was pretty sure the announcement said "OK, everyone out of the pool in five minutes or we start shooting!" What a quaint place.....
One can't help but wonder "what if" when you visit lovely Budapest. What if Communism hadn't controlled the country and so many others in Eastern Europe, for over 40 years, and what if the beautiful buildings that had been constructed prior to Communism hadn't fallen into disrepair and neglect during these past decades. Nonetheless, the old buildings in Budapest are still beautiful especially at night, when these buildings are tastefully illuminated by specially placed lights. In order to understand more about Hungary's Communist history, we visited "Memento Park" and the House of Terror- both quite somber but important reminders of the past and the victims of that era. Memento Park is where all the old Communist era statues went to "retire" after the fall of Communism- it was a little strange walking by these massive statues that were created to "inspire" the people. The fact that we visited the park on a cold, dreary day seemed fitting for the occasion. The highlight was visiting these special exhibit where we watched a documentary type "instruction" film on how to be a Secret Agent, complete with spying techniques and instructions on how to inform on your neighbors. No wonder everyone was paranoid then!! The House of Terror was a very informative and interesting museum that is definitely worth a visit if you ever visit Budapest. The Museum is actually housed in the same building that was used to interrogate and torture people during the Communist era, and now stands as a reminder of this era and a memento to the victims. To think that 1989 was not that long ago....it's important to count one's blessings...
