Budapest - Day Forty Three

The baths were so good I had no choice but to go back there for the second day in a row, and I'm so glad I did, because it gave me one of my most memorable travelling experiences yet.

I traversed the metro system (the oldest in mainland Europe apparently fact fans) and headed back to Széchenyi Baths with the unerring accuracy of a homing pigeon, leading a procession of three English girls from the Loft who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We spent about three hours soaking up all the goodness of the baths, whirlpools, jacuzzis, plunge pools, saunas and steam rooms (and gawping at fatties - a key part of the experience). I was more or less ready to call it a day, but decided to have one last dip in the hottest of the outdoor pools.

I had been wallowing happily for a couple of minutes, skin pruning up nicely, when the memorable thing happened: a thunderstorm suddenly broke out of a sky that had been blue and sunny a few minutes earlier. I was submerged in lovely warmth from the neck down, peeping over the water which now seemed to boil with the force of the icy rain drops pounding its surface, while deafening peals of thunder rang out across the sky. Then the sheet lightning kicked in.

It was a truly amazing few minutes. I felt a long way from home, in the best way possible. The baths are actually underneath the flight path of Budapest airport, so there was the added entertainment value of watching the occaisional plane fly past and wondering if it was suddenly going get frazzled by a stray lightning bolt.

That night a group of us went to a nearby student bar, which seemed quite quiet until a band struck up some traditional Hungarian tunes and a group of students started doing some folk dancing. I don't recall folk dancing being as popular with students back in the UK, but it looks like it's probably our loss because those guys really started going at it - whirling around in what was basically a souped up version of the hokey-cokey. I wish I'd given it a go actually.