City of Spas

Yesterday I was in an extremely good mood, because I received another freelance assignment. I am working for Where Budapest Magazine (check it out at http://wherebudapest.hu/). It’s a tourism magazine that is distributed to all 3, 4, 5 star hotels, tourist centers, etc. The editor is a young, Californian ex-pat, who is very energetic, yet laid-back about work. He gave me a big assignment, so I’ll have the center story next month, and if it’s good, it’ll be the cover story too! Excellent. One of the stories he gave me is about this child’s travel guide called “Benjamin goes to Budapest.” It is the best travel guide I’ve seen yet for Budapest – he gave me a copy, and my editor liked it so much, that he said I have to give it back. (I find it funny that two journalists in their 20s are fighting over custody of a child’s guide book.) And secondly, the big story is about Budapest Spas and what they offer for summer. Budapest is known as the City of Spas, so there are about 15 of them here. This is really exciting, because I want to visit most of them anyway, and this might give me the opportunity to get in for free!

So, today, since I had nothing else to do, because the press conference I thought I had to attend for Business Hungary is actually next week, I decided to visit two of the baths relatively close to my flat. Researching this story on Hungarian baths is not as easy as I thought it would be. Even when I tried to call these places, not even the managers speak limited English, and they are relatively unwilling to give me free admittance. So, since I couldn’t communicate over the phone, I just showed up to one of the baths on Margaret Island. Of course, even though I had a copy of the magazine with me, asked them to call my editor, and offered free publicity, they would not let me in for free. They were happy to have me there, but weren’t willing to treat me. Well, I wasn’t going to pay, because if I paid for admittance to all these places, I would make no profit on the actual story. I realize, that with journalism ethics, one shouldn't admit they are the press, so the article is fair and unbiased, but even my editor told me to try to get as many freebies as possible. He knows what it is like to be broke in Budapest.

So, I tried a different spa, which looks great from Internet pictures, and it ended up being ridiculous.

They too, had no idea what my publication was and only spoke limited English, so I couldn’t market myself. And at this point, I’d been walking around for almost 2 hours in 90 degree heat, and just paid the darn entrance fee, because it was cheaper than the other one. This place was so weird. First, I had trouble finding the entrance to the pool in this complex. There were no signs in English, which surprised me, because it’s marketed in tourist publications. Then, I was looking all confused, so this guy guided me around, even though I didn’t want him to. He was a little sketchy, and I couldn’t tell if he worked there or not. It was really bizarre, because he tried to lead me into a dressing room, and of course I wouldn’t follow him and was confused about why he’d be going into it. But then as a group of women passed us, I realized that it’s was a co-ed locker room, with dressing closets. Then when I got there, I learned they make you swim with a cap, so I had to pay to rent one. It smelled really gross like dirty socks. Also, there was a locker room attendant who locks and unlocks your locker. He just gives you a numbered tag, so you can prove it was your locker. This made me a little worried, because I had a lot of valuables on me. Luckily, my stuff stayed safe, but it made me uneasy the whole time. So, then I finally make it to the pools, and ditched the un-welcomed tour guide (I never saw him again). It turned out there were only two pools the size of diving wells which were three feet from one another (the website makes it seem much more elaborate). It’s totally filled with old people swimming laps (don’t get me wrong, I love the elderly, but I was hoping maybe there’d be some younger people there with whom I could speak some broken English). Plus, to make it even more annoying there was construction going on, so my entire visit was serenaded by jackhammers. I swam around a little, but the water was absolutely frigid, and just to make my mood even more fantastic, I got kicked hard in the thigh by an overzealous breast stroker. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t just sit in the water somewhere. After about an hour and a half, I was bored, sick of seeing old men in Speedos and old topless ladies (tops are totally optional in Budapest sunbathing), and getting irked by the construction, so I finally left. After I got dressed, and I was walking out, I realized that there was another pool in a separate area of the building with a wading pool, and the place I was looking for the whole time where younger people were hanging out. I have no idea how one would get there. But, it was too late by then. Needless to say, I don’t think this pool will be included favorably in my article.

These are the amusing scenarios in hindsight, but totally frustrating adventures that always seem to happen when exploring alone. I narrated the whole thing to my mother, and she thought it was hysterical. Maybe that's the reason these weird things happen - to amuse others. But, despite that, I don’t think I’ll go to another bath until I can drag Michael along with me.

A few other fun things that have happened:

- Mike and I got offered a ride to Tesco (basically the only large shopping center in Budapest) at 11 p.m. the other night, so we took it! Mike was ecstatic, because he found a lounge chair for our balcony and a little charcoal grill so we can cook out on the Fourth of July.

- We actually found tortillas and taco seasoning, so we’re making Mexican food tonight. Ole!