Turkish Baths

When I read The Blood of Flowers, set in 17th century Persia, the historical bit that most intrigued me were the hamam, or, the baths. The hamam provided a great context for the repugnance the Perisans felt for contact with early Europeans; the early Europeans didn't bathe, while for the Persians, bathing in community was an integral part of society.

Here's a bit from wiki describing hamam historically: 

"Hamam complexes usually contain separate quarters for men and women or, alternatively, they are admitted at separate times. Because they were social centers as well as baths, hamams became quite abundant during the time of in the Ottoman Empire and were built in almost every Ottoman city. Integrated into daily life, they were centers for social gatherings, populated on almost every occasion with traditional entertainment (e.g. dancing and food, especially in the women's quarters) and ceremonies, such as before weddings, high-holidays, celebrating newborns, beauty trips, etc."

The oldest bath in Budapest, Rudas, was built in 1550, although it has been refurbished since. Probably more than once. Given that Rudas was a short walk across the Elizabeth Bridge, right down the road from our hotel, Jeff and I decided to head there for our Budapest Bath Experience. How better to experience a traditional bath than in one older than the country we are from?

Actually, "how better" would have been if Jeff had gone with one of his friends, as it was a Male Only day. Not having read the literature very thoroughly, we had missed that bit about how the more traditional baths maintain traditional men only and women only days, catering to a more local crowd.

Jeff whipped out his i-Phone and found this place a short distance away. While it did not appeal esthetically (I really wanted to see the inside of a 16th century bath house!), at least it was a short walk.  

A short walk, but also not open. As you can see from the great quality of the photos, the weather was not perfect. We decided to hike back to the hotel and reconnoiter.

An hour or so later, with lunch under our belts, we struck off again, this time for Széchenyi Baths, which, I believe, is not so much a "Turkish Bath" as it is a series of thermal pools, with an outdoor pool and and a few steam baths thrown in; so perhaps "spa" is a more accurate description.

This photo taken later in the day, so the sun shone beautifully for us again. The spa is over a hundred years old, which makes it not very old in Budapest, but men and women bath together, so it met the real criteria for the day, which was an outing for Jeff and me: together.  What with this being a wedding anniversary trip and all.

Moving "inside," the outdoor pools are in the courtyard, while the steam rooms and warm baths are in the yellow building in the background. The weather was perfect by this time, probably 28C degrees (maybe 85F?), so not exactly what I would call "outdoor bathing weather," but clearly I was in the minority. I supposed, with the sun beating down, it was warm enough to swim reasonably.

The chess players are here every day. The fee structure would suggest that the tourists, who pay day rates, subsidize the locals, who buy season passes. Seems about right to me. If I had one of these in my back yard, I would for sure have a season pass. I've been meaning to improve my chess game for ages, and what better way to do it?

Inside, everything was bright sparkling clean with lots of natural light. The warm pools ranged from a quite cool 28C (this is considered a good "heated swimming pool" temperature, by the way, although I find 85F a bit cool and always have to work up my nerve to take the plunge) to a quite hot 40C (104F). Jeff prefers the 40C, whereas 38C suits me just fine. The best thing about a place like this is that there were so very many pools of differing temperatures that you really could soak for a bit in one, wander to the next, soak a bit, and wander on. With a steam bath thrown in when you were in the mood.

On the left, we have the the Super Hot Pool: 40C. Next to the Super Cold Pool: 20C. No, I am not kidding. That guy in the corner is hanging out in 68F water. Brrrrr. Most people used the 20C pool as a cool down.

  

Not me. I used the showers.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Debbie Hanson]

I wish we had something like this in the US. Actually, I wish there was something like this in my neighborhood.

[Donkaloosa]

Sign me up --- looks wonderful!

[Monica]

Reminds me of Tangshan Yishang, though they are not on the same level in many aspects.

[Ellen]

Tangshan has the advantage of the fish pools (with live fish to nibble off your dead skin), but Budapest has the advantage that all thermal pools are undercover, making winter soaking a bit more pleasant. They are both grand, though!