Our Second (and Adventure-Filled) Day in Budapest

Lauren and I were both really excited about this day of the trip. We had two fun things planned, and who would have guessed how one of them would have blossomed into a such a great travel story. 

First, we went to the Grand Market. We knew this would be where would get some gifts for our friends and family, and we would have a chance to see what Budapest had to offer. The first floor was all local produce, meats, spices, and baked goods while the top floor had little kiosks with people selling a range of souvenirs and homemade goods. We spent a while perusing, and found that the main things that were being sold were “secret boxes”, painted eggs, handmade lace (which was absolutely amazing), and little silly souvenirs. We both bought what we wanted, and then immediately switched gears to the food section. 

one of the many paprika stands

inside the grand market

my delicious cabbage roll!

I would say that the food is very similar to what we’re used to, but there was a slight variation. We looked at all of our options and actually both ended up getting things we’ve tried before. Lauren got gulash, which is also in Montenegro and I went for the huge stuffed cabbage, which is similar to a Montenegro dish called sarma. Although we weren’t necessarily surprised by the taste, Lauren and I agreed that our food was very good. We headed back to the hostel to grab our bathing suits for our next event and stopped to get some gelato. I got fig and chocolate: a surprisingly delicious mixture of sweet and sour!

The next event on the list for the day was the bath. When we were doing research for this, we pretty much figured out it was more of a social scene than a way to actually get clean. There were three outdoor pools and various indoor pools, saunas and hot tubs. Unfortunately the sulfuric content in the water (that acts as a healing agent) made the smell unbearable!! Inside, where the smell was trapped, it smelled like we were swimming in rotten eggs. Gross, right? Definitely not my idea of “bathing”. We stuck to the outside pools for the most part. While we were out there, we sat on a little bench in the water that overlooked a whirlpool with a current that spun people around. There were lots of rambunctious guys about our age spinning around and around. Of course this prompted the game “if you had to date one, who would it be?”, that has now become a habit because the lovely Brynn Murphy obsessively plays with me. 

inside the bath, you can see the whirlpool where the guys were enjoying their time in the bath

Anyway, as we were hunting out our favorite, a guys just appears out of thin air and asks if we are choosing the best looking guy from his rugby team. OOPS! We were caught red-handed and I’m sure I turned bright red. His team noticed that he was talking to us and they immediately gave him a round of applause, after which he also joined me in the red-face club. Two other guys came over and started talking to us and they led us over to meet the whole team. When we walked up the guy said “These ladies are choosing one of you to spend some time in the sauna with. They need to see your eyes, teeth, and muscles!”. By this time I was beyond embarrassed, but I went along with it because it was all in good fun. Then they each took their turn wooing us by speaking in different languages, showing their smiles/biceps/hidden talents. It was all in good fun and it definitely made for an entertaining bathing experience. They then said they had “a roundup” (which basically meant they had to leave the bath to move on to their next obligation.) As they walked out they let us know they would be at Sir Lancelot’s--a bar-- and would love if we could stop by and join them. Uh oh. 

After that little episode, we went back to being much more relaxed. We went inside to the least-smelly room and sat in there while we people watched (you wouldn't believe what some people think is fashionable in the way of bathing suits/speedos!). After my body temperature rose to about 1000 degrees, I convinced Lauren to get out of there and we went back outside in a warmer pool just for a few minutes. We left and documented how relaxed we were after the bath:

Then we grabbed some dinner (at a hummus bar our hostel owner raved about) and headed back, only to be questioned about what we were doing that night. Everyone at the hostel said they were going out and wanted us to join. The catch was that they were leaving in the next 10 minutes! We were feeling super icky after our bath, but sucked it up and put some nicer clothes on to join them. 

oops, they cut out lauren...but this was the hostel crew! 

I’m not sure we had any intentions to meet up with the rugby team again, but once our hostel caught wind of our encounter we were egged on to go and we also found out that the bar they were in was literally around the corner. I am a believer in signs, so we took it as one and headed over to Sir Lancelot’s. 

We got there and said we needed to see the rugby team, and they pointed us downstairs. Then we had to navigate our way through a tunnel way, which eventually led to a room FULL of guys. They were beyond excited to see us (partly because they had been drinking, and partly because I really don’t think they expected to see us again). They immediately led us on top of the tables and sang us a song in english so we would understand. That was the mild part! Then the events turned slightly crazier. A detailed report is not necessary, but I will list out some of the actions that took place in the remainder of the time:

1. wax pouring (poor guy!)
2. beer sprinkling
3. moderate amounts of stripping
4. random english words
5. this picture: 

he was a good sport, even after wax and beer were poured all over him. SORRY!

(I hope this at least partly satisfied your need to know more, DiGirolamos!) 

We’ll chalk it up to a good time and an even better story. We left there and went to meet up with the rest of our hostel friends. Then we went home and got some much-needed sleep!