Today I got breakfast with Grace and Katie at the hostel and we decided that we wanted to spend the day at Szechenyi Baths, a historical medicinal bathhouse only a 25 minute walk away from the hostel.  We got to the baths around noon and got a pass for 4900HUF (18USD).

We spent a lot of time in the outdoor pools at first, one slightly warmer than the other but both very pleasant and very mineral-y.  I had a heck of a time figuring out whether or not the GoPro was working, but still managed to get a few decent selfies in.

We spent some time laying on the pool deck drinking daiquirisand and then went into the indoor pools to try and find something a bit cooler.  One of the first pools we came across was 20ºC (68ºF) and it felt like ice water after having been in the sun for so long.  We stayed in for about 3 minutes until we couldn’t feel our legs anymore and left for warmer waters.

We went in half a dozen pools after that, some very warm and others having higher concentrations of particular minerals.  We were in a steam room for a little while which was really nice and smelled like mint.  My pores felt very clean and my throat felt very nice.

We left the baths around 4PM and got a late lunch at the same place Grace, Ainura, and I got drinks yesterday.  We then headed back to the hostel and parted ways because Katie wanted to go on a night cruise but Grace and I both had to pack for our journeys tomorrow.  Grace and I ended up getting dinner at a burger place just down the road and rice ice cream at a small parlor only a block away.  I was approached by a Chinese man who tried to use Google translate to ask where a street was, and I responded in my limited Chinese and told him I didn’t know where it was and that I was sorry—but he was very impressed, told me how pretty I was, and tried to get me to go somewhere with him.  It was a very strange interaction but Grace and I just ended up leaving and walked around for a bit before heading back to the hostel.

My flight tomorrow is at 12:50PM and I need to be at the airport by 9:50.  The front desk booked a taxi for me at 9:15 since it’s the quickest, safest, and most reliable way to get to the airport from central Budapest.  It will cost a little more than public transportation but I’d really rather not have to worry about getting lost and missing my plane.

I’m sure I’ll write a series of posts reflecting on this trip and probably some sort of analytical thing about my spending habits, but right now I just feel very tired and I feel ready to sleep in my own bed again.  Traveling like this has been more fun than I could’ve imagined, but also equally as exhausting.  I already have a list of all the places I’d like to travel next and different big trips I’d like to do, but in the meantime, I’m just really looking forward to seeing Daisy and my family.