On the first day of the new year, Aliyya and I relaxed and it was amazing. We went to the Széchenyi thermal bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe and it was great. I think the way you're supposed to do it is switch between going into hot water baths and then cold water baths, which we kind of did, but we still stayed on the warm side of things. We weren't about to go into the really cold water. Also, when we were outside getting out into the frigid January air was shock enough to the system. We also debated getting a massage for a long time, but finally decided against it because there was a long wait for them because the baths are virtually the only things opened on New Year's Day, so everyone and their dogs were there. I'm kind of glad that there was a wait for the massages, because it would have been money gone, however I also think it would have been worth it. Ha. I should have tried getting a doctor's note before going there, everything is cheaper if your doctor prescribes you to go to the baths and get a massage.
Anyway, we hung out there for quite some time and then headed home in the early evening after eating lángos, which is fried dough (kind of like funnel cake) with different toppings. I had one with ham and cheese and it was okay. From what I've heard it makes for good "drunk food."
Also, we took a visit to Heroes' Square before the baths, which I forgot to mention. Heroes' Square is a well-known square in City Park at the end of Andrássy Avenue and in the middle is the Millennium Memorial that has the seven leaders of the tribes that founded Hungary in 896. Then, on the left and right sides there are statues of other important figures in the history of Hungary. Also, there are a few museums that surround the square that are pretty popular, however, Aliyya and I didn't visit them, plus they were closed for the holiday.
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| At Heroes' Square |
After the day of relaxation, we went back to our hosts' house and relaxed the rest of the evening. We talked for quite awhile about politics, history, language, education, etc. again, which was really interesting. Which reminds me, I forgot to tell you about Translyvania in my last blog. Okay, so Translyvania used to be a part of Hungary, but now it is a part of Romania. And our host, Zoltan, is from Translyvania, but he says he is Hungarian, so I asked him how this was, because I honestly just did not get it. I hope I didn't offend him, but I was seriously just trying to wrap my head around how we was born in Translyvania, Romania, but he is Hungarian. Well, in the end, I don't think I offended him, because when we got down to the bottom of it, I was talking about citizenship and he was talking about blood. So, he is, in fact a citizen of Romania and Hungary, but he considers himself Hungarian because his bloodline and ancestry comes from Hungarian. I just thought our points of view were very interesting, because although my ancestors come from Germany and Sweden and many other places, I would never consider myself German or Swedish. I would consider myself a U.S. American because that is where I hold citizenship. I just thought that that was probably the most interesting conversation we had because it took at least five minutes or more of talking about it for us both to realize that we were on different pages.
Anyway, after talking and such, Aliyya and I napped for quite awhile and just hung out and then it was just time for bed, so we went to bed. It was a good first day of the New Year and a good last day in Budapest. :)
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