Buda, Buda, Buda - Part 2

After a full day in Pest the previous day, I was worried a bit about pushing my luck with another hard core sight seeing day.  Plus, I suddenly had an extreme interest in the Bath scene around town given the success of the previous day. 

So.....interested in that relaxing feeling again, I did the breakfast at the hotel, checked my bag at the front desk and then headed for the Gellert Hotel, which is much more touristy according to RS.  Sunday is co-ed swim day, meaning there is no naked hour.  I got there around 10:30, purchased a thermal ticket and changing cabin and this time, went really crazy and purchased a massage as well.  The appointment was for 1PM so I assumed this would give me plenty of time to turn into a raisin again and then head for the massage.

Gellert has more heated pools, which is where I ended up.  They have 2 main pools which are at set temps just below and above your body temp.  It was really fun to spend 30 minutes in one and then jump into the other one.  There weren't as many jets in these, but the nice part was it was all adults.  I hopped in between, took showers pretty often and read on the nice chairs they had set out around the pools.  Perfect morning. Supposedly there is a wave pool outdoors, but I couldn't find an exit to the pool (I accidentally wandered into the men's changing area looking for it, so I decided to stop trying).

The massage was great.  I came out all lotioned up and greasy, which was perfect because I could just jump into the baths to wash down.  That relaxing feeling is addicting.  I'm not very good at relaxing, but feel like I took significant steps forward in learning how to do so this weekend.

After the goodness of the baths, I found a RS recommended restaurant for an outdoors luncheon.  It served more Belgian beers than I think any place in Belgium does.  I tried a cherry beer they had on draft - delicious.  If you like fruity beers, Floris is a great brand.  I also had some goulash and the ham that makes me see stars, ended with some Belgian chocolate.  Great meal

I then had not enough time to kill to go to the castle, but enough time to grab another drink and read, so I found a nice café and drank another Belgian beer and read my book.  Airport shuttle picked me up when it said it would (huge relief!) and I made it just in time to wait 10 minutes for my flight.  Seriously, couldn't be better.

Here are some pictures from the drive to the airport:

Budapest is definitely on my repeat list.  I didn't do the tour of Parliament, the Buda Castle and there are 3 other baths to explore.  I also missed seeing a concert in Budapest - supposed to be great.

Next up is Scandinavia for 14 days starting in August.  This time will be different - I'm taking a tour!  Hoping for the best possible situation with roommates.  That's the only thing that worries me slightly, but SUPER excited about the tour in general.  It's an RS tour, starting in Stockholm, going to Bergen via Copenhagen and Oslo.  Once in a life time trip!