When I got back to the train station, I found out the Zvargs were still having lunch. I went wherever my feet took me. For some reason, they took me to a huge shopping mall. It was absolutely packed with people; I even took a video to show you. The mall is connected by walkways to a multi-story parking garage, which has a little garden right on the roof. Teenagers hang out there, chowing down on burgers and making out. And from the very top, there's an awesome view of a massive railyard.
I looked around for something interesting to buy, but couldn't find anything that spoke to my heart, except for a bronze spoon from a Japanese store. I have no idea why I need it, but whatever, I gave in to the impulse.
When I heard the zvargs had hailed a taxicab, I also took a tram to the Széchenyi thermal baths. We're simple folks, we don't take cabs. (Actually, for the last three years, I've taken a taxi at least once a week, often more. I've gone full bourgeois). The baths have a whopping 18 pools with different water: cold, warm, hot, mineral, and so on. Hungarians call the baths "Szecska" so they don't have to bother pronouncing the whole thing. They were built in the early 20th century, and even back then the bathhouse welcomed almost a million visitors. At first, they had to artificially heat some of the water, and because of that, they just couldn't break even financially. Later, while expanding and drilling a new well, they found thermal water at 77 degrees, the hottest in Europe. They switched the heating over to geothermal, and finally turned a profit.
At Szecska, aside from the pools, there's a huge number of different bathhouses: a Turkish bath, saunas, and all sorts of others I don't even know the names for. My absolute favorite was a sauna in the basement, where right next door in a dark closet there's a trough full of ice to rub yourself down with. A million-dollar experience! There's also a pool with legitimately cold water there, but I didn't risk getting in.
We spent a few hours at the baths, got a proper soak. Because I bought slippers with those little massage nubs, by the end of the session I couldn't even walk anymore, it hurt so much. Extreme living, what can you do. Nevertheless, the baths are pretty cool, but there are just way too many people. By the way, they're split roughly 50/50 between the young and the not-so-young. It actually seems like there are more young people. Or maybe my brain just looks at young asses and tits first, and avoids the old ones. My money's on that option.
![](/files/PXL_2022100