Recovery

Thank you all so much for your prayers about my back. It is feeling much better! I took the medicine the doctor gave me, got a massage, and Ben and I made our first trip to the baths. We also went on some long walks to enjoy the beautiful weather and city at night. Some pictures from our walks:

I have to say how much we thoroughly enjoyed the baths. It is very much a part of Hungarian culture to go to baths and wellness hotels. We went to the Szechenyi Baths in the north part of Budapest. They are almost 100 years old and absolutely gorgeous. I don't have any pictures to post this time. We didn't know how things were set up and didn't want to run the risk of the camera getting wet or stolen!

So how do the baths work? First, you pay for your ticket which includes a locker rental and a little wristband that gets you in, opens and closes your locker, and gets you out. Then you go to the locker room and shower with soap and water before putting on your swimsuit. After that you can go outside and enjoy the pools and sauna. There are three different types of pools. One is a regular swimming pool/ lap pool where you are required to wear a swimming cap. The second is like a heated swimming pool and is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The last is heated to the temperature of a hot tub. Our favorite was the sauna. I will describe it for you and you will think we are insane, but just trust me! You go into a room that is hotter than midday in a Texas summer. You shower off before going in just to give your sweat glands a head start. There is some sort of peppermint or eucalyptus scent in the air that causes your nose to burn when you inhale. We could only stay in for about two minutes and our faces looked like tomatoes! Once we left, we went into the next room and dove head first into a small pool. I had to dive in or I would not have made it all the way in. Ice water is not something I typically like to ease into. Yes, you go from Death Valley to Antarctica in mere seconds! And it is the best feeling in the world! It was the first time in days I had no back pain. I felt wonderfully relaxed and kind of melty. Ben says he could easily get addicted to that feeling. There is also a machine that spits ice into a concrete basin. You can use the ice to rub on your skin after the ice water or take it into the sauna to help cool you.

All of this is included in the price of your ticket. Ben and I spent a couple of hours enjoying the pools and sauna, before we had to go and get ready for some other meetings we had later in the afternoon.

It takes a bit of an adventurous spirit to go and try it for the first time and the ability to avert your eyes from lots of old men in speedos, but Ben and I found it to be well worth it and I think regular trips will be a part of my new stress relief regimen.

Thank you all so much for all your stress relief ideas! It really helps to get lots of different perspectives, because what de-stresses one person might stress another person out. The baths being one example and hang-gliding being another ;)