In 2012 my wife and I visited the Szechenyi Baths in Budapest. I say baths but think leisure pools. Space to swim or to sit. We visited the most popular of them, which in September 2012, was not packed out to cause me any anxiety.

Apparently a wonderful thing to do is go in the winter when it snows. You can sit in a warm pool and watch the snow fall. Sounds lovely.

We took the train and I noticed the yellow / green colour scheme that I had been picking up on during our time in Budapest. Arriving at the baths and again yellow and green. Maybe it was just me?

It was a surreal experience as there were a lot of men with expensive, Leica, cameras. Who takes a Leica or a Canon 5D to the pool? Just stuff a sock down there.

Inside there was an assortment of temperatures to experience. An ice bath which I skipped and a few saunas at various temperatures. I found the saunas interesting but disturbing. It was hard to catch you breath some times. The air was so dense it was easy to become distressed in there. I did get used to it after a couple of minutes. Enough to enjoy the experience.

I would like to revisit these baths now I’m more of a swimmer assuming there are quiet hours. I’m not sure I’d appreciate a relaxing queue in the pool.