cleanliness is next to...

on the thursday of our trip to budapest, i decided to go over to the buda side, the beautiful side, and go to the kiraly turkish baths. it was men's day and i was hoping to relive a few scenes from 'il bagno turca,' one of my favourite movies. i had no idea what was in store for the afternoon.

first off, we were forced to wear swimming suits, so me, not having brought my own, donned a rented[!] swimsuit. this is only slightly more humbling than wearing a rented tuxedo in that a) everyone knows it's a rented swimsuit; and b) it was a rented speedo showing all of your body as well as your religion. i do have to admit i did lke wearing the speedo, but not enough to actually rush out and buy one. perhaps i'll rent another one in the future.

inside of the turkish bath it was amazing. the baths themselves are very turkish in design, the large dome of the central tepid pool, with it's hexagonal skylights lit up like stars, as well as the surrounding pools of various temperatures in little chapels around the central dome. i was not prepared for the overwhelming stench of sulfur in the air coming from the thermal water deep in the earth. nor was i ready for the smell of communist-era, lead pipes decaying and spoiling the sulfuric air. the one thing i was most amazed at was the amount of gay sex that was going on in there. i really thought it's be like a spa, and very relaxing, but there were been having sex in the steam room, the showers, the warm plunge pool, the cool plunge pool, and [ouch!] the very cold plunge pool [why bother on this one? imagine the shrinkage factor!]. i cut my visit short when i discovered that the dry sauna was heated with radiators instead of heated stones. it was an affront to my very finnish-ness. how rude! fortunately, i had already bathed turkish-style before i made this ghastly discovery, so i was clean and fresh as a daisy. no, really, i swear.

in the background::silver springs:fleetwood mac