Baths of Budapest : Finding rest and rejuvenation in a water world of thermal baths and spas

BUDAPEST, Hungary —  Ah, Europe. Culture.

I was through the Polish half of a summer Fulbright. I had been lectured, toured, museumed and concerted. My brain synapses popped with learning. And a few buttons followed the synapses. I had a duty to absorb every aspect of the culture--including those that had been whipped-creamed or breaded and fried. I was definitely smarter. And plumper.

Then came Hungary. A brain synapse flashed. While in Hungary, do as the Hungarians do: Create a healthier me at a spa. Hungary is awash in thermal springs, the primary attraction at most of its hundred or more spas. Half a million cubic meters of water gush daily into basins that run the gamut from exquisite mosaic-tiled pools to natural lakes.

My baptism began at the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Buda part of the city. (Buda--the city from the Danube west--and Pest--from the Danube east--were separate towns until 1873, when they amalgamated to form Budapest.)

With outdated factories, high unemployment and the World Bank breathing down its neck for loan repayment, this country is hungry for foreign visitors to put some meat on its economic bones. The book “Spas and Baths in Hungary,” published by the Hungarian Baths Federation and the National Tourist Board, lists 95 spas throughout the countryside, and two dozen more in the capital. An ongoing legacy from socialist days is public access to thermal waters; visitors not staying in a spa hotel can purchase day-use passes for the facilities.

The former Soviet military guest house in Pest, where the Fulbright scholars lived, is a bit of a distance from the spas, the most attractive of which cluster in more upscale neighborhoods near the Danube. So I set off to negotiate Budapest public transportation. Fortunately the city buses, trams and underground are fast, clean and cheap. Budapest had the first electrified underground railway in Europe. However, directions are in Hungarian. With a book of transit tickets, I hopped aboard a No. 7 bus. Destination--the foot of Gellert Hill in Buda and the elegant Hotel Gellert, whose fabled springs have delighted visitors for 2,000 years. In Europe, taking the waters was a tradition already ancient when Jane Austen sent her heroines off to trendy spas.

While Hungarians are very friendly, with a language related only to Finnish and Estonian, they do not have the linguistic skills of, say, the Swiss. Nor is picking up a few Hungarian phrases a piece of strudel. “Goodbye,” for example is viszontlatasra (pronounced vee-sohnt-lah-tahsh-run).

At last at the Hotel Gellert, whose art nouveau structure houses the Gellert baths, I was ready for some de-stressing. Dating from the early part of this century, the hotel’s mosque-like towers and vaulted ceilings pay cultural tribute to the Ottoman empire whose citizens reverenced thermal waters. With its marble pilasters, Greco-Roman statues and mosaic-patterned walls, the Gellert hotel and spa is a treat for the eyes as well as for the body.

Which way was the hot water? The signs were in Hungarian. At last, I discovered a list of services I could soak up including chamomile steam--Peter Rabbit’s mom would be pleased--salt vapor inhalations, radioactive (gasp!) water, hot mud packs, hot mineral baths, and a coed pool complete with a wave machine--a must for homesick surfers.

I signed up for a massage--about $15 for half an hour--and steamed off to the mineral baths, which are segregated by gender. Next I savored the delights of the large pool with its somewhat disconcerting wave machine and the impressive bronze lion that spouts water.

The gentle massage was not a California-type rearrangement of the muscles but, teamed with the pools and steam, it motivated me to seek more of the same in other locations.

Margaret Island is, well, an island in the Danube in the heart of the city. It’s the Central Park of Budapest and home to several spas including the Palatinus Baths, where on a warm day thousands of hot folks frisk. Also on the island is the upscale Ramada Grand Hotel--billed by its management as the crown jewel of the international chain--with its uncrowded, pristine pools and expansive services.

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But Budapest is not the whole Hungarian world. Every Hungarian I met had at least a fragment of a happy childhood--spent on the shores of Lake Balaton. Landlocked Hungary’s 50-mile-long inland sea is only 56 miles from Budapest. As an added bonus, central Europe’s largest lake has numerous hot springs on or near its shore, the most spectacular of which is Lake Heviz. Although I have spent a couple decades as a Californian--of course I have a hot tub--I was not prepared for Heviz: Suddenly, there I was in an inner-tube in the middle of a 60,000-square-yard hot lake. Granted, it was a little cooler than home, with water ranging from (86* F) in winter to (95* F) in summer, but it was BIG and filled with happy Hungarians. Heviz was silky. I could float. The water lilies were psychedelic pink and white. Monet would have been enchanted.

Before I returned to the synapse-a-synapse, work-a-day world, I took a few days to savor more sloth: I went back to Heviz and then on to the city of Buk, near the Austrian border. Both have four-star hotels, privatized a couple of years ago by Hungary’s major hotel chain Danubius.

My first problem at the Heviz Thermal Hotel Aqua was a familiar one. No one spoke English. It was Sunday night. On short spa visits in Budapest, I was surrounded by Hungarians, but outside the capital, my fellow guests were primarily deutsch mark- and shilling-toting Germans and Austrians. Foreign currencies are king in a country in which the forint flounders. Eventually, I got dinner.

Remember earlier, when I lamented eating all the fattening foods in Poland and Hungary? A day in a typical full-service luxury spa such as the Heviz begins with a breakfast buffet that left my fat cells elated once again. Even at spas, healthy eating is not a Hungarian national obsession. although light selections are available. Pork is the most common meat, and astoundingly rich goose liver is a national culinary icon. Paprika is the everywhere condiment that ranges from sweet to ayeeeeii hot. And the spicy hot stuff is the main ingredient in the reverenced carp soup, a distressingly fish-flavored, roaringly hot culinary event softened by Hungary’s lovely wines.

After breakfast, my first stop in the hotel lobby was with the spa scheduler. Then I was cursorily examined (I’m pretty healthy and look it) by a physician whose treatment bag of tricks included mud baths, massages and mineral soaks as well as physical therapy and the latest medicines.

While awaiting my appointments, I sipped the local mineral cure, waters whose flavor lingers impressively though not delightfully on my palate. As far as I could tell, unlike chardonnay, all spa water tastes alike. The most adventurous venue for taking the waters at Heviz is the mud bath. For this experience, attendants packed me in warm mud and left me in a room with about six gurney tables and two other mud-packed clients to soak up the mineral benefits under a khaki-colored sheet (same color as the mud). The experience was akin to the relaxing warmth of a steam bath, though the mud is a bit---well--muddier. After half an hour of dozing in a warm mud womb, I felt distinctly more relaxed--and delighted to shower off.

Since I was pampering myself after a summer of learning about the historic and economic woes of Eastern Europe, it goes without saying that a facial was in order, also a manicure and pedicure. While some guests opt for an eye exam and then purchase chic glasses, I decided to forgo that luxury. Ditto the dentists that the Germans and Austrians visit. Hungarian dentists are cheaper than in neighboring Austria and Germany--and competent. Thus, the omnipresent signs near the Austrian border announcing dental clinics.

The majority of guests at the spa hotels I visited were on the far side of 50, but the Hungarian tourist industry is working to attract a younger market. To enhance their appeal, hotels are downplaying their medical-tourist image, upgrading their gyms and other recreational facilities, and promoting themselves as a base for visits to nearby attractions. At Buk, for example, guests can get in a round of golf or a few sets of tennis on the six tennis courts. I opted for sightseeing.

My idea of a good time involves chatting in the hotel lobby, listening to local musicians or searching for an English-speaking station on television. Those seeking a night-life break from healthy living should stick close to Budapest, which incidentally bursts with cultural activities. In a country in which poets are national heroes, tickets to the opera, symphony and theater are among the cheapest and easiest to obtain in Europe. The city’s spa regimen, meanwhile, has survived a kaleidoscope of political regimes and even the odd Fulbrighter.

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GUIDEBOOK

In the Land of Hungary Spa--Aahhs

Getting there: There’s connecting service only from Los Angeles to Budapest. To stay with same airline all the way, take Delta, KLM, Northwest, Lufthansa or Air France; round-trip fares start at about $1,290, including tax. Malev Hungarian Airlines flies to Budapest from JFK in New York; take United or Delta to JFK. Round-trip fares, including LA-NY start at about $1,190, including tax. U.S. nationals need a passport, but not a visa, to enter Hungary.

Driving: Car rental agencies at the Budapest airport include Avis, Budget, Hertz-Fotaxi and Europcar Interrent.

Rail, bus, taxi: Most Hungarian cities are accessible by inexpensive, reliable bus and rail. For information about rail travel, contact MAV Passenger Service, Andrassy ut. 35, Budapest VI. Taxis are available at bus and train stations, but meters can vary widely; get the price in writing before you embark.

In summer the hydrofoils on the Danube from Vienna and Bratislava are special treats; about $70 one way.

Where to stay: A stay in the Thermal Hotel in Heviz begins at about $815 for a double a week, including half-pension and medical exam; 25% lower mid-October through March.

Of the pricier hotels--$200 and up per night--the Budapest Hilton is built around a 13th century monastery and occupies the choicest spot on Castle Hill.

The boxy, bunker-like Marriott is on the banks of the Danube and all the rooms have river views.

In the $130-$200 range, the Hotel Gellert oozes with Art Nouveau charm; spa admission free for hotel guests.

Where to eat: In Budapest, Gundel (Allatkerti Korut 2) is near the top of the eating heap (dinner with wine starts at about $30) as is the less expensive Bagolyvar, in Pest. The Citadella on Castle Hill, also pricey by Hungarian standards, provides nifty views of the Danube as well as good food.

At the highly recommended Greek restaurant Dionysus, across the street from the Danube in Buda, dinner with wine will cost about $20.

You can be the first on your block to eat Mexican-Hungarian food. Sancho, Dohany ut. 20, is a trip. The food is a little unusual. The avocados, for example, could be used as ammunition. But dining here is a fun, cheap, friendly and unique experience. Dinner with beer is less than $10.

For more information: Hungarian National Tourist Office, 150 E. 58th St., 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10155; tel. (212) 355-0240, fax (212) 207-4103.

--M.M.