Day 48 - Warning - this blog may trigger jealousy!

Having taken an age to get to sleep last night as my brain decided 1am was a great time to be coming up with ideas for the 2026 Mammoth Quiz (No, there won’t be any spoilers!), I had a slightly later than planned start this morning.

Today’s plan involved a very taxing day at one of Budapest’s over one hundred thermal spas. I chose to go to one of the biggest (possibly the biggest) and I absolutely did not regret that decision. The walk to the spa was lovey in itself, taking in Heroes’ Square and some of City Park.

The building of the spa itself was stunning. I was impressed enough with the indoor pools that I tried first, but then went outside, and WOW! Helped by the glorious sunshine (#sorrynotsorry Brits in the rain….), I spent some time in the thermal pool there, before I discovered my favourite pool, the ‘adventure pool’. This pool had a ‘normal’ bit, but then also a circular pool with a current that gently pushed you round, and essentially a jacuzzi, and lots of massaging waterfalls. It was delightful. So I spent a couple of hours just enjoying myself there, and reading my book by poolside. It was absolutely glorious.

I decided I had probably had enough sunshine by mid afternoon so took the underground back to near my hotel. I found a bite to eat and then had a couple of hours continuing my reading and doing more relaxing (Full disclosure - I am on the eighth book of a series I love and the storyline was a bit emotional. I may have developed a slightly damp face reading it!).

I then set off to a really cool horror themed pub about a fifteen minute walk from my hotel, where there was a geocaching event arranged.

The event had been arranged by an Italian teenager who is on holiday in Budapest with his mum, and was well attended by locals and other visitors. I spent most of the time chatting to a couple from France (reminiscing about the Olympics!) and the Italian boy and his mum, who are from Venice. There was a bit of a language barrier, but we managed with the help of Google Translate and ChatGPT! It was a lovely evening to cap off an excellent day.

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