For our last day in Budapest we were really lazy. We lounged around the hotel for most of the morning before venturing out to the Szechenyi Baths. Budapest sits on a natural hot-spring area and is filled with bath houses of varying ages and styles. We decided to go to Szechenyi because they have the greatest variety of pools, and we knew it was co-ed.
Upon arrival we were issued electronic bracelets that we used to enter the complex. We were assigned a changing cabin that would lock and unlock with these bracelets. It was such and easy system and it was great to have a private place to change both before and after we swam. There were plenty of books on the walls for us to hang our clothes and coats on.
We started in the outdoor pool which was fantastic and then wandered through the giant indoor complex. They had baths of all temperatures and various other saunas, steam rooms, fancy showers, and cold plunges. The facility looks about as good as an old steamy bath house can, but everything seemed pretty clean and we enjoyed a couple hours floating around.
Our final adventure of the trip was a cooking class and wine tasting evening at a local wine shop. We spent the evening working with three other guests to complete a three course dinner. We were able to taste several Hungarian wines with each course and it was a lovely dinner. The first course was a cheese spread that is made of a crumbly farmers cheese, sour cream, and spices. We enjoyed this appetizer with fresh veggies and bread.
Our second course was chicken paprikash and hand cut noodles. I was very excited about this dish as we hadn’t had the chance to try it yet. Charlie helped cut the noodles into boiling water, and the dish was accompanied by cucumber salad.
The final dish of the evening was a “scrambled pancake”. We basically poured an entire bowl of pancake batter into a skillet of butter and fried and mixed it until it was crispy and crumbly. This was topped with apricot jam and served with the famous Tokai dessert wine.
It was the perfect way to end the trip and we are returning home with recipes from the evening.