I'm Hungary ... to hang out with Tamas and Reni, with Angie

Picture 74893 - seechaney baths, originally uploaded by John Foong.

Eastern Europe is changing so fast at the moment, and Hungary is one of the movers and shakers there. The capital Budapest boasts a pretty amazing club scene, and more beautiful buildings than Prague (according to my Hungarian friend from work Tamas, anyway). We spent half the weekend at his 1970s style beach house next to Lake Balaton; the biggest lake in Eastern Europe, and an incredible one at that – with beautiful warm water about 1 metre deep spanning hundreds of square kilometers. It’s like a really big spa, only cheaper!

One of the highlights of Hungary are its old-style Roman baths. These are like big public swimming pools, but cooler – you don’t do laps, you just sit there under the fountains, warming to the thermally-heated pools, and chat to people (though given that I didn’t speak Hungarian, this was difficult and/or brief). The surrounding buildings boast an elaborate maze of variations: including the whirlpool, a series of mini-pools where each pool is 3-4 degrees hotter than the last, and Hungarian massage/manicure tables (and yes, I sampled both).