Greetings from Győr

Photo from the internet; not my feet :-)

Sensing eager appetites, I slowly dipped my feet into the water, and instantly felt the tingling sensation became greater, soon occurring all around both of my feet.  Between toes, and on the soles of my feet, I fought the urge exit quickly from the fish doctor’s office.  Believed to have originated from Turkey, fish massages have become quite popular in Asian cultures (and is actually banned in 15 US States), and claim to be good for your health because fish nibbling dead cells stimulates nerves and assists blood circulation.  Although I am unsure if this experience was effective, if was definitely odd, and did make me cringe at times.  However I do not feel I am ready for the full body fish massage that is offered at other locations.

Located 1 hour outside of Bratislava, the city of Győr, Hungary lies halfway between Vienna and Budapest.  During the Ottoman occupation of in the late 17^th century, Győr's commander thought it would be futile to try to defend the town from the Turkish army, so he decided to burn the whole town instead.  The Turks found nothing but blackened ruins, and give the city the nickname Yanık kale or "burnt city".  Eventually, the town was rebuilt and surrounded with a castle and a city wall, with lots of new buildings built in Renaissance style.  Today, the population of Győr is about 130,000, supported by a large Audi manufacturing plant, and small university.  While the city is tiny, it definitely has a charming atmosphere, with the square packed with numerous outdoor restaurants and ice cream stations.  Also located in the town is a large water park which was perfect to cool off on a warm summer day.  While I was consistently slow racing down the water slides, I did manage to swim 5 whole laps (100 meters each), although not consecutively but rather over an hour period as I still need long rests between, but improving.  The weekend trip was definitely a nice and relaxing, and I am looking forward to visiting again in the winter time to enjoy the hot springs, but I will probably pass on becoming fish food.