Burning my Bum in Budapest | Steemitbloggers Contest
A few folks over at #steemitbloggers threw down a great challenge to the community: asking us to share our funniest experience or encounter in a hotel. With just a few hours on the clock, I decided to share this story, which is also one of my most embarrassing moments...okay, here goes.
When I was 20 I studied abroad in London for fall semester, (which was awesome and a story for another time).
When the semester was over, I had plans to travel for a few weeks around Europe, visiting some friends for the holidays. In particular, I was really stoked to go visit Budapest, Hungary.
At that point in my life, I was all about using HostelWorld, so we found a hostel to stay at in an older building that was exactly the right price point for broke youngsters. I honestly don’t remember which one (it’s been a decade - good god I can’t believe it’s been a decade!).
Overall, it was a great clean space with friendly guests and knowledgeable front desk staff who were able to point us around the city and help us figure things out (Hungarian is the major language - on all the signs and in most of the communications - so the help was handy).
This was right before Christmas, and there was a bit of a regional cold snap, so the city was extra chilly.
Our hostel decided to compensate for this by cranking up the heat to keep the rooms toasty which I definitely appreciated. On the second day of the trip, after being out in the city all day exploring in the cold air, we got back to the hostel to warm up and relax a bit before heading out for the night. I decided to shower so grabbed my things and went into the small bathroom to freshen up.
The water was delightfully warm, and melted all the ice out of by bones. I was verrrry relaxed stepping out of the tub. And that is when it happened.
Okay, first let me say that the bathroom was heated by some sort of ancient radiator system that blasted fiery hot heat into the space.
The radiator-thing was covered by a metal grate with a pattern that looked a lot like this:
As I stepped out of the shower, I started to dry off...dropping the towel...turning....and stepping backwards.
BIG MISTAKE, as I stepped back, I pressed my bare backside right into the metal grate - which was legitimately the same heat as a branding iron I sh*t you not. In shock, I jumped away, but not without turning to find a roughly 4” x 6” rectangular patch of “grate” branded onto my bum.
I assume that most of you have never pressed a metal brand into your skin. It hurts like an SOB. I spent the rest of the trip applying lotion and aloe vera to my backside, and finding inventive ways of sitting in chairs. While it definitely didn’t ruin the trip, it became the gift that keeps on giving.
What I didn’t realize then, is that this kind of burn is semi-permanent. I carried the literal “brand” from this hotel for over 2 YEARS before my skin finally went back to normal.
Now - the creators of this challenge said they’d give points for selfies - but here’s the thing: A) I’m not telling if I still have a picture of this, and B) If I did have a picture, which I’m not saying I do, I think I’m gonna keep my steemit a bum-free zone. ;)
At any rate - Budapest is awesome and you should all go. BUT I’ve learned to be cautious of old heating systems, and to check for safety hazards no matter what - and especially when I’m fresh out of the shower!
Big thanks to @zord189 and @ireenchew for hosting! This was a fun one - I hadn’t thought about my branding in a long time, lol.
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Animation By @zord189
BIG LOVE, Lily
I know that sort of heating scheme I had a run in with one in a very similar way about 20 years ago, so I am not laughing at you as I read this, just laughing at myself and glad am not the only one that has done this
Haha, oh my gosh it totally helps to know that someone else has done this!! These things are dangerous, lol.
Indeed your not the only one, but were not as bad as an army colleague about 40 years ago, we were all drunk and he sat on a stove not realizing he had turned on an element as he sat there burnt right through his jeans and had a bad cicular burn which left a scar, which he still had last time I heard of him about 15 years ago
Hahah, oh nooooo....I bet that hurt pretty darn good! I was amazed at how long it took to heal from what I did, he must have got himself pretty bad.
ohh he did indeed, hence his nickname changed to Ringo and we embarrassed the hell out of him every time someone asked how come we called him that
Noooo....the story keeps getting better, that’s hilarious.
in my army names most of us had quite humorous nicknames , well except for me I was just JJ
OMG, that hurt just reading about it! 😮 That is a lesson I think I can definitely remember, so thanks for the warning! owwie...
Oh @lilyraabe, thank you so much for sharing.
I couldn't help but laugh as I too have faced similar marks before in my first trip to Europe during the winter.
Sadly, not many lodging places put up a sign to inform their guests to be careful. A good lesson to learn.
Good luck with the contest...
Haha, thank you so much! Another person also said they’ve encountered these grates, lol, had no idea this was such a common experience!!
Ahaha poor you and bum of yours :DD That's exactly what I was thinking...that it for sure stayed therre for quite some time :D What do you mean the the gift keeps on giving? That if brings new funny stories? well it for sure must have been funny when boys "discovered" your hidden "tattoo" hah :D
Glad it didin't ruin the trip, I was afraid you just had to lie in the hotel then cuz jeans friction would be painful AF. Never heard of HostelWorld btw, going to check it out now :)
#steemitbloggers
Hahah - oh the “gift that keeps on giving” in a sarcastic sense because I had to deal with it for a few years, tell the story as explanation etc...I haven’t looked at Hostelworld in a while, but I imagine it’s still a great place (like the Airbnb of hostels).
Yepp the webpage is still up and running, I was surprised how good it actually looks :D I expected something older as you said it was 2000 something :)
Hm, well that’s good to know for future reference!
Somehow budapest always reminds me with " grand hotel budapest" now I can say this is " grand bum budapest"
It certainly teach us a lesson to stay away from any ancient radiator :D
Ahahaha “Grand Bum Budapest” lol.
:-D I actually want to hear your experience on studying abroad! I hope you will write about it later.
OMG 😯 Your body-branding experience it’s pretty cool, but I think you wouldn’t never try it again, isn’t it? 😜
I love Budapest too!
A huge hug from @amico! 🤗
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Never again, lol. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Haha that didn't sound like a "grate" experience ;) Damn, well, at least you had a temporary tattoo to remind you of this funny (but not at the time funny) story :) Thanks for sharing!
OH YOU ARE PUNNY. Lol - yep - definitely a interesting “temporary tattoo”, haha.
I'm sure people would "ass" you a few questions if they saw it 😁
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Oh nooo, lol, the pun train has left the station.
🚂 🏃 👋 😔
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LOL really funny XD
Ha, glad it was entertaining, lol.
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That sounds painful! But thanks for not showing us the pic. Some scars should not be shown. :-)
Hahaha, soooo true. Thanks for stopping by to laugh at this with me. :)