In 2014 Ferenc worked in the southern part of Helsinki at an 8-sauna venue. He barely spoke Hungarian then — his father was Hungarian, his mother Finnish, he'd moved over at 19 and hadn't been back in 8 years.
The Finnish sauna starts with the stone. A hot stone, a measure of water. The steam lives six seconds. Whoever doesn't feel that has not yet found the sauna. By Ferenc's account, Hungarian thermal culture is similar — just through different materials. 'Thermal water, lavender linen, cold plunge. Same physics. Different material, different word.'
His wife brought him to Tihany in 2018. Two years of consulting with the Liget owner, then the move. 'In Helsinki they love the sauna. In Tihany they love the Balaton. The respect is the same. Only the surface is different.'