On our tour of Slovenia's Piran, we also peeked on the Croatian side, and had a swim in the Polynesia Beach in the town of Umag. Little did we know that the ruins we started our swim from were actually the ruins of the Sipar Castle from A.D. 1000 or thereabouts. Some have even called this place the Atlantis of Sipar. Interesting!
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July 2023, Polynesia Beach, Umag, Croatia
Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Water, Beach); Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites, Castles)
I've lived in and around(*) Espoo for 35 years. And I often go to the swimming halls. How is it then that I've never visited Olari's swimming hall? I think I've heard about it, but had forgotten about its existence until looking for pools that I have not visited in the Helsinki region the other day.
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June 2023, Olarin uimahalli, Olari, Espoo, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal)
Another day, another new swimming hall to visit: Hakunilan uimahalli. Not a bad place! Very nice, modern saunas (incl. steam saunas) and many pools: cold plunge, main 25 m metallic pool, therapy pool with two sides, two kiddie pools. Congrats to Hakunila!
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June 2023, Hakunilan uimahalli, Vantaa, Finland
Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam)
I was looking for a visit in the Tampere swimming halls on the way to my summer cottage. It turned out that just on that day most of the halls closed for the summer. Bummer, I thought, and grudgingly decided to go for the remaining one. Little did I know that the Kalevala swimming hall - or Tampereen Uintikeskus as it is officially called - would be a truly magnificent place. Perhaps one of Finland's greatest swimming halls?
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June 2023, Tampereen uintikeskus, Tampere, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal)
Phew, finally at the my summer cottage. Time for a swim break for everybody, including the unicorns!
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June 2023, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland
Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Lake, Outdoor)
Once again I'm in the caving meet-up, camping out on the beach. And since I'm an early riser, keep taking off from the camp at 6am and heading to the Visby swimming hall, the Solbergabadet. Very nice. Quiet, not crowded, showers, bathrooms, saunas, and the pool. Great experience!
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June 2023, Solbergabadet, Visby, Gotland, Sweden
Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor)
I have both bad and fond memories from my childhood and the swimming pool in Kerava. The one bad memory is from someone stealing my pocket money at age 11 or something. Well lesson learned, about leaving money in pockets without lockers :-) Might have lost a whopping half a euro. This happened in the old outdoor pool setup that they had in the 1970s. But the many, many happy memories are particularly from the new swimming hall, one of the first ones in Finland that was built to "spa" like standards in the 1980s. I visited this place so often!
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May 2023, Uimahalli Aurinkoinen, Kerava, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
In Finnish there is an expression "heittää talviturkki" or "throw one's winter fur coat". It means the first time swimming in outdoor waters that year. For me it was as late as mid-May in 2023. Oh, and then there were some needles in my bath whisk...
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May 2023, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland
Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal)
After cleaning up at my mom's, it was time to dust off myself: my first visit to the Tuusula swimming hall. Quite nice. Small, but good saunas, a therapy pool, airy, nice views in the main pool area, etc. Worth a visit!
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April 2023, Tuusulan Uimahalli, Hyrylä, Tuusula, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water)
I didn't like the prospect of using a super expensive conference hotel. Even if I didn't pay for it myself... so I looked for something more affordable, yet with some character.
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March 2023, Hotel Terrace Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
Brr. A bit cold, maybe 5 degrees. But no matter. The views are great! And I've never swam in Greece before, so now I have to.
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February 2023, Oliveus Euphoria Resort, Ancient Corinth, Greece
Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water)
Imagine summer. Imagine a nice beach in a southern country, like Greece. Way too hot! How about a beach in a cave, so that you don't have to get sun cream out? This, and so much more you can get in the Cave of the Seals, north of Corinth and Loutraki and on the Perachora peninsula. An hour from Athens.
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(TGR version)
February 2023, Cave of the Seals, Perachora, Greece
Hiking; Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
A ski vacation would be nothing without a visit to hot pools and saunas! This time we visited the Zakopane Aqua Park in Poland. And obviously in the mountain town of Zakopane.
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January 2023, Zakopane Aqua Park, Zakopane, Poland
Swimming (Waterbody-Pool, Water, Indoor, Outdoor)
I had an idea to for once visit a swimming pool somewhere yesterday. Pre-pandemic, I might have gone swimming several times a week. The pandemic interrupted that, but even after the pandemic issues are mostly gone, I don't find myself going too often. I've only been to Finnish swimming pools couple of times a year recently. Maybe being too busy, or trying to use the time for walking. Anyway, missing a lot. But what a nice treat the visit to the Matinkylä swimming pools were!
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January 2023, Matinkylän uimahalli, Espoo, Finland
Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal)
My train trip through Europe also involved one boat ride, from Turku to Stockholm. A day boat... arriving just in time in Stockholm for the night train. But, more importantly, the boat had three nice things going for it: (1) a cabin included in the ridiculously low 30€ price, nice for conference calls and naps, (2) decent restaurants to eat at, and (3) a spa with several saunas and pools, all with views of the archipelago as we were sailing towards Marienhamn.
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November 2022, Maarianhaminan satama, Maarianhamina, Finland
Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
Hotel Maria-Luisa is in the suburbs of Prague, near the military / museum airport (see this article). I almost always choose hotels based on their spas, pools, and saunas. Unfortunately, this time their wellness area turned out to be closed for renovation. Oh well, we were probably too busy anyway to get to the saunas during their opening hours. But the pool was open, and looked nice!
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July 2022, Hotel Maria-Luisa, Prague, Czech Republic
Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Outdoor)