Had a fun event at work today, a picnic in Suomenlinna (the fortress island in front of Helsinki). But a friend from work invited us to join the trip by a sail boat. Nice!
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August 2024, Suomenlinnan vierasvenesatama, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Travel; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea)
The Srebrna Beach is a popular, rocky beach in the limestone layer of on the south side of the Vis island in Croatia. Beach caves are a very frequent occurrence on Croatia's coast, but for me - coming from a cave-poor country - they are always a wonder. There's a very nice straight, tunnel-like beach cave on the left side of the Srebrna beach.
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August 2024, Srebrna beach mini cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach, Srebrna, Croatia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
Vis has a wonderful swimming area. Or several, but the one I like is across the road in front of the Issa hotel. There's a sandy/pebble beach further towards the city, and here there are only concrete piers and then bigger rocks under the water. But what a wonderful view, and most importantly, wonderful shade from the pine trees!
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August 2024, Hotel Issa Beach, Vis, Croatia
Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Outdoor)
I have been here before, but then the tide and my clothes were not suitable for exploring. Now they were! I also did not understand the naming the beaches I was at, but I do now. The cave I'm looking at is at the Dog Beach, literally the beach that the dogs (and people) can swim at. A bit further out from the Dog Beach there's the Kamenice Beach, also called the Camp Beach due to the nearby low-cost but forbidden accommodation option :-) Both beaches can be accessed easily with chairs, have a bar, etc. However, between them there's the Secret Beach. To get there you have to go through a cave and climb, wall across a part of the sea that is only passable easily during low tide (picture above), or straight out swim.
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August 2024, Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Secret Beach, Komiza, Croatia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea)
Hiking 10-15 km per day... being bitten by mosquitos day and night... it was clear that a swim would be not only refreshing but required. The only downside was that it was pretty cold, the river (partially flowing from an underground river, possibly a cave) was only 9 degrees. The lake was like a hot tub, though, at 14 degrees :-)
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August 2024, Toskaljärven hiekkaranta, Enontekiö, Finland; Toskaljärven maanalaisen joen syöttöjoki, Enontekiö, Finland
Swimming (Waterbody-Lake); Swimming (Waterbody-River)
Clarion hotel and conference centre is out of the way of the centre of Abbotsford, but conveniently located near the highway. I stayed here on a business trip because for one night there was no availability in Vancouver where my conference was. Or the prices were too high, north of 400 euros.
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July 2024, Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
While on a conference, I managed to step on to the pool of the conference hotel on one of the breaks. The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is an upscale, nice hotel with many facilities. Sadly, no sauna though. But the pool is nice and protected from the hustle of the streets below.
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July 2024, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Swimming (Waterbody-Pool)
Yale Park is a recreation area by the (artificial) Yale lake in the Lewis River valley. The nearest town is Cougar. The park is part of the agreement for building dams on the Lewis River, and the area is maintained by Pacific Corp, the owner of the dams.
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July 2024, Yale Park, Cougar, Washington, USA
Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach)
While on a conference in Vancouver, I had a wonderful walk on one of the days. Partially because I had been exposed to Covid and did not want to infect anyone, so walked around and connected over the net to the meetings. It turned out that I did not get the infection, though, phew.
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July 2024, Inukshuk Point, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; English Bay Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Urban-Exploration (Historic); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
There wasn't much snow or sunshine, but hey, there was some. Glad I went!
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June 2024, Järvenpään jäähalli, Järvenpää, Finland; Tervanokan uimaranta, Järvenpää, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Waterbody-Lake, Beach)
Rantasauna is a legendary party place in Otaniemi, in the student village of the Helsinki University of Technology (now called Aalto University).
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June 2024, Rantasauna, Otaniemi Espoo, Finland
Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea); Sauna (Normal)
Too busy, and now without a car I have not been able to visit the summer cottage this year at all. Sigh. But now my car repair shop nicely loaned me a four-liter green '99 Jaguar for the weekend. Very nice! And a fun car to drive. And it was such a bliss to drop into the lake after visiting the sauna. The water was warmer than it probably has ever been on June 1st...
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June 2024, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland
Car; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake)
A Friday evening excursion to Myyrmäki, a suburb in Vantaa! I went for a swim in Myyrmäki's community swimming hall, but it was of course also an opportunity to do more sightseeing in the nice weather. And ride more trains... given that my car is broken.
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June 2024, Myyrmäen uimahalli, Myyrmäki, Vantaa, Finland
Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
Hotel Vema is a brand new hotel in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Visoko is a small town near Sarajevo, maybe a 20 minute drive away. It is perhaps best know for the Bosnian pyramids, pyramid shape mountains that some claim actually are ancient pyramids. More on that story later... but for now, we will focus on this wonderful hotel!
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May 2024, Hotel Vema, Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
My first time visiting the Kallie swimming pools. Very nice!
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May 2024, Urheiluhallit Kallio, Helsinki, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal)
After my visit to Usmi, I felt like I *really* needed to have a shower. And a sauna and swim would be a bonus. Fortunately, Hyvinkää's Sveitsin Uimala was nearby. Very, very nice. Indoor and outdoor pools (from June 1st), multiple pools, very nice saunas, clean, and at a nice pine forest area on top of the hill.
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May 2024, Sveitsin uimala, Hyvinkää, Finland
Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal)