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)
Radisson Blu in Split has a nice spa area.
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April 2023, Radisson Blu Split, Split, Croatia
Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)
Kamenice beach is an out-of-the-way for most people visiting the Komiza village. Komiza is a picturesque fishing village on the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea archipelago in Croatia.
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April 2023, Kamenice Beach Cave, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
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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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)
Hampton Inn... a good but not remarkable hotel... New Jersey... nice state but not remarkable... South Plainfield... newer heard, but ok and again not remarkable. A plain hotel in Plainfield?
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July 2022, Hampton Inn South Plainfield-Piscataway, South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA
Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water)
Vrnik is a small island off the bigger Korčula island in the Adriatic Sea. Vrnik has only a handful of houses and remnants from its past as a quarry for stones. There are two restaurants, but no shops, and no services. But it has great, clean, beautiful waters. The beaches are rocky but it is a pleasure to swim in them.
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July 2022, Vrnik Beach, Vrnik, Korcula, Croatia; Vrnik shore, Vrnik, Korcula, Croatia
Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Nature);
Korcula is a wonderful historic town (on the island of Korcula :-) ) And there's a wonderful swimmable beach ... rocks just outside the east city wall, under the restaurant walking path. You'll be under pine trees, on rocks, with some steps leading to clear water.. can't get much better than this!
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July 2022, Korcula wall beach, Korcula, Croatia
Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
A fun day, starting with emergency skiing 🎿 the quickly disappearing snow on my local hill at 6am, continued with sailing ⛵️to Suomenlinna on Markus’ boat - thanks! From then on the company picnic day was just starting 🙂 Lot more fun followed, e.g., a sauna 🧖♂️ and swim 🏊♂️ in the Suomenlinna boat harbor.
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June 2022, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland; Suomenlinnan vierasvenesatama, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland; Cafe Bar Valimo, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Sailing; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea)
I have not gone to public swimming pools before this. Now I did, as I was returning from the great skiing in Vihti, and needed to be fresh before going to the office. Good time to visit, though, 10am-ish, with the morning people already gone and pretty much no one else around.
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May 2022, Kirkkonummen uimahalli, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Swimming (Water, Indoor, Waterbody-Pool)