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)
"The sauna is only open until 10pm". But I was coming in later, so I wanted to know if I could use it in any case. They said I could, if I was quiet. However... I couldn't turn the sauna on.
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May 2023, Schloss Dagstuhl, Dagstuhl, Wadern, Germany
Sauna (None)
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)
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March 2023, North Pole, International; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland
Flying; Sauna (Normal)
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)
Only in Finland, and only in Helsinki, and only with Finnair. Nowhere else can you enjoy a lounge sauna and a reindeer burger in the airline lounge. Not too shitty. But then I had to squeeze myself into a small metal tube for travel.
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July 2022, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland
Flying; Travel; Sauna (Normal)
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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(TGR version)
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)
Lame, but I did not swim in spring 2022 until May 28... but it was good, even if a bit cold still. Brr... but the sunsets and blueberry bushes were spectacular!
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May 2022, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland
Swimming (Water, Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal)
Bänklialp feels a bit out of the Engelberg town, on the mountain side towards the ski slopes, but is actually just a few hundred meters walk from the lifts. I particularly liked the hotel restaurant, but the very western-style alpine decoration in the lobby areas was also interesting. And, you can't dislike a a ski locker room with a hang-out lobby, sofas fridges for drinks, etc. :-) Not to mention the sauna! Sauna was the criteria that I used for booking the hotel.
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April 2022, Hotel-Restaurant Bänklialp, Engelberg, Switzerland
Sauna (Normal)
Conference is over, time to head to the airport. How about an early wakeup, and trying to make the trip count as something interesting? I headed to the hotel sauna, then hit slopes in Semmering (one hour away), climbed and lidar-scanned a couple of caves, and still had time to check the apres ski in St. Corona ski resort :-) There was none.
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March 2022, Hilton Vienna Park, Vienna, Austria; Semmering, Austria; St. Corona, Austria; Semmeringhalbhöhle, Semmering, Austria; Schrägaufzughöhle, Semmering, Austria
Sauna (Normal); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Limestone); Climbing (Mountain)
What do you do when you arrive in a new place? I always go check out the sauna...
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February 2022, Harmony Bay Hotel, Limassol, Cyprus
Sauna (Normal)
One of the many good things with Austrian guest houses is that they almost always have a sauna. So did our place, Hotel Landhaus Schmid, in Fischen, in Austria near the ski resort of Oberstdorf. A nice sauna, and you could reserve it all for yourself.
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January 2022, Hotel Landhaus Schmid, Fischen, Germany
Sauna (Normal)
We had an opportunity to stay at the Tampere for a night in a hotel. The Lapland Hotels Tampere was a new one for me, I had been to many other hotels there in past years. Pretty nice, great breakfast, and the saunas in the highest floor were different from usual hotel saunas. They were black!
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October 2021, Lapland Hotels Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Sauna (Normal)
Gasthof Oberstegen is in Söll, near the border between Austria and Germany. I chose as a convenient location with a decent drive up to the ski hills but also near some caves I wanted to explore. And not far from the Munich airport! Of course, there's some saunas since we are in an Austrian gasthof...
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September 2021, Gasthof Oberstegen, Stockach, Söll, Austria
Sauna (Normal, Infrared)