The Rebel Badge Club’s February challenge badge was fairytale-themed and one of the clauses was to go skinny dipping, in brackets, legally. That clause caught my eye. I’ve spent enough time in Icelandic showers and German saunas that I can probably do that. But where? Go down to the sea on my own after dark? … More Skinny dipping in Helsinki: women’s day at Yrjönkatu
Two weeks in advance, a sunrise swim in a geothermal pool floating in the Baltic seemed like a beautiful idea. The night before, while ill with something unpleasant brought home from Brownies, the idea of setting an alarm for 7am while on holiday and walking the kilometre and a half through Helsinki at somewhere around … More A sunrise swim at Allas Sea Pool at -12⁰
And so do you! One of my favourite things to do in London, if time and events align, is to take the DLR out to Stratford, get hopelessly lost around Westfield and eventually wash up at the London Aquatics Centre, aka the purpose-built swimming and diving facility from the 2012 Olympics. These days, it’s just … More I, an ordinary person, get to swim in an Olympic pool
This is a really old adventure that’s had two or three posts over the years but deserves a new write-up and a new place at the very front of this blog rather than being buried in its bowels: the day I swam in an active volcano, got stranded for hours in a lava field and … More One really simply does not walk into Mordor: swimming in a volcano & getting stranded in a lava field
That was the question my boss asked as I signed off the day before I headed to London. “I want you to do me a favour. Tell me where you swim and tell me which is the best pool”. I already knew that was far too big a question to be answered with a single … More What was the best place I swam in Iceland?
It’s that time of year! My beloved outdoor pool is open again for the summer season and I’m going to swim – my primary semi-formal exercise of the year! I’m not a gym girlie and never will be. I’m not a “girlie” of any kind, come to that. But no, I don’t go to the … More My swimming routine
Since I’m on the subject of pools, I’m going to carry on and introduce you to the revamped geothermal pool at Húsafell in the west of Iceland. Not that I ever went there pre-revamp so I can’t compare it to what it used to look like but it’s been on my to-do list for years … More Visiting Lindin Húsafell
On Monday, I talked about the best swimming pools in Reykjavik and today I’m going to go over how you actually use a local swimming pool in Iceland. When you arrive, they’ll ask “have you been here before?” and even if you say you have, they’ll still ask “So you know all the rules?”. If … More How to use a swimming pool in Iceland
Why not follow a best pools post with a completely different best pools post? Today I’m in Iceland and I want to talk about the best swimming pools in Reykjavik. I’m not talking about the likes of the Blue Lagoon and the Sky Lagoon, fine as they are. I’m talking about public pools, the kind … More Which is the best public swimming pool in Reykjavik?
When I went to Iceland in February, I went with the hope of finding a chance to watch a documentary I’d seen mentioned in the Reykjavik Grapevine: Swimming Pool Stories, a film about Icelandic pool culture. I couldn’t find it online. Was there maybe a cinema in Reykjavik where I could catch it? Might it … More Film review: Swimming Pool Stories
I Am A Polar Bear 