The summer has begun...

Hi again

Those of you who know me also know that I loooooove swimming in the Aare river in Bern. It's simply the greatest feeling to be carried downstream by the sometimes gentle, sometimes quite fierce current.

Well, I launched my personal summer season yesterday evening. The air was very warm, I'd say at least 25°C at just after 5 PM. Water temperature ca. 14.5°C. Now, you might call this cold or at least chilly but I can assure you, after lying in the hot afternoon sun for half an hour, this cool water was more than welcome. I swam only about 200 m, of course, but could have gone further if necessary. And I warmed up really quickly afterwards. I don't remember a time when the Aare river was this warm this early in the season (1982 or 83 was the only time I went down there on an Easter Sunday, but only dipped my toes in 10°C water -- I do draw a limit). And I certainly have never swum past an apple tree in full bloom, as far as my memory serves. Glorious! The only drawback was the many fluffy balls of dandelion seeds floating on the water surface -- you have to breathe carefully... :)

The Marzili is not officially open yet, so the pools are still empty. But everything else is in place: the old wooden sunning planks – polished from thousands of towels and bodies – located along the river and in other strategic places, the changing rooms and amenities, and even the restaurant is open, albeit with a limited schedule and range of food and beverages for sale. But still: isn't it great that the Swiss capital city should have this kind of leisure facility -- free of charge? I also heard that the Weyermannshaus -- another park-like open-air pool with great lawns -- is open to the public. They also have an indoor pool, so the less hardy may prefer to go there.

Sorry, no pix for a change -- I didn't take my camera along yesterday evening. Perhaps on the weekend.

Till soon!