At Home in Terceira-The Joy of Swimming in European Pools

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It’s been three consecutive days without a good swim in the sea. Colonies of jellyfish have been randomly appearing; taking over the Angra bay and my daily routine.

Fortunately, I have the option of swimming in a beautiful and newly renovated indoor olympic sized pool just a couple blocks away: the INATAL, Angra do Heroismo pool. It’s also the 5th day of the San Joaninas festival and it appears that everyone in the city has been happily immersed in the festival, so I have the pool all to myself.

Choosing the swimming lane closest to the long wall of windows and the soft daylight, I enter the water quickly and easily. For a lifetime, I’ve entered pools slowly because of the cold; however, after six months of swimming in the much colder ocean, I’ve changed. The fresh plunge feels freeing. It’s also easy to relax into rhythmic breathing because of the absence of waves and jellyfish. After ten minutes, I realize that I have entered a swimming meditation.

Photo taken in 2008 with an IPhone 1.

The sun-rays piercing the ceiling illuminate the sparkling clean tiles beneath me and in an instant, I am swimming in a white tiled pool in Paris; the Piscine Pontoise in the Latin Quarter. Light beams stream through the glass paneled ceiling and tiers of 1930’s wooden cabins tower over the perimeter in two levels. In 2009, it was the first indoor swimming pool in Europe I had ever been in; also the oldest. I found the architectural design stunning and intriguing.

Next, a memory of swimming in Budapest’s tiled pool floods into my mind: The Széchenyi Baths. In 2009-10 I traveled regularly on Sundays from Nagykovácsii into the heart of Budapest by bus, tram, and metro to reach the remarkable baths. Sometimes it would take 90 minutes for the entire journey, but the time was irrelevant as I was in love with the public transportation system and never tired of the beautiful Budapest views above or underground.

Photos: by Shannon, The Historic Metro Line: Földalatti

Above Photo: Széchenyi Baths

Photos Below by Shannon: Inside the Széchenyi Bath House

The Front of the Széchenyi Bath House- Photo by Shannon

The 50 laps pass quickly and I rinse in the private showers. The rows of private dressing rooms attached to private showers are similar in design to the Szechenyi cabins. I appreciate the hot water temperature and pressure of the shower and feel grateful. For 2 euros I’ve spent an hour of my day focusing on my physical health and integrating my mental health. Seems like a very good value to me!