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| The Badi (Open-Air Pool) in the Early Morning |
After much deliberation, I finally decided to buy a summer season subscription for the swimming pools in Zurich. The season card is great as it covers entrance to all indoor and outdoor pools and to all lakeside lidos in Zurich. My intention, however, was only to swim outdoors, and to cover the cost I think I’d have to swim at least 15 times, or maybe 16 times. At the beginning I wasn’t at all sure that the weather would be nice often enough, given that only weekends were feasible for me to swim, since I’m working the rest of the time.
In my previous job, I used to take half-days off to go and swim in the lake, but I have only 5 days’ holiday left now (I’m booked to return to Egypt for Christmas), so I don’t feel I have days to spare. Having said that, as soon as the weather is hot, I can't stop myself from wondering if I should just take an afternoon off anyway (although my contract says I have to give 4 weeks’ notice of vacation – life was much easier in Egypt when life was nothing but holiday and I didn’t have to plan all this stuff out!).
I’d forgotten how long the days are in summer over here. In Egypt, it gets dark at around 5pm or 6pm whatever the time of year, so the days are quite short (unless you get up early). Here, it’s still daylight at 8pm and starts to get dark at around 10pm.
If I don’t shut the blinds to my bedroom, bright sunshine streams through the curtains in the early hours and wakes me up. So, much to my surprise, I do occasionally go for an early morning swim in the outdoor pool (heated to 24 degrees) just 5 minutes’ walk from where I live. It opens at 7am and I’ve even been known to queue.
I’m tempted to say “how very Swiss” at the thought of queuing at 7am, but I do remember that in Horsham the pensioners would often be at the pool early in the morning, too. It tends to be younger people here, though.
In the morning, there are only around 15 people there and no children, so you can swim fairly peacefully. It’s a bit of a functional swim, because I have only around 30 minutes, so it’s straight in and straight out. No hanging about. The schools seem to come at around 8.30am.
Surprisingly, I didn’t mind the chlorine, and I was surprised at how warm the water felt. I’m sure 24 degrees seemed pretty cold when I last lived in Zurich, but now it seems OK. Each time the sea in Egypt felt cold, I’d persuade myself to go in by telling myself to remember that I’d swum in the much colder Swiss lakes before. I now think I was telling myself lies. When I get back, I’ll just have to tell myself that I’ve swum in the Red Sea in winter before, so I can do it again. This time, at least it will be true.
If you go to the outdoor pool after work, which I sometimes do, you get all the families, and the pool can be a bit hectic. Surprisingly, given the general sense of order in Switzerland, people don’t really stick to their lanes. Maybe it’s a way of showing their sense of freedom now that they are in their leisure hours? Some will decide to swim underwater beneath you, children (and adults) will back into you. Others will swim in pairs taking up three lanes as they chat to each other. The person in front of you will suddenly stop and decide to swim back instead. Some spot people they know and cut over your path without looking. It’s like driving in Egypt.
It felt a bit strange at first to swim lengths up and down, up and down (or zigzags, depending on the time of day), rather than making my own route across the sea as it took my fancy at that particular moment in time. But I soon adapted back to the old routine.
Having said all this, even at the busiest times, there’s probably no more than 10% of the total there actually in the pool at any one time. I think a lot of people must simply go to have a lie in the sun. And you can usually get a decent swim (they are 50m lengths), even if you do have to dodge about a bit. It’s not really that bad – just a bit different from the Red Sea, that’s all! There are lanes sectioned off for the serious swimmers, but I don’t really swim fast enough to go there, so I am in the “fun” section of the pool, to be fair, and my comments need to be read in that light.
I never used to mind having to lie on my towel on the grass, but I do miss the sun loungers now. When I have time to dry myself off in the sun, I keep on changing my reading position, but eventually get uncomfortable at some point. I’ve obviously got spoiled.
The hot weather brought back memories of my childhood in the UK on the occasional sweltering sunny day that we’d have every few years. Our parents would take us off to one of the few outdoor pools in the region (there may have been only one). My memory is of people shoulder-to-shoulder in the water with no room to move. It’s not like that in Switzerland – it is still a swimming pool!
I also remember that for the indoor pools where I lived in the UK, you used to be given a coloured band and 45 minutes were allocated to each colour so that the pool was never too crowded. I don’t know if that still happens now or not (I think there weren’t as many swimming pools around in those days), but I do appreciate having the freedom to stay in for as long as I want.
Swimming in the pool is pretty good and I’m glad I live so close that I can still get some outdoor swims in during the week even if I can’t take time off work to go to the lake. The pools are generally situated in large green areas as well, so it’s all very pleasant. Actually, the more I swim, the less I miss my life in Egypt!
In my previous job, I used to take half-days off to go and swim in the lake, but I have only 5 days’ holiday left now (I’m booked to return to Egypt for Christmas), so I don’t feel I have days to spare. Having said that, as soon as the weather is hot, I can't stop myself from wondering if I should just take an afternoon off anyway (although my contract says I have to give 4 weeks’ notice of vacation – life was much easier in Egypt when life was nothing but holiday and I didn’t have to plan all this stuff out!).
I’d forgotten how long the days are in summer over here. In Egypt, it gets dark at around 5pm or 6pm whatever the time of year, so the days are quite short (unless you get up early). Here, it’s still daylight at 8pm and starts to get dark at around 10pm.
If I don’t shut the blinds to my bedroom, bright sunshine streams through the curtains in the early hours and wakes me up. So, much to my surprise, I do occasionally go for an early morning swim in the outdoor pool (heated to 24 degrees) just 5 minutes’ walk from where I live. It opens at 7am and I’ve even been known to queue.
I’m tempted to say “how very Swiss” at the thought of queuing at 7am, but I do remember that in Horsham the pensioners would often be at the pool early in the morning, too. It tends to be younger people here, though.
In the morning, there are only around 15 people there and no children, so you can swim fairly peacefully. It’s a bit of a functional swim, because I have only around 30 minutes, so it’s straight in and straight out. No hanging about. The schools seem to come at around 8.30am.
Surprisingly, I didn’t mind the chlorine, and I was surprised at how warm the water felt. I’m sure 24 degrees seemed pretty cold when I last lived in Zurich, but now it seems OK. Each time the sea in Egypt felt cold, I’d persuade myself to go in by telling myself to remember that I’d swum in the much colder Swiss lakes before. I now think I was telling myself lies. When I get back, I’ll just have to tell myself that I’ve swum in the Red Sea in winter before, so I can do it again. This time, at least it will be true.
If you go to the outdoor pool after work, which I sometimes do, you get all the families, and the pool can be a bit hectic. Surprisingly, given the general sense of order in Switzerland, people don’t really stick to their lanes. Maybe it’s a way of showing their sense of freedom now that they are in their leisure hours? Some will decide to swim underwater beneath you, children (and adults) will back into you. Others will swim in pairs taking up three lanes as they chat to each other. The person in front of you will suddenly stop and decide to swim back instead. Some spot people they know and cut over your path without looking. It’s like driving in Egypt.
It felt a bit strange at first to swim lengths up and down, up and down (or zigzags, depending on the time of day), rather than making my own route across the sea as it took my fancy at that particular moment in time. But I soon adapted back to the old routine.
Having said all this, even at the busiest times, there’s probably no more than 10% of the total there actually in the pool at any one time. I think a lot of people must simply go to have a lie in the sun. And you can usually get a decent swim (they are 50m lengths), even if you do have to dodge about a bit. It’s not really that bad – just a bit different from the Red Sea, that’s all! There are lanes sectioned off for the serious swimmers, but I don’t really swim fast enough to go there, so I am in the “fun” section of the pool, to be fair, and my comments need to be read in that light.
I never used to mind having to lie on my towel on the grass, but I do miss the sun loungers now. When I have time to dry myself off in the sun, I keep on changing my reading position, but eventually get uncomfortable at some point. I’ve obviously got spoiled.
The hot weather brought back memories of my childhood in the UK on the occasional sweltering sunny day that we’d have every few years. Our parents would take us off to one of the few outdoor pools in the region (there may have been only one). My memory is of people shoulder-to-shoulder in the water with no room to move. It’s not like that in Switzerland – it is still a swimming pool!
I also remember that for the indoor pools where I lived in the UK, you used to be given a coloured band and 45 minutes were allocated to each colour so that the pool was never too crowded. I don’t know if that still happens now or not (I think there weren’t as many swimming pools around in those days), but I do appreciate having the freedom to stay in for as long as I want.
Swimming in the pool is pretty good and I’m glad I live so close that I can still get some outdoor swims in during the week even if I can’t take time off work to go to the lake. The pools are generally situated in large green areas as well, so it’s all very pleasant. Actually, the more I swim, the less I miss my life in Egypt!
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