Wednesday 20 July 2011

Schönbrunner Bad

Last sunday I continued my tour to the open air pools in Vienna as a part of my this year's staycation. The public pool is located on the grounds of the former imperial garden Schönbrunn. I did well, hunting the waters, the weather has changed - one could say dramatically - since Sunday. Down to 18°C, stormy winds, rain. The forecast says it is going to stay like that until the end of the month. What a lucky sunday this was for joining a pool party.The upcoming weeks will be more down to earth, week 7, 8 and 9 in the Couch 2 5k programme are waiting for me to run.

The pink circle is where the pool is, in red the palace.

In my teenage years we used to break in at night and go swimming. Very thrilling! Nowadays the night swims have become a USP. Times change.

I go there by bike. Do I go anywhere without my bike? I doubt so ...
As you can see, I was not the only one to arrive by bike.
It takes a short walk through the park to get to the pool... trees provide shadeAgain, old trees. Vienna is full of old trees. Safety first!

Schönbrunn is one of the hot spots not only for tourists but also for the Viennese.
Some visitors prefer to go by train
A calm atmosphere, with lots of space and contemplation.
The perfect getaway for a weekend afternoon.

In the back you can see the palace.

As I arrived at the fountain I could hear some music and I remembered: there had been flyers at the entrance the last time I visited the pool (yesterday) - Pool Party, all day long! How could I forget?

What to do? Leave and visit another place, at 2pm, 31°C? Or take the jump? For once in a while I acted spontaneous and visited the pool party. Now I could pretend everything was like always, I found a quiet spot where I could rest after my 1,5km swim, enjoy my buttermilk and some pages of Heinrich Böll.This photo is showing only part of the truth ....

... because it was crowded.
OMG. Even though I have been there the sight still shocks me. So many people!
Luckily the pool was not crowded at all.

And it was loud. The sound system was loud. Really loud. So loud, it made me laugh when I went down to the pool. You could say "incredibly loud". Next to the pool people where moving their butts and hips and boobs.
In the back you see one of the loudspeaker-towers, at least 3 feet high. The 2nd photo was taken after the "peak" of the party, quasi chill out.

I found a photo gallery online, showing the madness around the pool.

And somehow it was just perfect:
To the far right, behind the pool bar, a dancing class took place, in the middle the 50m-pool and to the left (not seen) was the sound system plus groupies (the butt/boobs/hips-moving)
The best part was the swimming-lane for very sportive swimmers, right next to the but-moving-area. Everyone had fun, except the sportive swimmers, because pool party people tend to jump into the pool. Usually it would be impossible to sit there where the guys are chilling, because the eager swimmers "own" this lane on not-party-days.

You can say this is NOT what I expected after walking by the statues in the gardens.


The pool party had some influence on me. The following day I bought a bikini (a 100% totally justified buy: one in, one out: the old one already fell apart)
What is this? Macramé? A fishing net?
Nooo! It's my new bikini, a bandeau with a silly hip belt.
And if the pink bikini wasn't enough, a pink water bottle.
Blue used to be "the" colour - bikewear, bathing suits, water bottles.
But not in 2011, not on a staycation.

Not to forget: I am wearing a nail polish a chica would wear, too.

PS: And I BET you would love to see me in this bikini. I had to go up a size larger than usual. The smaller size (formally known as my size) is not longer my size. Bohooo.

4 comments:

  1. You are so funny! Vodka and bikinis - not what I thought I would find coming over here today. I think your bikini is pretty. I like the bandeau style top and the cute belt.

    I will check back for more photos....that pool looks like a real party. A real crowded party.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Adrienne! The photos are finally all online. I would love to wear the bikini but it is 14° and rain today! Looking back I am glad I dared to go inside and be part of the crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well Paula?
    So many questions.
    Was there a gay element to the pool party, particularly near the bar? Some seriously good looking men there!
    The dancing shots looked like pool parties in Australia back in the 50s. Before my time, but I've seen lots of photos. You don't see that sort of thing here anymore. Everyone goes go the beach, pools really are for swimmers who train hard.
    Love the new bikini and water bottle, I seem to be favoring pink a lot more this year also.
    Now, was the temperature 18C or 31C? I'm confused.

    By the way, I would be one of those grumpy swimmers who gets annoyed with people frolicking at the side of the pool, but we train in the middle lanes so frolickers don't annoy us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Louise, the men around the bar were NOTHING compared to the usual crowd: I used to love the place in my late 20's, because only/mostly/mainly gay men met there. I loved the atmosphere, because it was the only place where I did not have to raise an imaginary shield against the men trying to hit on me while lying on my towel. I was a hot chick back then. :-))
    Today it's 15°C. brrrrrrr. In August summer is said to return. Meanwhile I enjoy the apple pies and runs very much. Also the fact that we don't have to fear our flowers will burn in the sun and heat, because there is no sun and no heat these days. The day at the pool party was actually the last hot day. Since then it has been raining every day. This also helps with hyperpigmentation. You could say I am an incurable optimist!

    ReplyDelete