Water Baby

Austria is known for its beautiful lakes and mountains (and indeed many more beautiful things). While I do love those mountains and am a passionate skier, I hardly ever go hiking. When I do, I always think that I should do this more often and when I see photos taken by my hiking or mountaineering friends, I am always very impressed. This does not mean that it would ever occur to me to choose mountain over lake on a hot summer day. Mountains, for me, are just a beautiful backdrop that I would not want to miss, but lakes, they are to be used actively. A hot summer day spent in a place where there is a body of water, is a day wasted in my book. Whenever I have the opportunity to visit my parents, I will always make sure to take a swim in my beloved Wörthersee, THE most beautiful and most"swimmable" lake in my very biased opinion. Its turquoise water has a hypnotic power over me and I am very grateful to have grown up in this scenic part of Austria. On the first day of June, I bought a 3-months card for Vienna's public outdoor pools (which includes one pool at the Old Danube, close to my new place of work) and I am proud to report that I have already got more of my money's worth out of that card (which retailed at EUR 60.50) by having used it 20 times so far. Even if it is just a quick dip in a lake, river, or chlorinated pool - I am true water baby and summer=swimming for me.