My Happy Place

As I am writing this, there are no blue skies like last Monday when I took these first photos on the last day of validity of my 3 months card for Vienna's municipal outdoor pools. I managed to use it 28 times, this summer, 3 more than in 2017 when I first decided to get such a "season ticket". While there are many more pools to choose from, "Strandbad Alte Donau" which I also discovered only last year, became my absolute favourite. Not only does it only take me 15 minutes from the office, but I simply love its charming retro flair. It is a place where I can switch off the minute I pass the gates and get handed my locker key for the changing rooms. When the weather is not so great or I have plans later that evening, I only go there for a quick swim, others, I catch the last rays of evening sun and read until closing time or meet a friend whom I introduced to this gem this summer. 

I love the no-nonsense 1960s (?) architecture, the many flower arrangements with great attention to detail and all the (mostly elderly) regulars that play cards, share slices of watermelon and run after grandchildren. For children, old-school entertainment is provided and I once got really nostalgic when I saw a group of them peacefully draw on the concrete tiles in front of the changing rooms with crayons, no electronic device in sight.

I would not mind owning one of those houses along the banks of the Old Danube, but looking at them is okay, too. I particularly love the sailboats that are the icing on the cake of my postcard-perfect escapist vacation mood.

Example of the omnipresent flower arrangements:

My friend likes to lay by the old wooden bridge, which is pretty impressive, too:

From your sunbed you look up to the sky and the tops of some seriously tall trees:

Looking forward to next season!