Back in my swim school, after 48 years

When I was in elementary school, our class would get swimming lessons by taking a bus to the Tikkurila swimming hall, a dome construction from 1968 and Finland's first 50-meter indoor swimming pool. Besides that pool, there's a teaching pool and a jumping platforms up to 10 meters. Three saunas at least on the men's side. The hall has been renovated multiple times, but the basics have not changed, exactly same layout and no new fancy pools or saunas for instance. 

I'm not entirely sure if I have visited here since those school years, maybe once or twice. Certainly a trip back the memory lane, particularly with eerily similar setup, albeit with modern tiles and well-maintained look.

The Tikkurila swimming hall's official page at Vantaa's website is here. The wikipedia entry is here. 

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take recognisable photos of other saunagoers or swimmers, or as in here take only outdoor photos.

Matinkylä saunakontti: want

Showed the Matinkylä beach to a friend, have not been here during the winter before this. It was a dark night, but people were using the ice swimming hut, which looked funny when the hut made of white plastic was lit up from the inside, and they descended the stairs to the water. The use of the hut is free, same for the changing rooms. However, there's also a "sauna container" (saunakontti in Finnish) where you get your sauna fix, or recover from hypothermia :-)

The sauna container is an enterprise that has several container saunas in Espoo. You have book your visit, per seat or by booking the whole sauna for your party. Very nice! But I think they don't have showers, except in the summer. Oh well you can always roll in the snow, or if there's snow then walk around naked in the cold rain and sleet :-)

The home page of the sauna container is here. Bookings are 10-15€ from what I can see. There's a news article about this enterprise also in Yle. The beach web site is here. See also this blog from Tony Hagerlund. The beach is Matinkylän uimaranta but also Matinlahden uimaranta.

Water temperature:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take recognisable photos of other saunagoers or swimmers, or as in here take only outdoor photos.

Emergency fix

Periodic emergency fixes to keep all parts along for the ride.

The breakage occurred as I went for the car wash... my car is so delicate that the tiniest touch can break it.

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko.

Sigtuna swim

Sigtuna Fritidscenter is a community swimming hall a few kilometers outside Stockholm, in Sweden. I had an opportunity to stop by for a quick swim there, on a business trip.

Their website is here. Entrance is 94 SEK (approx. 9€) for adults.

The coordinates are N 59.620379 E 17.726721 (google maps link).

Backside:

Nearby buildings:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take recognisable photos of other saunagoers or swimmers, or as in here take only outdoor photos.

DAT flight

Finnair has a large fleet, but in the last couple of years they seem to be having to lease other planes. Today I was on a Berlin-Helsinki flight that was flown by Danish Air Transport or DAT plane, an A320. Nice seats, decent service (including frequent flyer benefits for Finnair, like a free drink).

In BER. Note that there are no markings, all white plane:

And then in HEL:

For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Elite school swimming hall

Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu or SYK is an elite school, known for the highest grades their students get. But, they also serve the broader public with their open-for-everyone swimming hall. I actually had not realized I was still missing visits to some public swimming pools in Helsinki, but I was.

The visit was nice, in the evening it pools and saunas were almost empty. Parking was a bit of a question mark, not sure if I parked on a legal spot or not. I think there's multiple entries to the school, perhaps I entered from the staff entrance and that's why there were "for staff only" signs. Oh well, no ticket.

The only downside of the swimming pool was the constant thumping noises, as the pool and saunas are in the ground floor, just under the second floor gym hall. Oh well, minor issues. But it was pretty loud :-)

The school is also a prime example of brutalist architecture, inside and outside. For instance, the dressing rooms walls are just bare grey concrete. Nice refreshing change to other things I've been to, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend significant time in this building...

There's one 25 meter pool and one kid/practice pool with somewhat warmer water. 

The pool isn't open all the time, only four days in a week in the evenings (longer on Saturday).

Here's the link to their page.

The swimming-pool-in-school concept also reminded me very much of my old Korso high school swimming pool. It was a nice one, sadly they closed it. (Both the school and the swimming hall...)

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take recognisable photos of other saunagoers or swimmers, or like in this case, don't take any photos inside.

Liepnitzsee swim

Liepnitzsee is a lake in Wandlitz, Germany, roughly 30 km from Berlin city center. It is a nice swimming spot with most non-prepared beaches. Recommended!

There's pretty good, clean water and a green environment, also green water :-) Note that since the beaches are not really prepared, you have to be a bit careful when entering, you can encounter old trees etc. on the bottom. Definitely don't jump in, just swim.

Can get busy though if it is good weather and a weekend. There's parking areas few hundred meters from the lake, around the lake, they too can be quite crowded.

The lake is here: N 52.747286 E 13.494341.

Pictures:

Nearby is Wandlitzsee as well, but the swimming there seemed a bit dangerous, due to beach having some unexploded munitions. Wonder if that was cleared up and it is now possible to swim. Does anyone know? (Update: seems so.)

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take recognisable photos of other saunagoers or swimmers, and the facility was only booked for me.

Mini-caves in Madonna di Campiglio

While skiing down the 'Grotte' ski slope in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, we spotted some caves. Shitty caves... literally... apparently if you are overdue for a bathroom break it becomes an appealing alternative to sneak into a cave by the ski slope to do your business. Sigh. Otherwise nice, small caves, probably carved by the water running in the river bed that this ski slope is on.

The Grotte is a short ski run, running from the bottom of the Groste 1 Express lift in Fortini down to the Madonna di Campiglio village and on to the bottom of the Spinale Express lift. More info about the slope here.

There were three caves, one a bit bigger than the others but all small:

• The first one with approximately in the coordinates N 46.234693 E 10.833724 (please do not rely too much on these coordinates, they really are very rough - but you will find the caves if you ski through the slope/river bed).

Photos of the first cave: 

 

• The second one is a tiny one, roughly in coordinates N 46.234655 E 10.833650.

Photos of the second cave:

 

• The third and the biggest one, complete with the excrement and toilet paper in it. Roughly in the coordinates N 46.234634 E 10.833583.

Photos of the third cave: 

 

And then the skiing! Quite nice!

Skiing photos and mountain views:

Night skiing:

Food on the slopes, Goulash index 9€ (in 2019):

We also visited the sauna in our hotel, see the other blog article.

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Tire change

Oopsie, this will take some time. Apparently the front tire had to be replaced on my plane. On the gate!

Interesting that it can be done at the gate. Delayed the flight by about two hours.

While waiting, I was tired, it was too early, and they tagged my hand luggage without me realizing what this meant. Since I was transferring at the next airport, I would have to go out and pick up the luggage. Sigh. Should have said something, they should have realized this was the case with me, etc. Oh well. Need to look after myself better the next time.

For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Hattivattis heading for the exit

I just love the Moomins. Visited the Moomin World countless times (including going skiing there). This is why I am always delighted when I pass by the Moomin shop at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Although this time, the Hattavattis (Hattifatteners) seemed to be on their way to the exit ...

Here are some of the yet again views of the Finnair's new Schengen Platinum lounge. A snowy weather outside:

And a snowy plane to enter:

For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Hörnerbahn gelbe Kugeln

We were going to ski in Oberstdorf. Seven kilometers outside Oberstdorf we had spotted a medium-size ski area, Hörnerbahn. It seemed inviting, so before heading to Oberstdorf slopes, we wanted to try it as well for an hour or two. Their main lift cabins looked like yellow eggs, quite striking :-)

Hörnerbahn is at the coordinates N 47.463061 E 10.227812. Their official home page is here, and the skiresort.info page is here.

This was in 2022, so masking rules were still in effect:

Slopes:

Ski route water crossing:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2022 by Jari Arkko.