First fresh water swimming this year, "talviturkki vintille" :D

The winter has been really warm this year in Finland. No snow, not too much ice on the lakes or rivers. A week ago we had our company Innotiimi learning days in Heinola and the Kymi river was mostly open, there was only a little bit of ice near the edges of the river.

Lots of ice still on the lake 200 m away, but the streaming river was clear for a dip

So, it was like a huge ice wake! The word means a hole in the ice, but few people, not even many of the native English speakers I've met, recognize the word (avanto in Finnish). It is one of my favorite words, because I have an obsession to swim, no matter what the temperature of the water is. 

Do you know when water is too cold for swimming? It is easy to notice, the surface is hard, solid and thick, it's ice. But if you can make a wake, a hole in the ice, then it is good again and you can dip in! 

Back to the sauna!

A few years ago we lived in France and had a pool in the yard. Our neighbours complained to my husband when I did just that, broke the ice that had formed on the pool (the circulation had cut off by accident and the nights there could be seriously cold) and took a morning swim. They claimed it was not "prudent" (as they say) for a pregnant woman to do that!