| Hagabadet | ||
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The Hagabadet is one of the oldest pools in Sweden. It's another
one of those pools that's so beautiful you can't believe your good
fortune in swimming there - a completely sensuous and luxurious
experience.
Hagabadet is a rough stone building in the Haga area of Gothenburg.
The building houses one main pool, a smaller pool, saunas and a
gym, as well as treatment rooms, a café and - somewhat weirdly
- a small conference centre. The smaller pool is warmer, a floating and contemplation pool. A door leads to a darkened room where two loungers lie opposite a large fish tank. But the main pool is the star. It is square with an egg-shaped depression in the middle of it that forms the deeper part of the pool. The egg-shaped area is lined with a mosaic of broken tiles and outlined with a smooth, round edge of granite, or some other stone. The pool's sides slant inwards, they overhang the water and it is possible to hide beneath them. Sharp granite steps lead into the pool on either side of a large fresco of an island in a storm. The island is real, one of Gothenburg's archipelago. In the other direction are two spiral staircases enclosed in a cylinder of stone, and above these a marble diving platform. As you swim the perimeter of the pool, and float, and relax, your eyes will be drawn to the Jugenstil decoration around the walls and ceiling. Paint and plaster work appears like sea creatures, crabs, jellyfish, abstract marine life. The walls are painted a delicate shade of yellow, and the pool is surrounded by white-painted wooden doors and windows with glass inserts. Candles flicker behind the glass. If you lived in this city, the people of this pool would know you by name, they would know you by your footfall, they would know you well. Click around to see a 360 degree panorama thingie of the pools. |
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