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Trondheim
is such a beautiful city. There's water everywhere: the fjord stretching
out to the sea, the docks, the calm Nidelven flowing through the
centre of town. The hurtigruten coastal express stops at Trondheim,
alongside the gigantic white cruise ships, on their way to and from
western Norway. Now there's a new addition to the piers: Pirbadet.
Pirbadet is a massive swimming pool complex. Massive swimming pool complexes are not always the best places to swim, they're often ugly, the freeform shape is fine for splashing around, but not much use for lane swimming, there's nowhere deep enough to dive, and there are too many bloody kids too! Old, historic, beautiful swimming pools and lidos get left to decay, are closed down by local authorities and massive leisure pools are commissioned and built instead. So, generally I'm no fan of them.  Pirbadet is the exception to this pool rule. It's vast and hangar-like, yes, but it's built in sympathy to its location and there is enough space inside for everybody to get along and do their own thing. There are pools for very young kids, pools that are little more than puddles, there's the ubiquitous wave pool, a lap pool, a diving pool, there are slides (with disco lights inside!), a steam bath, a pool where people can learn to swim, a pool with jets of bubbles for relaxing, and probably more pools that I've forgotten. 
The huge, clean Scandinavian lines of the open plan building that encloses all these pools arches up into the sky. One wall is made completely of glass. You're swimming inside but it feels as though you are outside. The Pirbadet sits on the edge of the quayside, and it is possible to float in the water whilst looking out over the fjord, an unobstructed view. Passenger liners in the dock loom over you, they are colossal and so close they might accidentally crush you. In these pools you feel as though you are as much a part of the port's life as the little fishies that swim around the ships in the fjord, the otters that stretch out by the yacht moorings, the salt in the air and the light from the neverending summer sun. 
http://www.pirbadet.no |
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