Sitting in the hot pool in snowstorms

You find outdoor (and some indoor) swimming pools in every community in Iceland. In Reykjavik, the capital, with around 150.000 inhabitants you find several swimming pools. And then you find more swimming pools in the other communities in Greater Reykjavik Area.

Even though Icelanders go as much to the outdoor swimming pools in snow storms as much as in sun and nice weather they don't swim that much. Most of them only swim 200m. The swimming itself is not necessarily the reason for Icelanders attending the swimming pool.

The reason is the hot pots, small pools with hot water that are a part of the swimming pool area. Icelanders love those small pools. That's where they sit and relax and talk to their friends. And that's also the reason why so many families have their own small pool in their garden.

Icelanders like to sit there in the hot water and relax.

Maybe the hot pools are to Icelanders the same as the saunas are to the Finns.