Sunday, August 23, 2015

What's a "Lido"?


We've entered the last few weeks of summer. 
The light is changing and the days are getting shorter.
The water in the pool at the Riviera Club is 
getting cooler; we swim in and out of shaded 
and sunlit patches, the temperatures 
markedly different in each one.
I like the cooler water, prefer it even, to the
warmer temperatures that are really tiring to swim
in for a length of time. Yeh, I bitch and moan,
but it's really pleasant overall.


The Riviera Club is old, opening in 1933, 
and has that gangly spread out feeling of having
been enlarged and expanded into spaces
wherever they can be found. It has a homey, 
comfortable atmosphere. The pool is the size
of two (American) football fields with areas 
for lap swimming, water exercises/calisthenics, as
well as slides for children in a large baby pool.  


I've often seen pools called "lidos" on an English
website called Outdoor Swimming Society.
The term, I think, came from the Italian word for beach
and refers to outdoor public swimming areas
and their surrounding facilities. 
I've often wondered whether the Rivi 
may be regarded as a lido. Even though use of
the facilities usually requires membership, 
non-members may participate for an additional fee.
No matter, this is *my* little bit of Venice.
My own lido.


1 comment:

William Kendall said...

It's the first time I've heard that term.