By Kelly Perkins
Summer 2010 is just around the corner and it’s time to don our bikinis, swimming costumes and swimming shorts. Wondering what’s hot and what’s not by the pool this year? Wonder no more. There is a lot on the high street in all colours, shapes and sizes, so there’s something out there to suit everyone!
A hot look for the ladies is the cut away bikini and monkini (half bikini/half swimming costume) as modelled at New York Fashion Week last November.
If you’re not feeling brave enough to wear such a revealing costume, a lot of high street brands are following the style, yet in a more reserved way. New Look have several trikini costumes, which offer a modest alternative to the more revealing monokini swimsuits, yet still look fashionable and bang on trend for the summer.
Cosmopolitan website’s fashion reporter, Bridget March, recommends Warehouse’s swimwear and kaftan collection. “Curvy girls will look fab in the halter swimsuits and petites will shine in the pleated bandeau bikinis and punchy patterned set.” They meet this season’s trends whilst helping to enhance and flatter your figure. Making you look and feel confident.
Similar to high street trends for women, a lot of pattern is in style for men’s swimwear this year too.Burton are selling some of the familiar long swimming shorts, that were seen in the stores and by the pools in previous years. However this summer a lot of the patterns and colours have gone a little more jazzy and a little brighter – adding that summer feeling to those modelling them.
For information on stockists, visit www.newook.com, www.warehouse.co.uk, www.burton.co.uk.
By Richard Lang
For anyone who lives in, or has visited, London, spending two days swimming in the dirty currents of the Thames may not seem at all appealing, much less actually be a holiday. But that’s what SwimTrek, the swimming adventure holidays company, are offering.
Well, it’s not exactly what they’re offering. The part of the Thames they guide you through on their two day adventure break, is the early miles, west of Oxford. The tour, which covers 14km, starts at Buscot Lock, near Lechlade, Gloucestershire, and finishes downstream at the Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge, in the Cotswolds.
Even in these tranquil waters, swimming an average of 7km a day still may not seem like much of a “getaway”. But Max Snyder, of SwimTrek, insists that it is.
“It’s not just about swimming, it is a holiday. It’s about seeing bits of the river you never normally see. Also it’s very sociable and you often stop and chat to the other swimmers on the tour on the way,” he said.
When I think of adventure holidays, the image conjured up in my mind is that of a group twenty-somethings rushing around doing dangerous activities. But Max assured me that this tour was much more inclusive and laidback than that
“There is a complete mix of people – on a normal trip there will a couple of people in their 20s and 55 plus, but most of them will be in their 30s and 40s,” he said.
Each day there are two swims of about an hour an a half each, broken up by a pub lunch, where the whole group gets together. The socialising doesn’t stop there as, despite being split up into two groups of different speeds, there is no pressure to race through the swimming.
Max told me: “When I went on the trip we would stop every now and then when someone spotted something and we’d rest and have a chat.”
And if that’s not enough socialising, at the end of the day’s swimming everyone gets together for dinner, before heading camp and what, after swimming that far, would undoubtedly be a good night’s sleep.
It turns out swimming the Thames is not what you’d expect it to be at all. But why bother? Wouldn’t it be better to do it an easier way, like cycling, for example? Not so, according to Max, a former participant on the tour.
“It’s a pretty unique way to see an area. But the best part of it, for me, is the satisfaction when you finish it. There is a definite sense of achievement.”
For more information about swimming the River Thames and SwimTrek’s other swimming tours visit http://www.swimtrek.com
By Richard Lang
Spas have always been seen as the perfect getaway from the stress and fast pace of life. But can this really be possible in a city centre, right in the hustle and bustle of the real world?
At the Thermae Bath Spa, in Bath, it can. The spa is sited right at the heart of the city, opposite the famous Roman baths and uses the same thermal spring that provided water for bathing Romans thousands of years ago – though, thankfully, not the same green-coloured water found in the baths today!
However, whilst there are over 50 treatments available at the spa, many people visit mainly for the rooftop pool and the view that relaxing in it affords.
Immersed in the warm waters, surrounded by steam, it’s easy to forget that you are in the middle of the city. As the steam is slowly cleared by a gentle breeze, the breathtaking view is revealed.
On one side, decked in the familiar, pale cream Bath stone, are the shops and houses of the city. On the other, beyond the imposing spire of the abbey, the view is dominated by the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.
With such a fantastic view available, it’s easy to see why it’s popular. Charlotte Hanna, from Thermae Bath Spa said: “Market Research suggests that it is the most popular aspect of Thermae, with 31 per cent of our customers saying it is their favourite bit of the Spa,” said Charlotte Hanna of Thermae Bath Spa.
Even in March - though you’d think the weather is far to cold to wander around in just swimwear - floating in the bubbling waters of the rooftop pool is the perfect way to relax, as the noise of the city below is muffled by the underwater jets and, in the distance, the green of spring dominates.
Not that you should just visit in the spring. The changing seasons bring new colours to the view, as well as warmer temperatures to relax in.
Charlotte believes that it is best to visit each season: “The effect of the light at different times of year, along with the greenery on the trees, or the autumn gold etc, and the heat of summer or the chill of a winter’s morning all create a different and distinct atmosphere.”
Any visit to Bath, one of the UK’s top tourist spots, should include a trip to the Thermae Bath Spa. Relaxing in the rooftop pool is the best way to unwind after a busy sightseeing and shopping in the city centre.
The Thermae Bath Spa, Bath, is open 7 days a week throughout the year, with prices starting at £24 for a two hour sap session. For more details, visit www.thermaebathspa.com.