Inspired

 

our.duster.life

#hotpool #hotsprings #hotpot#iceland #exploreiceland#westfjords#outdoorlovers #icelandinspired #bath #chill#cheekyexploits #butts#buttsofinstagram

The soaking opportunities in raw nature don't come more wintery than in Iceland. And compelled by a never ending backlog of captured and stored photo's, I really really need to bore my readers with pushing these fire and ice acts. 

Bear with me will you?

Staying northwest (as above) a couple more from the Westfjords:

A VERY WESTFJORDS WINTER:

One of the most frequently asked questions from our guests is “What do you do during the winter?”. Yes, it’s true, tourism sees a sudden decrease during the winter months (and autumn, and spring!). But that doesn’t mean that we pack up and head for the hot tubs for 9 months, although an occasional visit is a must.

likealocaltravel

In Iceland it’s not free the nipple, it’s freeze the nipple❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️Had a lovely little skinny dip while enjoying the snow, will have a blog post detailing how to get to this epic little (free!) hot spring soon xx

On the verge of the northwest Landbrotalaug (above and below) while the northwest is covered by the hot spring of Nauteyrarlaug.

 

versaatchiii

#wheniniceland #girlgottaswim

libbymarch

beers & skinny dipping at a secret hotpot: full magic. somewhere, vestfirðir, ísland, 11.9.17.#iceland #ísland #westfjords #vestfirðir#hotspring #neverstopexploring #lovethewild #vsco #getoutthere #optoutside

Covered

merissasmith

Not a bad spot to stop for a swim 🇮🇸❄️👌#iceland #hotsprings

Southern soaks still as hot in winter. Well slightly less hot ...
Starting off with Seljavallalaug above and following. And then Hrunulaug.

jackieo528

Skinny dipping in a hot spring pool, under snow covered mountains, in the rain...This is life💜🌍✌🏻️ #JackieThings #Iceland

andrea.diis

#enjoylife #livinginiceland #niceland #home #tattoo #girlstrip#hotspring #66north #beautiful #country #beingblessed #njóttu #gooutside#exploring

getyourassintonature

“It was frigid outside with intermittent snow flurries, and there were so. many. tourists. I stripped down anyhow, because when else am I going to be in the middle of a geothermal-heated river somewhere in Iceland? A sweet French woman saw what we were doing, decided we were her people, and came to share our pool and her beer with us. This odd obsession has been sowed in me. I see nature, I want to be naked in it.” // #getyourassintonature

Reykjadalur (pictured above and following) another beautiful natural soaking site may be slightly more difficult to reach (on foot) during winter.

hollyfuckingangel

#hotsprings #reykjadalur #nyknicks #nude #nyknickshat#sexylatviangirl #latviangirl #happyhippo #swimmer for him #unhappysingleThe name Reykjadalur litterally means ,,Steamy Valley“ so anyone looking for hot springs should not be disappointed with this location. Reykjadalur is located in the south of Iceland near the town of Hveragerði, a town built on a geothermal hot spot, and around the town are hiking paths which show you the very best of the area. These hot streams are a hiker’s paradise!

Over on the tumblr of Icelandnaturist there are a couple of original posts of what (s)he names are a secret place. Been there, done that. Visit the site for more:

Some places are better enjoyed with likeminded friends #naturism #befree #skinnydipping #secretplace #hotspringsiceland

Gold 

puragringa

Day 2 in #Iceland with these babes. The difficult and exhausting cross island drive was worth it for this moment. #hotsprings #mountains #naked#islandlife#icelandicliving

A few picca's from Grettislaug above and following.

r.e.n.a.r.d.o.r

s k i n#iceland #foxontherun #gayiceland #wanderlust #instagay #bnw #blackandwhite #reykjavik #grettislaug #narcissisticartyfarty #gay #gayiceland

ash_foo

Drove though the clouds, up in the highlands to find this gem all to ourselves 🇮🇸 #Iceland2017 #geothermalpool

edgarallanho

Golden girls

Moved north above the remote Askja, following Fosslaug.

agapevisuals

One of our favorite things about #Iceland were the natural #hotpots. This one wasn't as hot as the others we found, but the views couldn't be beat! Only a few steps #downstream from #Fosslaug was a rushing #waterfall (see next post).

As Romans?

blancapalanca

Mi primer sarcófago 😱😱😱

Slightly off topic, I would like to share with you my thoughts on Fikret Yegül's Bathing in the Roman World.

So, what's antiquities bathing got to do with current soaking in Europe?

A lot.

On this blog we have already seen postings on Bath (Great Brittian), Bande (Spain, see photo above) and of course Viterbo (Italy), all of which at some place of time were highly visited and / or used during Roman rule. 
And as past civilizations come, the Romans were top soakers. Roman use of naturally heated waters has left it's traces all over Europe and the Mediterranean countries.

The author starts by drawing comparisons between cultures with significant experience with bathing such as  the Turkish (hammam), the Japanese (onsen), the Finnish (sauna) and even modern day US (?) hottubbing as having much, if not many characteristics similar to that of the Romans: bathing as a social / cultural experience rather than one solely focused on hygiene. 

Of course this could be expanded by say Bhutanese hot rock baths, or Mexican sweat lodges; more of the same, but with the common denotation that simple bathing can entail more, even with religious characteristics such as in Jewish baths.

And though the western US hottubbing culture might capture these characteristics, after reading I believe that the Roman bathing culture was as much a sign of wealth and superiority of their culture (and rule).

In Roman times, bathing become so popular that it was considered a cornerstone of daily life: work was for the morn, bathing (and relaxing) for in the afternoon. We're still some way off this ...

Illusion

The author describes many aspects concerned with bathing during the Roman era. Excessively concerning architecture (his expertise), though also on many of the other aspects of the bathing process of Roman times. 

Interesting is the chapter on ethical and moral concerns. 
Surprisingly quite a bit of this critique could be regarded as just as common towards current day bathing. 
The opulent bathing buildings conflicted with the urge of simplicity (making society weak?), the social focal point encouraged gossip and a visit could coincide with an elicit rendez-vous, to name a few.

However bathing was considered a ritual which broke down social classes:

'The Roman bath was, indeed, an ideal institution with which to create an illusion of a classless society - one where wise and foolish, rich and poor, privileged and underdog could be together and enjoy the benefits by the Roman system'.

This could just as well be said concerning using our nudist beaches or visiting remote hot springs: in the end we all look alike and there's little way to distinguish ourselves despite all our material wealth.

Tracing

It's interesting to trace the origins of Roman baths which could be ascribed to Greek culture (as close as Sicily) where less elaborate baths were common place and had a role in the Greek warrior tradition where gymnasia encouraged fighting and battle skills. 

However other trains of thought point to the already established rural Italian tradition of taking steam baths where a good sweat attributed certain health benefits.  As certain farms grew, so did the idea to have separate sweat rooms whereby the tradition of medicinal benefits progressed to that of being to sweat  for recreational purposes. 

Yet another view put forward notes the origins of the Roman bath coming from the area surrounding Naples where hot springs were / are proficient and gradually the natural waters there, were exploited for ever more larger bathing complexes. 

Eventually the author notes that it was maybe a combination of mentioned origins that saw the ascendancy of the thermal bath in the Roman empire. 

Size
Besides the being the cultural and social center point of Roman life, some of the complexes were larger than life. Even nowadays, tourists are enthralled at the immensity of say Caracalla in Rome (following).

At the same time, Romans managed to take their culture with them. I've seen Roman bath remains in Morocco, in Galicia and at Bath to a name a few of the empire's outposts. 

The enormity of heating huge amounts of water was a technique ahead of it's time, as were the long channels to bring in the water to the Roman capital. 
This huge demand on resources was also which lead to the demise of the bathing practices. As central Roman rule waned, so did the availability to the resources itself as well as the ability to finance the upkeep of the bath buildings as well as the water channels. 

Following
Finally the author describes what followed on from the Europe ruled Pax Romana (in essence Christianity) which distanced itself from it's predecessor by denouncing public bathing as a source of promiscuity.

And though there was a brief revival of public bathing towards the 13th century, medieval culture firmly put bathing in the negative. Though it no doubt fit with Christianity becoming ever more moralistic, it could well be that the existence of the plague did little to help. 
It's only when both are on the wane that public bathing and the (economic / social) lore of developing both thermal and/or mineral baths became more popular that we see the establishment of the 19th century bathing complexes.

Are these and their modern day copies (think Therme Erding) then the logical continuation of Roman bathing? 

Yes, in architectural sense. 

However in their ability to replicate the culture, I believe that a soak at one of the few remaining rustic hot springs has more in common with our ancient soaking friends.

gloria_travels at the Roman thermal baths of Benetutti, Sardinia:

What could you do on the east coast of Sardinia, a rainy and cold day? Sources d'eau chaude de Benetutti, un vrai bonheur, et encore gratuit !!! Not easy to find as you have to walk through the fields, cows and goats before to find the ruins where the hot springs are hidden.sooooo hot!!!

Note:

Fikret Yegül (2010) Bathing in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press, New York, U.S.A.