Zürich has a lot to offer and it’s not just a boring banking city. It has new areas like the industrial part (Zürich West), the Langstrasse, a lovely old town, nature very close and a great selection of restaurants, bars & clubs. You can swim in the middle of the city. And we have fountains with drinking water everywhere in the city.

Some destinations have a way of putting you in vacation mode the second you arrive. San Diego KOA Resort is one of these places. The moment we pulled into the campground, the sight of shimmering pool water, luxury cabins, rustic tent sites, and colorful RVs put me in a state of happy relaxation.

Although two-piece bathing suits were being used by women as early as the 1930s, the bikini is commonly dated to 1946, when partly due to material rationing after World War II... De Arte Natandi (‘The Art of Swimming’), by Sir Everard Digby, published in England in 1587 but written in Latin, was the first treatise on the topic published in Britain. Written in an age when many people could not swim and drowning was a regular cause of death, it features advice on different swimming techniques.

I had it marked on my calendar for several years: Diana, a friend of my daughter Jeannette and myself, would swim the English Channel in August, 2019 – and I planned to be there to see her off from the English shore and to greet her in France on the completion of her swim.