Photos from 2021 on the countryside of Switzerland (Gantrisch, Iseltwald, Niederhorn).

With travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, we have not been on an airplane in almost a year and a half now. Instead, we spent a lot of time at my parents’ chalet on the mountainside near Gstaad. It’s a really beautiful area with white, snowy mountains all around.

Just before Christmas, we spent a few super relaxing days at the 7132 with its beautiful thermal baths and enjoyed one of the best meals in a long time (if not ever) at their Silver restaurant.  

I post photos of Bern every 6-12 months, so I’m now adding the months the photos were taken in to the title of the posts. Very important information, right? Anyways, these 27 photos are from the second half of 2017 and most of them were taken either at (my former) home – a great, large duplex apartment that I shared with friends for a little more than four years – or on the route Seraina and I often chose when going for a walk through the city.

I think it was in summer 2016 that Coffee Circle were looking for people to write coffee-themed guides of the cities they lived in (or they visited). Though it took me months to begin working on mine about the city of Bern, I finally finished it last fall – and a few months later, it was published on their website. I’m quite content with most of the photos and happy to share my favorite places to have coffee in my hometown.

We were going to hike and spend time in the Alps much more this summer, but somehow, time passed by way too fast. So this was our last trip of the summer to the mountains and it wasn’t even much of a hike either. And though it was very crowded – lots of Chinese tourists – and despite the overcast weather it was nice and the views were beautiful. Also, the closer we got to the lake in the last picture, the less crowded it got.

It took me some time to post this but it’s much better to look at those photos from this past summer in the Swiss Alps now that it’s cold out. Oeschinensee is a mountain lake with a wonderful blue color in a region that offers many hiking routes, from an hour short to a few days long. We chose a rather short one for a day-trip we had long been waiting for. It took us a few hours to walk from the cable car station to the lake, halfway around, and back. The views were gorgeous.

Open Mat is a gathering of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) practitioners that happens every 1-2 months in Switzerland. If you don’t have a clue what BJJ is – like most people in Switzerland – Wikipedia, Youtube and other resources may provide some helpful and insightful information. Basically, it looks like a bunch of grossly sweaty guys and girls hugging each other and rolling around on the floor in weird pajamas. In reality, they actually try to choke each other out and break each other’s arms and legs. Anyways, go check it out yourself.

I’ve sent another eight rolls of film to Spain for developing and scanning, but before we’re moving on to spring and summer, I’ve got one more winter post for you. It’s basically just a selection of photos that I have taken in Bern this past winter and wanted to share. The first six photos were shot on Gurten, the city’s local mountain (or more like a hill). It’s a wonderful hill with a nice view over the city.