After a late arrival – plane landed in Helsinki around 11-ish pm followed by a roughly 2h drive plus some very basic grocery shopping for the first day and a midnight snack stopover – there were still a couple of things to get done at the cabin so bedtime was around 4am in the morning of the 22nd.
Nit surprisingly we felt a tad jet-lagged and lazed the day away. Perfect start of a winter vacation.
Monday, December 21st we made it true: We gathered a few things and escaped into the Finnish woods for a little getaway.
Away from the pre-Christmas frenzy, the corona craziness and the general hubbub during the Holiday season.
See ya next year, lovely Switzerland. Hope you’ll do well and welcome us back with lower infection rates. We do our part by self-quarantining in the woods.
When returning from my run yesterday afternoon I got a really bad scare as my neighbor called me with the news that another neighbor across the street called him with bad news: She had a dead kitty in the garden and she was afraid it might be Elvis, one of the kitties who have chosen me as their guardian. I took the news pretty stoically as I tend to but decided to walk up to Elvis favorite place, the chicken coop to gather my thoughts and brace myself for the possible blow. And who was there, happily chilling away in the sun with the chickens??!? Elvis!!! I was so happy and relieved I just broke down and cried and cuddled both Elvis and JB, his brother who had followed me up to the chickens from home. Then I sent my neighbor a photo and called him and we sniffled some sniffles of relieve together. We’re so happy to have our fosterlings safe and sound.
Still, my heart is aching for the family who actually lost their kitty today – so very sad. May the little tiger race the meadows of eternity with his furry friends.
On last Sunday’s bicycle ride I was quite depleted and needed some energy intake from the bistro by the lake. I opted for a hazelnut croissant.
My brother had one too and when he studied the ingredients a brist of laughter hit him when he read “Brösel” which means (bread)crumbs. Neither of us had any idea you had to especially add them for pastry to crumble.
Sundays from spring to fall are reserved for bicycling. It’s been a tradition between my mum and my aunt for the longest time that they circle a lake nearby together, then sit on a bench and have coffee and sometimes prosecco they brought along. At some point I joined them without circling the lake as I usually lived further away and had enough to work from home to the lake and back. In exchange, the coffee and prosecco break was extended to a full blown breakfast.
When to begin with only my dad and my uncle joined us for for the coffee part after a while the visitors – mostly family – that joined us for a coffee by the lakeside grew and changed: sometimes my cousin with her four kids would join, now it’s still my dad and uncle but also my brother with his twins. In the meantime they often accompany my mum on their bikes which offers a nice change to the hours spent gaming.
I immensely enjoy those family Sundays and the cross training it offers me. I hope there are many more to come!!
So Saturday night I bit off my freshly polished nails. Still, Sunday came and with it a glorious day with many friends and family cheering my dear runner buddy and I on and an unforgettable, long-suffering (17km of stomach pain and cramps…) 42.195km later I was accomplished: I am unofficially but beknownst to my closest people a marathoner.
I’m terribly tired from the lack of sleep the night before the race and of course from the exertion, but also proud, exhilarated, thankful, certainly stronger and – accomplished.
A big shout-out to all dear ones who have supported us by cheering and providing us with sustenance. I certainly couldn’t have done it without you!!
Painted my nails tonight to ease my nerves. Didn’t consider that I might bite them right off once the real nervousness hits. (tomorrow morning at the latest, I reckon…)
Today we went to the senior citizens’ theater. My auntie and uncle are still actively supporting the performances (my aunt with makeup, my uncle staffing the bar) while my mom stopped working with them (she was the master makeup artist before she left :-)) because of the commute that was getting too tedious for all the rehearsals and two weeks of performances.
The play was a hoot as usual and the actors put all their passion into their play. What an inspiring performance.
MONTAGSWANDERUNG
Whenever I got an extra day off – which is basically every week as I’m a part-time worker – and the weather is fine I love to visit the great outdoors and treat myself to a hike. And that’s exactly what I did a week ago.
Wann immer ich einen zusätzlichen Frei-Tag habe – was praktisch jede Woche der Fall ist, weil ich Teilzeit arbeite – und das Wetter gut ist, liebe ich es, in die freie Natur heraus zu stürmen und mich mit einer Wanderung zu verwöhnen. Und genau das habe ich vor einer Woche getan.
I started out at Schönalp-Hüttli which is located a bit above Unterägeri, a town located a 30 min. drive from where I live. My route took me via In den Gräben to Geissfaren and up to Halsegg and then the rest up to Wildspitz.
Gestartet bin ich vom Schönalp-Hüttli, das ein wenig oberhalb von Unterägeri liegt, eine Ortschaft ca. 30 Minuten per Auto von mir zuhause entfernt. Meine Route führte mich via In den Gräben zum Geissfaren und hoch über die Halsegg zum Wildspitz.
Only a few minutes into the hike I started to wonder what all the buzz was about and that’s what presented itself to me:
Nur ein paar Minuten nachdem ich gestartet war, wunderte ich mich über das aufgeregte Gesurre und im nächsten Moment stand ich vor diesen Gebilden:
These little boxes are all beehives! / Bei sämtlichen dieser kleinen Boxen handelt es sich um Bienenstöcke!
Just a little further up I was rewarded with a perfect look over all the greenery:
Nur ein klein wenig weiter den Berg rauf wurde ich mit diesem perfekten Blick über das Grün der Wälder belohnt:
A couple of steps further up I decided to snap a picture which didn’t look like much…
Einige Schritte weiter entschied ich mich, folgendes Foto zu schiessen, das zunächst nicht nach viel aussah…
…but just then I realized that I’d caught a deer in the picture:
…doch bei näherem Hingucken bemerkte ich, dass ich ein Reh mitfotografiert hatte:
Onwards I went under the sceptic yet cheering eyes of my very personal fan crew:
Weiter gings unter den skeptischen, aber anfeuernden Blicken meiner persönlichen Fangemeinde:
They’re just too cute!! / Die sind einfach zu süss!!
Shortly after that motivational spur I reached my goal – Wildspitz:
Kurz nach dieser Motivationsspritze erreichte ich mein Ziel – den Wildspitz:
Only a few more steps, you can do it! You can do it! / Nur noch ein paar Schritte, du schaffst das! Du schaffst das!
And when I arrived up top I knew why I’d come in the first place – this breathtaking view was my reward:
Und als ich ob auf der Spitze ankam, wusste ich, warum ich eigentlich gekommen war – diese atemberaubende Aussicht war meine Belohnung:
My way back down took me over to the Gnipen which is the spot where in 1806 a massive rockslide broke loose and in its wake devastated four villages and causing a 20m high tsunami in the nearby lake Lauerz. This is the spot where the rock broke:
Mein Weg zurück ins Tal führte mich über den Gnipen, wo 1806 der massive Bergsturz von Goldau losgebrochen war und in dessen Folge vier Dörfer zerstört wurden und der eine 20m hohe Flutwelle im nahegelegenen Lauerzersee auslöste. Dies ist die Abbruchstelle:
The magnitude of the event boggled my mind and I took a moment to sit down under a giant cross and watch the scenery.
Das Ausmass dieses Ereignisses übersteigt ein ums andere Mal mein Vorstellungsvermögen und so setzte ich mich für einen Moment unter das riesige Kreuz, um die Szenerie aufzunehmen.
These are the moments when I’m in awe of nature’s power, when I find back to my core and it’s the reason I go hiking – the sheer might and staggering beauty of nature manage to set me straight again, put a new perspective on my thoughts and feelings and help me see everything clearer. Mother nature is my personal therapist.
Dies sind die Momente, in denen ich sprachlos über die Macht der Natur bin, wo ich zurück zu meinem Innersten finde und das ist der Grund, warum ich überhaupt wandern gehe – die pure Gewalt und atemberaubende Schönheit der Natur bringen es fertig, mir den Kopf wieder zurecht zu rücken, meine Gedanken und Gefühle in Perspektive zu bringen und alles klarer zu sehen. Mutter Natur ist meine persönliche Therapeutin.
From Gnipen I hiked on by Alpli, Urzlen and back towards my starting point. The last treat before I plunged myself back into the valley was this fairy-tale like glimpse:
Vom Gnipen bin ich dann via Alpli und Urzlen zurück zu meinem Ausgangspunkt gewandert. Der letzte Leckerbissen, bevor ich mich zurück ins Tal stürzte, war diese märchenhafte Aussicht:
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My mom and aunt established a Sunday morning bicycling routine a long time ago. I have no idea when they started it but I remember that at some point – when I had passed the teenage years and my twenties, the age known for “having to sleep in because I partied too hard on Saturday night” – I was grown up enough to get my chunk out of bed in time to enjoy the early hours of many a peaceful Sunday mornings. And I can tell you: It’s been worth it every single time.
So on today’s Sunday I rose and shone (maybe not so brightly to begin with ;-)) early as we agreed to meet at my – other – aunt’s house to have breakfast. She invited us over and we happily agreed to show up on time at 8:30am. This aunt, Marie, came to visit me in Austin with my mom and her friend in May 2015. Then last year she went through a rough spot and it was our pleasure to accept her invitation, seeing how she was in a much better place by now.
I thoroughly enjoyed today’s ride from Hausen am Albis, my place of residence high over the city of Zug down to the lake, along its shore to Arth and finally all the way around the lake and – yes – back up the hill again. At its altitude of 611 meters (2’005 ft) some might consider it a mountain J (in Switzerland a mountain only starts at the elevation of 1’000 meters = 3’281 ft).
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SONNTÄGLICHE VELO ROUTINE
Meine Ma und Tante haben vor langer Zeit eine Sonntag-morgendliche Fahrrad-Tour-Tradition eingeführt. Ich habe keine Ahnung, wann sie diese starteten, aber ich erinnere mich, dass ich irgendwann – als ich meine Teenager-Jahre und meine Zwanziger, das Alter bekannt dafür „ausschlafen zu müssen, weil ich Samstagnacht zu stark gefeiert hatte“ – erwachsen genug war, um meinen Hintern rechtzeitig aus dem Bett zu hieven und mit ihnen die frühen Morgenstunden so manch eines friedlichen Sonntagmorgens zu geniessen. Und ich kann euch sagen: Es hat sich jedes einzelne Mal gelohnt.
So bin ich am heutigen Sonntag schon früh raus aus den Federn, da wir zu meiner – anderen – Tante zeitig zum Frühstück auftauchen sollten. Sie hatte uns eingeladen und wir stimmten gerne zu, pünktlich um 8:30 Uhr bei ihr auf der Matte zu stehen. Diese Tante, Maria, besuchte mich zusammen mit meiner Ma und ihrer Freundin im Mai 2015. Letztes Jahr dann machte sie eine sehr schwierige Zeit durch und so war es uns ein Vergnügen, ihre Einladung anzunehmen und zu sehen, dass es ihr heute schon viel besser geht.
Meine heute Radtour von Hausen am Albis, meinem Wohnort hoch über der Stadt Zug, runter an den See, entlang seines Ufers nach Arth und schliesslich ganz um den See herum und – genau – dann wieder den Hügel rauf. Mit seiner Höhenlage von 611 m.ü.M. würden manche schon sagen, ich lebe auf einem Berg J Die wissen aber wahrscheinlich nicht, dass bei uns in der Schweiz Berge erst ab einer Erhebung von 1‘000 m.ü.M. als solche gelten.
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