I think I said this before, but I don’t mind repeating myself… One of the best things about living in Switzerland is that nature is always close. You don’t need to take the car or the train to enjoy a nice walk or hike. I live in a place called “the forest corner”, so you can imagine how far that forest is from my door… A 5 minutes walk from home and I’m already in an enchanted forest. I just love it!
Last weekend I didn’t have a plan. For once, I didn’t wake up super early to go to a remote place (well, in Switzerland nothing is really that far 🙂 ). But the day was cloudy and I did want to walk a bit. So I decided to visit Uetliberg, Zurich’s highest mountain. Its summit is not far from my place, just 1 hour walking. I love this mountain and I don’t visit it as often as I would like. I have already posted some photos from Uetliberg before, because it is really beautiful (you can see some winter photos of this mountain here and here, and also during autumn). As you can see, Uetliberg is a place were you can go and always discover something new. The light, the colors, there’s always something there that catches my attention! And even if this is a very famous place to walk near the city, I always find it a very peaceful place. It’s easy to find a trail where there’s nobody and enjoy the relaxing views! And there’s more… Apart from the two restaurants located at the summit and along the Planetenweg (the most famous trail in Uetliberg that goes along the top of the Albis chain of mountains), there is a farm along the way where I love to buy fresh eggs and honey 🙂
Here are some photos from my walk in Uetliberg last week. As I said above, the day was cloudy and cold, and when I reached the top of the mountain, the clouds where so low that it was more like walking in the fog. I really like the mix of autumn colors and foggy landscapes. There’s a very special atmosphere those days, very ethereal and almost mystical. And the feeling increases in a forest! Walking and photographing this kind of landscape always help me to find calmness and ease my mind. Can you think on a better plan for a weekend?










How lucky you are to have such beauty so close. We have to travel about an hour to be in the forest. And, you’ve captured it so well. I’m not going to complain though. One hour from the forest, two hours from the ocean. We just have to be willing to drive!
Thanks a mil, Anne!!! Yes, I’m so lucky!! I can’t complain… it feels so nice to have the forest just around the corner! But it’s true, I don’t go as often as I would like… mostly because in this part of Switzerland there are a lot of ticks…. And I’m scared of them!!! So when the warm temperatures arrive we go higher in the mountains, where there are no insects (or at least, different ones that cann’t carry dangerous illness with them!! hehehe)… But on the other hand, I don’t have the sea close…. I don’t miss it so much… Well, maybe when I see stunning photos of lighthouses, hehehe. But I’m happy with my mountains and I feel really lucky for being so close to them!!
Those autumn colors are so rich! Your corner of Switzerland wins this autumn contest :)) And that wild pig looks so sweet, how did you manage to keep him so quiet? 🙂
Thanks a mil Marina!! Yep, autumn in Switzerland has been amazing!!! Even if I didn’t go out as much as I would have like, the landscapes I’ve seen this year were so colorful!! 😊 I was thinking that I’m going to miss this season, but Christmas is almost here, and the snow… so I won’t have time to get bored 😜
The little piglet wasn’t wild!!! There’s a farm in Uetliberg where I like to go and buy fresh eggs and honey… when I went there last week, there were new born piglets and calves!! So cute and tiny!! I had to take pictures, even if they couldn’t stop moving all the time 😂😂😂 (and yes, with all these cows, cute little animals and so on, Switzerland is making me consider to go vegetarian…)
But it looks like you still took some amazing pics! And since I kinda missed on this autumn amaziness this year, being busy, I will enjoy more of it through your images :))
Ohh, interesting conclusion. With all the meat culture in Switzerland (at least, what I can judge after Germany and Austria) going vegetarian would be like… stop drinking wine in Spain. No? I learnt that Austrians are world champions in grilling, and if the Swiss have fondue – going on as vegetarian must be a hard social move, hehe. I am joking around, but maybe it is truly so. What do you think?
Being serious for once, I am not 100% vegetarian, but luckily I don’t like meat – so I try to choose fish instead. Kinda works for me. And then, when there is time for jamon, I am kinda on both sides. Not self-proclaimed vegetarian, so I don’t have to prove my point, hehe.
I’ll try to post some more autumn photos then, so you can enjoy some of the color of these days! 🙂
Uuummm, I think that actually it’s probably easier here to become vegetarian (not vegan, I’m not that radical…. or I love milk and cheese too much to give them up!!). Sure there’s also a meat culture, but meat is so so expensive here that I’m already eating way less meat that I used to when I was living in Ireland or Sweden, not to mention Spain…. hahaha And as far as I know, meat culture here is mostly sausages, cordon blue and schnitzel! Well, they have a lot of cured meat too…. But I think that Swiss normally eat healthier, a lot of veggies and fruit, pasta, and so on… it’s way cheaper and better, right? hahha. I heard stories about Swiss people going to France and Germany to buy cheap meat… so you can imagine how expensive it is here
But yes…. I have two cattle farms in my town, with the most cute cows… they’re for meat. I almost cried when I read in one of the farm’s website that you know the name of the cow you’re eating… It made me really sad!!! I couldn’t do that! And seeing these animals everyday makes me reconsider my food options… vegetarian doesn’t sound as bad, I hardly eat meat now, and you can still eat dairy and eggs 🙂 Vegan would be too radical for me! Hehehe
Uff, that is a good motivation to choose less meat – money seem always to do that job. When it’s expensive, you get creative with your choices :))
Uh oh, I would not like to know the name and face of my food. That reminded me of a friend whose boyfriend was from the village in Ukraine and the family would sit and eat the marinated meat and guess: “Is it Vasya or Kolya? No, definitely Vasya, he was harder” – they had goats which turned into their food. Village people have this strange relationship – caring with love for animals and then eating them without second thought. Oh no no, that’s why I prefer fish, it is less personal :))
Yep, I know about the village traditions… A few years ago I went to Mogarraz, a little village in Salamanca, Spain… There there was a pig walking free around the village… huge pig, super fat!! Aparently all villagers feed the pig and at the end of the season the pig is killed and all the village share its meat and everything… (you know, in Spain all parts of the pig are edible… or almost all of them, there’s little waste!)… I found it horrible!!! I know I’d be a terrible farmer, I couldn’t have an animal since it’s little and then have it at my plate sooner or later, hahaha…
Switzerland is definitely changing my life… having a farm so close, almost saying hello to the cows everyday… it makes me think about what I eat… I love to see the milk cows grazing in the Alps all summer long. I wish all of them could live like that! So vegetarianism could be an option!! Hahaha (also, I used to have two aquariums at home when I was little… I loved my fishes… I even got to think that the fish 3 secs memory it’s only a myth, I could swear the little animals recognized me!! Hahaha… So many things to thing about in regards of food options!!!)
Uff, that pig story… I should admit, Spaniards have a special relationship with their animals. What with corrida de torros and other amusements.
It is sweet that you get this neighbor feeling with those cows. Let them produce cheese – and the rest we can live without))
I totally agree with you… Spaniards have a special relationship with animals… Even pets!! You wouldn’t believe how many dogs you can find in any road in summer… I guess living in other countries has also opened my eyes to these things!! On one hand, I am happy with that, but on the other, I feel so upset when I see these things happening in my own country….
In conclusion: yep, a life with vegetables, fruits, eggs and Swiss milk/cheese and chocolate doesn’t sound that bad, does it? 🙂
Yeah, I have heard some stories about pets in Spain (and throwing a donkey down from the church tower), and it seems like the people there have still to learn a lot. Well well, those in other countries have been through it too.
Yess, as long as you give me cheese and chocolate, I would never mention meat :)))
All these things are something cultural, I guess. It always amazes me how they say in Spain that you shouldn’t abandon you pet and all these things (that I agree with, of course) but then, when you have an animal, you can’t do anything with it… I mean, for me, my dog was almost a sister!! But you cannot take it anywhere, all are obstacles and difficulties once you own a pet… Here in Switzerland you see dogs and cats in the tram, bus, train… swimming in the lake with people around… in shops (not supermarket, but all the rest) and restaurants… hotels… It’s like they make easy to have a pet in your family and your life! I adore that!!!
And yes, I live in the country with the best alternatives for meat, don’t you think so? 😛
I guess, the Spaniards are still learning all these things. While Switzerland has learnt and moved further. But, surely, in Spain people know some other secrets of living, why would all those tourists go there to enjoy life? :))
Mmm, I forgot the Swiss chocolate for a while… Sure, if you sum it to the cheese, they are far better alternatives for meat. Lucky you :))
Those autumn colors are so rich! Your corner of Switzerland wins this autumn contest :)) And that wild pig looks so sweet, how did you manage to keep him so quiet? 🙂
Autumn is such a special season, so pretty! And oh, that piglet!!! 💕❤️💕
Thanks a lot, S! It’s been one of the prettiest autumns I’ve ever seen!! But it’s over… now it’s freezing!! And instead of snow we have a perpetual fog… But it’s ok! I’m already imaging Christmas foggy photos and I can’t be more excited with the idea!! Hehehe
Uuummm the piglets were super funny to photograph!! They were a lot of them, all super tiny compared with their mothers, and very curious all of them! I couldn’t take a lot of pictures because they were fascinated with the camera, and they didn’t stop trying to smell and eat it, hahaha. And there were new born calves too… Oh, having these farms so close to home is super nice! I love this new concept in my life, buying food from the very source!!
Buying food from the source sounds excellent, wish we could all do that! Skip the factories, processing and packaging
Well, for me is a totally new thing!! And I love it… Every time we go hiking in the mountains (well, in summer), we find remote farms where you can buy local cheese, or what they call Alpine cheese… and not only there… I just live at the outskirts of Zurich, and there are still a few farms here where you can buy honey, apples, fresh milk, potatoes…. I think it’s super nice to see how they produce the food! And it’s a bit cheaper than the supermarket!! Natural and healthy food from the very source… The closest thing you can find in Spain are the village/town markets, but it’s not the same… And I never heard of it in Sweden or Ireland… How about Finland? Do you have anything like these farms there?
Nope, we don’t have anything like that here either! Wish we did!