Summer in the Swiss Alps (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
Visiting mountain tops via gondola, biking between fields of flowers, camping in the rain, braaiing for dinner, cow poo, kid tantrums and navigating living room obstacle courses - it's all happening.
It can be a lovely time in the Swiss Alps, the summer.
Or so I’ve been told.
You see, if you have children (the proverbial, as we have only one), winter is much easier activity wise: skiing, sledding, snowball fights.
Rinse and repeat.
In summer it’s a bit more challenging, funnily enough, as the choices are so varied (another win for simplicity in winter).
And besides, all children love winters with snow, as it literally transforms the outdoors into a giant playground for kids.
Yes, the dressing part is more challenging with all the layers needed, especially with boys (like ours) who always seem to think it’s a great idea to head out into -10°C temperatures almost naked.
Heck, I still think it’s a fun idea!
Moms?
Not so much.
(Fair enough, as they have to deal with the runny noses later on).
But I digress!
Summer is what I would like to talk about this week.
The Good:
There are actually a lot of good things about summer in the Swiss Alps, despite my opening remarks.
We have:
warm temperatures
long daylight hours (sunrise at 5:30am and sunset at 10pm)
hiking trails
biking trails
public swimming pools
lakes and mountain streams
And more
We’ve been enjoying the easy access to get higher up via gondola the last while.
Visiting the same places we ski in winter, but this time around in summer, for some great views and short walks.
But mostly for the children’s play areas and animals, to be honest.
Which the Swiss are brilliant at.
Two great places to visit in this regard around where we live are the Wispile (Gstaad, opening image), and the Rinderberg (Zweisimmen, image below).
Then there’s the hiking and biking.
For example we often bike the 5km from our house to the village of Lenk, or hike (not so often, most recently at La Videmanette), see images below.
So, all in all, many good things about summer in the Swiss Alps.
The Bad:
I don’t like to be negative.
Which is also why I don’t have any images of the bad side (I’ll try harder!).
However, there are a few aspects which no one really mentions that have a slightly less pleasing impact on life in the warmer months here.
Manure spraying:
Mostly an interesting issue if you live in the mountains (where we do), where there is lots of cow farming. During various intervals in the summer, farmers will spray liquid cow manure - collected in winter when the cows are in the shed for months - on their fields as a natural fertiliser.
Nothing wrong with that.
Except farming here is not separated from the villages.
Everything is intertwined.
So you get the smell wafting in the air all day (and fine particles if your house is right next to a field).
The aroma also seeps into washed clothes hanging outside to dry, as well as all curtains and furniture in the house if you forgot your windows open before leaving for work / heading out for the day.
The flies and wasps:
This is partly due to the manure spraying, as well as the natural life cycle of the bloody pests. Sometimes it’s impossible to sit outside and enjoy dinner on a beautiful summer evening due to the overwhelming amount of flies.
Again, Swiss Alps problems.
If you're living in the lowlands, not so much.
Wasps come and go, seems to be very ad hoc.
Lots, and I mean lots, of rain:
This summer particularly.
But then again, that’s just nature topping up the lakes and streams we enjoy so much to swim in.
It does impact the quality of life with a busy five year old, though.
Especially if it rains for a week straight.
I mean, there are only so many games you can play inside the house that don’t involve breaking the place down, am I right?
(Girl parents, I’m not talking to you)
We experienced a bit of that rain on our recent camping trip to Annecy in France (on the French side of the Alps), see images below.
The Ugly:
Nothing visual, really.
It’s the Swiss Alps, after all!
However, as a family it’s been a bit of a tough summer (see my winter bit up top, plus read below).
As kids grow, our son in this case, they have to find their own way in life.
Which can be scary.
Mostly for the parents.
But for us this time period has been full of new challenges, with our son having a tough time adapting to kindergarten life (his very shy in public places if we’re not there).
And finding it hard not seeing his parents more often (we both work, so he gets to exhaust his grand parents who look after him regularly, which can strain relationships).
It takes a village, as they say.
Sometimes things feel like they’re getting ugly.
He has also grown into some very adorable, but highly impractical habits.
When he builds up a track for his cars, for instance, it’s not allowed to be moved.
For months.
We tried and gave up.
Realising it’s easier to tiptoe over and around it rather than fighting daily about it needing to be tidied up.
Once you have the layout committed to memory, it’s not so hard to navigate the living room - even in pitch black darkness - I have to admit. On the plus side, when we did recently manage to convince him to tidy up, we could’t believe how big the living room felt!
Anyway, at least I still get to commute by bike to work (when it’s not raining), often over the Rüwlispas.
Well, I think that about does it.
Hope this small window (good and not) into our life during summer in the Swiss Alps has been interesting.
Oh yes, before I forget, if you’re ever in the region check out the local public pools, for yourself and for kids - it’s an absolute paradise!
Our favorites are Zweisimmen, Gstaad and Lenk.
That’s it for this newsletter, let’s jump into the new week!
Any questions or interesting stories or thoughts to add?
Simply hit reply and let me know / comment below (so we can all benefit).
Have a great week!
PS - buy me a whiskey, I need it at this point in summer :)
PPS - I’ve had a few comments (good and bad) about my handlebar bag, it’s from Route Werks.
—
Until next time ✌🏽.
Cornelius
Last week’s newsletter:
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Well it's all relative right? I mean I live in the Netherlands, the Alps are like a playground to me, I love being in the mountains (in the summer). But if you're there all year round it might look different :-) Good to know about the pools, maybe next year we have to book a holiday in Switzerland, mountains for me, pool for the kids 🤔
But some things are no different: we also have to navigate all kinds of wooden and/or LEGO train tracks across .. well, basically the whole living room, kitchen and work area :-) That image you shared is very relatable ;-) But we like how inventive the kids can be, so it's good for them.
Love your story! X