It has been snowing down to the lower areas in Switzerland the past days: Winter finally arrived in my area. So I consider last weekend the ‘weekend before winter’, at least in a meteorological sense. And because it was a wonderful ‘inversion’ situation with fog below and sunny sky above, it is a good time to share a few impressions.
Nebelmeer
Winter is coming in Switzerland, so is the second COVID-19 wave :-(. Time to look back and to share a beautiful hike at the Lake Sils (Silsersee) in Switzerland I enjoyed back this summer.
Silsersee
There are so many mountains and lakes in Switzerland, probably impossible to visit them all. Something on my ‘bucket list’ for a long time was to get up to the Arnisee, and I finally did it.
Arnisee
The ‘Engelstock’ is located in the Canton Schwyz, Switzerland, with an elevation of 1287 m. A hike around it reveals stunning views to mountains and lakes.
It is the 4th week: Stores, school and universities are closed. Everyone should stay at home if possible. It is really a special situation, and there is no Easter traffic jam to the South.
For nature it means less pollution, there is much less traffic, and ideal to enjoy nature. But we should stay at home. I’m very happy that I live in a rural area and that I can enjoy this beautiful blooming tree behind the house.
Blooming Pear Tree
One week after the storm “Petra”, the new one named “Sabine” is approaching Switzerland. This winter is really special so far: nearly no snow, record high temperatures and it feels more like spring than winter…
It should be winter now?
The ‘Göscheneralp’ is a beautiful valley in the central part of Switzerland with an embankment dam building an artificial lake. The valley hosts several beautiful hikes and climbing routes. The area is the home of several SAC (Swiss Alpine Club) huts, including the Bergseehütte which is the topic of this hike.
Bergseehütte
With a heat wave rolling over Europe, a hike these days needs some careful planning. With outside temperatures in the 36-39°C range, I prefer something inside a forest. And for this, the hike around the Fallenflue was perfect.
Fallenflue Chänzeli
The ‘Internet of Things’ is coming! It started as an overused marketing hype with no real use case (who needs internet connected fridges? Who wants the internet connected toilet paper?).
New ‘things’ start to pop up, useful or not: From smart bulbs (Philips Hue), thermostats (Nest), smart TV (Samsung and others) up to voice assistants (Alexa, Cortana, Google). You might even have installed one of these, right? What about temperature and humidity sensors? Probably there is nothing wrong with that?
But what would you think if one morning you find a strange unknown device installed under your working desk, connected to the cloud and internet?
IoT Device attached under a working desk
I like the Crataegus or ‘Hawthorn’. The small white flowers of the white variant are not really spectacular alone, but together they build a beautiful ensemble:
Weissdorn (click to enlarge)
The Hawthorn provides food and shelter for many birds. And according to legends, they are associated with fairies.
Happy Flowering 🙂
