My Top Ten Swiss Experiences of 2022
I’m late with this one. Embarrassingly late. An entire season late.
It’s so late, I thought about skipping it this year. Who writes a 2022 year-end summary in March 2023? But as I was scrolling through my yearly posts for 2019, 2020, and 2021, I remembered how much I enjoyed writing my reflection of the past year. I knew I couldn’t let laziness get the best of me.
But it’s also too late to waste time with a long winding introduction, so let’s jump right in. Here we are, with my 10 favorite Swiss experiences of 2022.
Winter in the Engadin
Raunaq and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a long weekend in Pontresina. Pontresina is in a part of Switzerland called the Engadin, a long high Alpine valley in the eastern Swiss Alps. We’ve been to this same area in the autumn, which, given that the Engadin has sprawling forests of golden larches and thus awash in a spectrum of fall colors, was an absolute delight. But winter was, I dare say, even prettier? Some places really have all the luck!
We snowshoed up around Muottas Muragl, a summit that has some of the best views of the Upper Engadin. Raunaq attempted cross-country skate-style, which resulted in one of my most-viewed Instagram videos (we still call his cross-country alter ego Cousin Wilhem). And we took the Bernina Express train all the way past the Morterasch Glacier and Diavolezza to the top of the Bernina pass, for the most unforgettable day of snowshoeing to date.
Raunaq and I don’t often spend long weekends in Switzerland - so when we do, it’s just a real treat.
P.S. We stayed at Hotel Rotasch in Pontresina, and would definitely stay again. It had a gorgeous sauna and a delicious included breakfast, two things that are now my European hotel non-negotiables. And I was only slightly judged for ordering more than one cup of coffee.
2. Running the Zürich 10k
I hike a lot - but I had never considered myself a “runner.” I was a really fast sprinter in my teens and early twenties, a speed that I inherited from my mother (thanks, mom!). But I never really did any type of endurance-based running. Sure, maybe I could sprint 100 meters, but running a few miles? Eh, not interested.
But I started running during the pandemic. Thanks in part to the multitude of running paths throughout the city, and in part to the fact that well, everything else was closed, I slowly eased myself into the world of outdoor running. I remember feeling so stuck and so helpless in those early lockdown days, but when I was running, it felt like a way to move forward again. After all, running, at its essence, is simply the physical motion of putting one foot in front of the other.
I started viewing running as an incredible privilege. I have legs to carry me, a heart that is pumping, lungs that can deeply breathe in and out, clean air those lungs can breathe. Instead of telling myself that I should run, I started thinking, “I get to run.” I get to run. I started to love it. So on a whim, I signed up for the Zürich 10k City Run. Even though I was more comfortable with running, 10 kilometers was still an intimidating length for me. And on that Sunday in April, it was the longest I’d ever run. The 10k was a personal accomplishment, to be sure, and I was riding that runner’s high for days after.
But moreover, it was a reminder of the power of a shared experience. I loved being out there with everyone else, everyone else with their own personal stories and motivations and challenges and “why’s” for signing up to run. We each found a reason that resonated with us, and let it carry us forward, one step at a time, no matter how long it took, to the finish. Being a part of that collective achievement and joy - that was the most invigorating part of my runner’s high.
My friend ran the half-marathon, so hours before my 10k, I went to cheer her on at the finish line. And if you’ve never been at the finish line of a race before, I’m telling you, it’s an incredibly inspiring and emotional experience, even as a bystander. 10 out of 10 would recommend watching the Zürich 2023 race. And maybe even wave to me, because this year, I’m running my first half-marathon!
3. Birthday celebrations
I’ve never really been into big birthday celebrations for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I like celebrating my birthday! But for the last decade, I’ve observed this passage of time by taking a trip with Raunaq, or hiking, maybe going out for a small dinner with friends. A big birthday party, with the focus being all on me, was not my idea of fun. Quite the contrary. For a long time, the concept of having a birthday party shuddered my introverted soul.
But this year, I was convinced - not even that begrudgingly - to have a get-together for my 36th year. “Let’s just go down to the lake, something that you would do anyway with friends on a warm Sunday. We don’t have to sing, there doesn’t have to be cake, it can be just a low-key picnic. It will just also happen to be your birthday.” The reasoning seemed sound enough. And so I conceded. And it was awesome.
May 14 fell on the first really warm (hot, even!) weekend in spring. We went to our local park. My friends brought their friends, friends of friends, families, kids, whoever. The spread of blankets slowly grew in all directions as the day went on, everyone went for their first lake swims of the year, there was rosé and music and we stayed until after dark, just barely getting home before a summer-style thunderstorm rolled in. The whole day is a core memory for me.
It was core not just because it was a great day, which it was! It’s a core memory because I realized that it might have taken almost five years, but I had built a little community for myself here. And that realization was a pretty great birthday present to receive.
4. All of 2022 summer hiking
The 2022 Swiss hiking season will go down in history as one of the very best. It’s second only to our first summer in Switzerland (nothing can really beat those first few months!).
I think the Swiss weather gods felt really bad about the monsoon-esque 2021 summer they dealt us, so they made it up to us this year with an unseasonably hot and dry five months. Not great for the planet, but definitely perfect for a season of hiking adventures.
My first proper mountain hike was the 3rd weekend in May, and with just a few exceptions, we hiked every weekend of summer. While there were absolutely no bad hikes in the bunch, here are a few standouts: Höhenweg Maderanertal (pictured above), Val Frisal, Val D’Herens, Leglerhütte, St. Jakob to Rugghubelhütte, and Gastlosen (pictured in order below). All of our hikes are also written up here.
But I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who enjoyed summer 2022 more than Raunaq. He took a three-month sabbatical, which he dubbed the #summerofraunaq, and while I was a teensy, tiny, little, itsy bit jealous - watching him take full advantage of his time and have a truly epic Swiss summer made me really happy. His summer was so good, I even ceded some real estate of my blog to him so he could write it up. Raunaq posted about some of his hiking adventures here, if you fancy a read.
5. Romanticizing daily Zürich life
I’m a big fan of this “romanticize your life” concept. It’s the art of noticing the little things, of making even the most mundane, normal, moments of the day feel special and unique. It’s become a welcome practice in my daily life.
So this summer, romanticizing my Zürich life looked like this: Taking the ferry instead of the tram, even though it made the journey a little longer, because we live in a city where the ferry is also a form of public transport. Watching a movie at the outdoor lakeside cinema for the 4th summer in a row (and wonder of all wonders, for the first time, it did not rain on us). Getting up with the sun and opening every single window in our apartment. Treating myself to a morning coffee and swim at Badi Enge. Sitting by the lake and waiting for the 10pm moonrise. Finding an excuse to walk the Schanzengrabenpromenade whenever I ran errands downtown, and dipping my feet in the water on the hottest days. Taking out my headphones every so often on the tram, and just listening to the chatter of different languages.
I’ve found it to be especially important since I started working 100% remotely. Now I spend the majority of my workday alone inside my apartment. On those days, I could be in any city in the world. But I am here, in Zürich, a city that I love! Taking these little steps to romanticize Züri life helps remind me why.
6. Season ski rentals
On October 1st, Raunaq and I joined the crowds at Ski Rental Zuri to do something that, a few years ago, would have been unimaginable: rent skis for the entire season! That’s right. No more time would be wasted on organizing a daily rental, no sir. We had our very own pairs of cross-country skis for seven months, and we had big plans to use them! I envisioned going to the Einsiedeln and Bolzberg tracks before work on the weekdays, and on the weekends, alternating one day of cross-country, one day of snowshoeing. We were gonna langlauf ‘till we dropped!
A warm December didn’t damper my optimism. I felt certain the snow would arrive, and we’d have an epic winter season in 2023 (narrator: The snow did not arrive. It was not epic.). So even though I’m writing this now, in March 2023, knowing full well we only got to use these skis a handful of times the whole season - I’m including it in this roundup because the sheer anticipation of it all in 2022 was still a favorite.
And we did manage to squeeze in two cross-country days in 2022. In December, we booked a last-minute weekend in Lenzerheide. Only a fraction of the trails were open (which meant we had to battle for space on the beginner route with some very seasoned experts), but it was still great to be in the mountains. And we still felt like two very hardcore langläufer traveling on the train and arriving at the hotel carrying our very own skis and boots.
P.S. We stayed at Hotel Lenzerhorn, which was just a few minutes walk from the cross-country trails. And while the breakfast wasn’t that impressive, the sauna area was LEGIT.
7. Sauna life
Speaking of sauna - this year was the year that I fully embraced the naked sauna. I didn’t just survive, I thrived. My motto: No textiles, no problem.
I wrote about my first time in a nude sauna (or, in Switzerland, simply a sauna) here. That was back in 2019, and honestly, it took a couple more years for me to get truly comfortable with the concept. Especially if it was a co-ed sauna. Hi, awkward American, party of one.
But now, I can’t really imagine wearing a swimsuit. I will often gravitate towards women-only spaces if they are available, but overall, mixed gender or not, I’m textile-free all the way. It’s more comfortable, more hygienic, more freeing, and yes, now that I’m used to it, more relaxing.
Insider tip: Locally, I love going to the seasonal sauna at Badi Enge (called Sauna am See), which has direct access to Lake Zürich. Because instead of cooling down with a stint in an icy Finnish shower, you can just jump in the freezing lake in the nude. Which is an exhilarating Zürich experience in itself! My ultimate sauna bucket list is to visit while it is snowing in the city.
8. The Dolomites
I’m cheating a little bit, because this isn’t truly a Swiss experience. But my blog, my rules, right?
In mid-September, I was coming off of a long trip to the US. It was a whirlwind five weeks consisting of 8 flights, 3 birthdays, 2 weddings, and 1 work retreat. I got to spend lots of quality time with both my family and my friends, and even though I was bouncing back and forth all over the West Coast, it was such a great trip home. But as anyone who lives far away knows, trips like these can be both emotionally fulfilling, and emotionally tough. The time is short, and the constant goodbyes are exhausting. When my family or friends say goodbye to me, they are saying goodbye to one person. But I am saying goodbye to multiple people, multiple relationships, sometimes all at once. As the kids say: “You feel all the feels.” By the end of my trip, I was both physically and emotionally depleted, and in serious need of a recharge. The introvert in me was craving some quieter time in the mountains, and the homesick homebody in me needed a reminder as to why we lived so dang far away from all the people we love. Enter: 10 days of hiking in the Dolomites.
And I don’t even know where to begin with describing the Dolomites. The Dolomites (also known as Sud Tyrol) are a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, and they are extraordinary in every sense of the word.
We planned our entire itinerary using Moon Honey Travel’s excellent hiking blog, and spent nearly two weeks exploring the mountains around Braies, Val Gardena, Santa Magdalena and Tre Cimi. It’s always a bit of a gamble hiking later in the season, but we got lucky with a pretty good weather window and went on jaw-dropping after jaw-dropping hikes. The landscape was dramatic and varied and achingly beautiful. It felt completely different from hiking in the Swiss Alps, and Raunaq and I couldn’t get enough. Best of all, one mountain range looked eerily similar to Mount Doom (Cadini di Misurina), so I got to act out all my favorite LoTR scenes.
Hiking the Dolomites wasn’t just an outdoor extravaganza, it was also a cultural and culinary one. In the area we were in, German and Ladin are more commonly spoken than Italian. The food is a mix of Austro-Hungarian and Italian, both mountain-hut hearty and freshly flavorful, and it is seriously delicious, My favorite dishes were knodel (huge farm-style dumplings the size of tennis balls), mezzelune (kind of like a ravioli, but somehow different from a ravioli), pizza from Pizzeria Hans (a restaurant with a name that embodies the unique Germanic influences on the food here), and the simplest, most delicious pasta I’ve had this decade (the first bite of the spaghetti algio e olio at Baita Daniel Hütte is a top 5 memorable bite). It’s a truly enchanting region at every turn. Given that some parts of the Dolomites are a relatively easy drive from Zürich (these European drive times still blow my mind sometimes), we’re already scheming some potential long-weekend trips.
My one quibble with the Dolomites?! What is up with the measly Italian hut breakfasts? These mountain huts serve incredible 3-course meals for dinner, and then the next morning, it’s one stale roll and a tiny packet of Nutella. Poor R was the recipient of some HANGRY venting sessions.
9. Joining a climbing gym
I had a really strong climbing practice and community in San Francisco. It was my favorite hobby, and a big piece of my life there. But when we moved to Zürich, I didn’t fall into a new routine right away. I tried climbing in a few gyms in the city, but they didn’t really “click.” I didn’t have any friends to climb with, I didn’t understand the European climbing grades or system, everything felt cold and completely unfamiliar. I missed my old gym, my old climbing partners, and after a few hesitant tries, I felt too discouraged to go anymore. Years passed, and I thought that I had lost that piece of me for good.
I guess I wasn’t fully ready to let it all go, though - because after a 4-year hiatus, I am back! I can’t entirely pin it on one reason why I finally tried again, but the universe must have decided that the time was right. I cleaned the cobwebs off my climbing shoes, bought a new bag of chalk, and signed up for a yearly gym pass at Gaswerk Wadenswil. My bouldering skills are so very rusty, and I’m so very out of climbing shape…but damn, does it feel so very right to be back on these walls again. I didn’t realize how much I missed that part of me, but I’m so happy it’s back.
10. Driving
Swiss experience number 10 is more like a Swiss accomplishment: I finally started driving this year!
Like many Americans, I got my driver’s license on my 16th birthday. I’ve been driving the whole of my adult life. I have no problem driving in the US. I’ll barrel down the highway in a huge SUV that feels like it’s 10 feet off the ground, no sweat.
I also have a Swiss driver’s license. Fun fact: When we moved to Switzerland, we had 12 months to exchange our foreign licenses for Swiss licenses. No drivers ed, no road tests, no language certification required. I just had to walk down to my neighborhood DMV (which was quite literally over a river and through the woods) and fill out a few forms, and two weeks later I got my official license in the mail. At least on paper, I am completely road legal.
We also happen to have a car.
But, for a long time, I was too scared to actually drive here. It wasn’t a logical fear. Swiss roads and Swiss drivers are arguably safer than US roads and drivers. But there were also lots of new things I was unfamiliar with: roundabout intersections, and trams, and kph instead of mph, and speed radars, and German traffic announcements, and groups of tiny little children crossing the street in bright little vests. The thought of driving here made me incredibly anxious, and I had no desire to actually do so. After all, Raunaq loved to drive, and I don’t mind being a passenger princess. But a little voice inside my head kept nagging me. It bugged me that I was scared to do this normal thing.
For over a year, that little voice kept on nagging. But I didn’t do anything about it I found a new climbing gym (see #9). I realized that while it would take me close to an hour to get there on public transit (thus making it pretty unlikely I would go), it was a simple 15-minute drive. Enough with this fear, I finally thought. I’m driving! And I did. Roundabouts, trams, German traffic announcements and all. I’m still not entirely comfortable in the way I am in the States, but I’m getting there. Every time I get in the driver’s seat, I feel a little less anxious. And I have to say, now I can handle a roundabout like a champ.
Sometimes, I think our life in Switzerland is portrayed like we are on a never-ending vacation. And while it’s true that we love living here, and lots of things are great, and yes, the Swiss landscape really does look like a freaking fairytale, it’s not true that it is always easy living. Life outside of your native country never is. The simplest things, like throwing away trash and grocery shopping, feel complicated. And the hard things? The things that are already hard in your native country? Dealing with doctors and health insurance, battling landlords, getting audited, fixing apartment water damage, finding a job, and, if you are like me, even driving. These things can feel impossible. Every time you manage one of those things is a small accomplishment, worthy of recognition - even if it doesn’t feel like it.
So to close out this list, here’s my reminder to you all: Celebrate the big victories, of course. But celebrate the little ones, too.
It is always hard to narrow this list to 10, so as always, here are my honorable mentions:
Hiking through the larch forests of Arolla and Val D’Herens (above).
Watching Switzerland beat Serbia in the World Cup. Hopp Schwiiz!!
Dinner and a show at Herzbaracke, the little blue floating theater that docks at Bellevue a few times a year.
Becoming an unofficial food influencer for the month of December, and taking myself on a Christmas market food tour.
Finally acquiring our very own fondue pot. Another Swiss level unlocked! (Don’t ask us if we’ve used it yet, though…)
If you’ve read my earlier “top experience” lists, you might think that post feels different than the others. And it is. This list contains less “unique Swiss experiences,” and more “moments of personal joy and achievement that just happened to occur while in Switzerland.”
My first thought after re-reading was: Huh, the novelty of living here must be wearing off. That’s true, to some extent. We are approaching five years of Swiss life. This is the longest time I’ve lived in the same apartment - ever! Zürich is a familiar city. I know that no matter how warm and springy it feels in early March, it will absolutely snow in April. I’m a Swiss university alumna. We spontaneously run into friends on the street, and - humble brag alert - I’ve even gotten recognized a few times by some Instagram followers.
Of course, there is still lots of newness to experience! But at the end of the day, I feel settled here. It’s become comfortable. A home.
Amid this familiarity, last year I looked for other ways to push myself out of my comfort zone. I looked inward, mostly. There was lots of growing, and with that, growing pains. It wasn’t an easy year, but reflecting back on it, that personal growth is something I’m most proud of.
And now, on to 2023!
