May 2025

Preamble

With each passing weekend, I kept telling myself, “OK, now it’s time to blog,” but it’s been a series of very busy weekends—ranging from moving apartment to cross-continental road trips. It’s been a hectic month, but a good one. Spring is truly here. I’ve had my first swim in Lake Zug (which was rather fresh, I must say), and a high of 26ºC was reached. On the flip side, overnight temperatures have still dropped to as low as 2ºC, and it’s been raining these past few days, with highs of just 11ºC. So yes, it’s truly spring. Flowers and trees are blossoming everywhere.

It’s also been a month of fitness. I’ve tweaked my weightlifting routine slightly to focus more on flexibility than pure strength. I’ve also woven daily 60–75-minute high-intensity hikes into my routine where possible. It’s made a big difference to my cardiovascular performance—and helped shed a little body fat, too.

Local Hiking

Most recently, we hiked from central Zug southeastwards, originally heading for a place called Ägerisee, on the far side of Mt. Zug. Instead, we inadvertently ended up hiking up Mt. Wildspitz (1,580 m elevation). We took the bus back to Zug and arrived home just in time to avoid the incoming rain—and devour a pizza. I suspect we looked rather amusing to the seasoned hikers on the trail, as we had accidentally entered a proper mountain path that typically requires some equipment. I was wearing my adidas Gazelle gym shoes, which have zero tread and a thin sole. Amateurs.

The Wildspitz is the highest summit of the Rossberg, a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Zug and Schwyz. Reaching a height of 1,580 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit in the canton of Zug.

The Wildspitz is surrounded by three lakes: Lake Zug, Lake Lauerz, and Lake Ägeri.

The view from the peak is breathtaking.

Ljubljana & Bled (Slovenia)

Another weekend, we drove—technically, I drove—from Zug to Ljubljana to visit friends visiting from Japan. The drive itself was fantastic, taking around 8–9 hours through some beautiful landscapes.

The city of Ljubljana had Italian vibes, smaller crowds, and was truly picturesque. Heartily recommended as a travel destination—our hearts were completely won over. Everyone we encountered in shops and restaurants was incredibly friendly. Such a lovely day!

Apparently, the German name for the city is Laibach. It was founded by the Romans in 34 BC.

The next morning, we set off northwards towards Bled. We aimed to return to Switzerland via the north-east rather than the south, which meant a route through Austria.

Bled was quite something—a stunning mountain lake town, and it just so happened to be hosting the annual Accordion Festival.

That’ll do it for May. On to June. On to bigger and better things.

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