My November 2022: An autumn trip to Switzerland

With November’s arrival, it was time for my last overseas adventure of the year (Germany excluded… it’s just a ferry ride away for me!). My mum and I finally made it to Switzerland after three times of failing to get there during the Covid-19 crisis – and it was well worth the wait!

Destinations visited in November 2022

Denmark

• Lolland (Rødby, Rødbyhavn, Kramnitze, Glukse)
• Falster (Nykøbing Falster)
• East Jutland (Hov, Odder, Hørning)

Switzerland

• Lake Lucerne region (Vitznau, Weggis, Lucerne, Gätterli Pass, Brunnen, Seelisberg)
• Ticino region (Bellinzona, Lugano)
• Zürich region (Kilchberg, Zürich)
• Bernese Alps (Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald)
• Bern

Italy

• Campione d’Italia

Germany

• Rostock
• Warnemünde

Top 3 favourite new destinations

1. Bernese Alps, Switzerland
2. Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
3. Bellinzona, Switzerland

Daily life

Life on Lolland continued as usual. The last Fehmarn tunnel excavation came to an end, which we celebrated with cake from our boss. It’s an era that has ended – 10,5 years of excavations. I feel honored to have spent two years working on this project, and to be there for its very end.

I worked a few days at a preliminary excavation near Kramnitze where we didn’t find much, just a few pieces of worked flint during the first hour. On the second day, we didn’t find a single thing. Not even a worm. That was my last excavation for Museum Lolland-Falster – a bit of an anticlimax 😛

I spent the next few weeks working in a team of four, photographing well-preserved wooden artefacts from the many Stone Age excavations that took place before my time at the museum. It’s an interesting process to be part of, and I’m glad to at least have contributed a little to these amazing excavations.

At the farm, the dogs were sweet as ever, evenings were long and slow with blog writing, preparing for my move to Aberdeen and just enjoying and soaking up the last Lolland moments.

Towards the end of the month, I travelled home to East Jutland for a weekend with my family. Christmas lights were up all throughout my little hometown, creating the coziest atmosphere for all the small Christmas markets going on that weekend. I went for a 13 km run Saturday morning (my longest yet!) to get my favourite bread in the world at the bakery in the village of Saksild, then spent the morning and early afternoon doing a few chores, transferring pictures to my hard drive and Google Drive, and clearing out my bedroom a little. I also found time for a short walk through town to pick up a parcel and visit my dad and his friends playing krolf at the local park. I spent the evening with my mum and grandmother at my older brother’s place, looking after my darling niece and nephew. 

I had to return to Lolland already the following afternoon but made sure to get the most out of the Sunday with my family beforehand. My mum and I walked around to the different Christmas markets and I bought a few gifts for the children, and then my dad and I watched our favourite reality show together, Robinson Ekspeditionen. We’ve been watching it together for years, and in 2012, we even travelled to Malaysia to see the islands where it’s filmed!

Travels and local adventures

A beautiful mother/daugther trip to Switzerland

On November 5th, I met up with my mum in Copenhagen Airport and boarded a flight to Zürich, Switzerland. We’d booked a beautiful airbnb on the shore of Lake Lucerne in the central part of the country, and a tiny rental car to take us out and about. For eight days, we explored the gorgeous Alpine country, from its many lakes and high snow-capped mountains to its quaint villages and historic cities. It was a wonderful time, and I’m so happy to have shared every memory of it with my mum. This was our seventh annual mother/daughter trip!

We spent three of our days exploring the region around Lake Lucerne, arguably the prettiest lake in all of Switzerland. Our airbnb was located in the outskirts of the village of Vitznau, which offered a lovely trail through autumnal forests with wonderful views of the lake and its mountainous shores. We also spent a morning in the beautiful village of Weggis, an afternoon exploring the medieval city of Lucerne, an afternoon shopping and watching the sunset in Brunnen and half a day hiking in the forest of Seelisberg. We also went on a gruelling drive up to Gätterli Pass where we got a wonderful view of the mountains beyond the lake.

On the other days, we drove far and wide to explore as much of the country as possible. We spent a day in the Italian-speaking Ticino region, exploring the three medieval castles of Bellinzona, walking in the Italian exclave of Campione d’Italia (an Italian town entirely surrounded by Switzerland… so fascinating!), and enjoying a dinner in the cozy city of Lugano. On the only rainy day of our trip, we visited the Lindt Home of Chocolate museum for a tasty tour and spent the afternoon in Zürich, the city we enjoyed the least.

Our favourite day was spent in the Bernese Alps, perhaps the most scenic part of Switzerland, where we went on a steep hike from the village of Lauterbrunnen where a waterfall cascades over a cliff behind the village to the car-free village of Wengen, located high above the valley where Lauterbrunnen sits. It was incredibly scenic, and definitely my favourite activity on our entire trip. We ended the day with a sunset drive through the mountainous village of Grindelwald and a meal in a cozy Alpine restaurant. Our last day in Switzerland was spent in Bern, the nation’s quaint capital, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its incredibly well-preserved medieval city centre.

November turned out to be a wonderful time of year to travel to Switzerland. The weather was mild, sunny most days, and autumn foliage was at its best. The only thing that wasn’t great was the early nights, the sun setting around 5 PM – I would’ve loved more daylight hours to do more exploring! I am definitely not done with Switzerland after this trip, as there’s still a lot I want to see, including the Zermatt region, of course!

A wintry weekend in Rostock

Merely five days after returning home from Switzerland, I was off again, this time to Rostock for a weekend with my boyfriend. I’d been curious about Rostock for a while, as I always drive through it on the way to visit him in Berlin, and I’d never actually seen more than the bus station. We had little expectations of the city, but Rostock turned out to be a really cute and cozy city, perfect for a weekend getaway.

We stayed in a nice hostel in the city centre, and spent the entire Saturday exploring. We walked the cobbled streets of the city centre, visited its three churches, saw the view from above in a church tower, walked along the old moat with autumn leaves falling around us, and bought a few Christmas goodies at the Christmas market that was being set up. It was a cold day with minus degrees, so we often stopped for a hot drink in cozy cafés to get warm. In the afternoon, we caught the train to Warnemünde, a small city by the Baltic Sea with no less than three lighthouses and a gorgeous sandy beach. I always see this city from the ferry, so it was fun to finally explore it properly!

Sunday morning, we took another stroll through Rostock to say farewell to the city, and – rather symbolically – to our relationship, too. We agreed to go our separate ways after fourteen wonderfully chaotic months together, as it wasn’t working out because of the distance. My decision to move to Aberdeen in January was the final nail in the coffin. I was and still am sad, but I do believe it’s for the best, and thankfully, we’ve remained friends.

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Most popular Instagram picture

A wee selfie in the morning sunlight on Lolland!

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Coming up in December 2022

IT’S FINALLY CHRISTMAS!

My favourite month of the year is here, and I just can’t wait for all the coziness and family fun. December won’t be without tears though, because it’s also the month where I leave Lolland behind for good – in just thirteen days. I’m going to spend these last two weeks soaking up the special moments that made me love living here so much, cuddle lots and lots with the dogs and just enjoy the last bits of my life here.

On December 16th, I’ll wave goodbye to my life on Lolland, kiss the dogs a billion times, and head to Lübeck for a weekend of Christmas market fun with my family. I’ll return home to East Jutland with them for a few weeks of relaxation, long walks and Christmas coziness before I have to pack my life into a suitcase again for my new life in Aberdeen.