Nebelmeer: The fog that drives the Swiss to the mountains
Switzerland's weekend mountain ritual
Why do the Swiss regularly abandon foggy cities for the mountains? That’s the question we get into in this episode. Beyond this beloved autumn and winter weekend pastime, we take a look at your messages, our latest poll results, Swiss bytes, and we even pack in a fresh “Learning Swiss German” segment.
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Send your feedback, questions, or voice messages to hello@swissandchips.com.
Notes on this episode of Swiss and Chips: Your British Guide to Switzerland
00:00 - Intro
01:34 - Listener messages
Find us on Instagram (Swiss and Chips, Jo, Simon) or Bluesky Jo and Simon
07:54 - Why do Swiss locals go to the mountains when the weather is gray
Apfelfunk (a Swiss and German podcast about Apple)
13:15 - Listener poll: For how long would you travel to see the sun?
15:32 - Swiss bytes:
Swiss Podcasts in English from Swissinfo
17:20 - Learning Swiss German: “Rumpelsurig”
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I agree that many of the Swiss coins are annoyingly similar (especially if you are trying to quickly pick coins out of a wallet at the checkout whilst a line behinds up behind you). The 2 CHF and 5 CHF coins are great, the 5 CHF could also double as a defensive weapon if you get mugged, but the 1 CHF and 20 Rappon are also easy to mix up. I spent my first few years in Switzerland building up a jar full of small change that I couldn't bring myself to bother using (eventually it all got dumped in the automatic counting machine at a bank). Though to be fair it isn't so much of a problem these days now that you can pay for almost everything with card or TWINT. I just keep a few of the bigger coins in my wallet for when I come across the odd farmshop or cafe which is cash only.
I live at the southern feet of the Jura which is a fog hotspot so we are often still in the grey whilst people in Bern are sunbathing (or colleagues from Bern complain that they had clear skies there when they set off from home in the morning). We can at least quickly get up to above 1000m on the Balmberg or Weissenstein which is usually enough to break through and enjoy some sun without having to go far.
There is also a certain beauty to the fog, especially the way light plays in it at night when the fog is really thick and low. Though it certainly can get a bit depressing if it hangs around for days on end.
The funny thing is how many Swiss people comment or joke that I should be used to the fog coming from the UK. Maybe it is true for some parts of the UK (or they are thinking of the great smog), but I hardly saw it at all until I moved to Switzerland.