City walking

Stephen Fry mentioned that a key to his weight loss and fitness gain in 2009 was walking around cities. I took the tip to heart again in 2014 and applied it to my daily routine. Walking from my office around a variety of city streets before returning to the office is a good way to put aside the complexities of my work for a short time. It’s especially good exercise in winter, when low temperatures stop me from over-heating and when snow in the mountains makes regular weekend hiking less easy.

Bern is particularly good for lunchtime walks of up to an hour. There are a wide range of routes available to me from my office, whether through the neighbouring residential streets, into the historic old city (a UNESCO World Heritage site), or along the river Aare. The river sits some 50 metres below the district where I work, so a walk down to the river and back up again is god training for leg muscles.

Although my main focus is on fitness and keeping my walking speed up – so that I’ll be fit for this year’s hiking season – I take photos from time to time. Here are a selected few from some of my more regular routes – there are plenty more in this album at Flickr.