A little guide on how to mentally travel by creating your individual culinary experience at home!

We, travellers and foodies, are all facing a tuff reality: It got more complicated to travel after Covid19 time. But hey, why don’t we use this opportunity to challenge our creativity by spending more valuable time at home? Let’s experiment more in the kitchen and bring to our tables joyful culinary moments we collected on our travels. This little personal guide shall inspire you to create cosy travel moments at home!

Choose your favourite corner at home and decorate it with herbs & flowers that remind you of your holiday!

The spot that makes my mind wander most at home is my balcony! I decorated it with fresh herbs like basil and Moroccan mint and some lovely lavender! When it comes to spoiling myself with food I start with using special pottery to arrange my dishes! My latest shopping was at Coop where I found the perfect turquoise blue plates that remind me of Bali or Greece!

Create a playlist with all of your favourite songs collected!

Here you can find mine! I put together songs I listen to during my long flights or just while relaxing at the beach. Once back home I play it while I stand in the kitchen preparing my holiday delicacies!

Spoil your palate with a recipe that reminds you of a memorable food & travel experience

A recipe I really love is the Tuna in Coconut crust with edamame. It brings me somewhere between Greece and Israel!

Ingredients for the tuna:

• A piece of fresh tuna, about 150- 200 grams
• 1 tablespoon grated coconut
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 200 grams of edamame

Preparation steps tuna:

Mix the olive oil and soy sauce, put the tuna in the soy sauce, and wet it from both sides. Use another bowl, mix the sesame oil with the coconut flakes. Now put the tuna in the coconut mixture and after pan fry it for 2 min each side. Take the tuna from the pan and cut it into slices. Optional: put some lemon juice or extra virgin olive oil on the top of the tuna slices.

For the edamame:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pods in it (previously washed in clear water) for about 5 to 6 minutes at medium heat. You can defrost precooked but still frozen edamame in this way, which reduces the cooking time for them by about 2 minutes. Then pour them into a sieve and let them cool down a little before serving. Sprinkle with some sea salt.

My personal highlight: Discovering the most charming and sustainable Hotel in Switzerland in Arosa

Welcome to the hidden gem Arosa is located in the region of Graubünden in Switzerland about 2 h train ride from Zurich. This blog story shares with you a travel experience suitable for a weekend trip or week holiday in the Swiss Alps. No matter if you choose to travel in summer, autumn or winter, Arosa offers outdoor activities and the best culture or wellness all year round. Get more on the destination here.
I had my friend Annasole with me for the weekend and guess what, it’s the perfect spot to just relax your soul and have fun together in the snow!

Why choose 4* Valsana Hotel & Appartements for your trip

The interior design is characterised by the eccentric designer Carlo Rampazzi and makes it easy for every guest to feel at home either in the “living room” area, at the restaurant, on the beautiful outdoor terrace and especially in the hotel room. The warm colours of the furniture and materials used with their partly natural shapes create a mix of alpine and oriental home atmosphere. In the decoration, nostalgic elements catch the eye: absolutely play a song on the vintage turntable with some vinyl of Frank Sinatra!

Every room has different interiors: My favorite one is the sofa a colorful vibrant flower imprint.

The 115-year-old hotel was completely demolished in 2015 and reopened in December 2017 as a new three-part, modern hotel with 40 spacious rooms and junior suites and 9 apartments. The hotel belongs to the Tschuggen Hotel Group and has been renovated with a budget of ca. 50 Mio. Why so much you think? Because the owner’s approach was to create innovative and avant-garde surroundings was to support a clear conscience for every visitor!

Guests are given the opportunity to offset the emissions generated by their journeys! Several sustainable projects in cooperation with myclimate are available, check them out!

The food concept at Valsana is clean, healthy and where ever possible regional and local, this is why for example you find only European wines on the menu and meat from free-range animals or certified fishing operations. The SPA features different fair cosmetic brands, just to name some of their environment-friendly projects!

Accommodation

Find 40 double rooms and junior suites between 33 and 52 m2 and 9 apartments with hotel service between 79 and 86 m2. In Winter double rooms are available from CHF 357 incl. breakfast buffet per day, in summer from CHF 227 incl. breakfast buffet per day. Appartements start at CHF 557 for 2 person /day (winter) and in summer at CHF 427 for 2 person /day. Book your room here.

Wellness, Gym, Yoga & SPA

Enjoy your Yoga lesson in the morning held by Instructor Julian or a guided snowshoe hiking adventure or just some relaxation in the 800 square meters of their wellness oasis. There is a pool facing the majestic alps, a steam bath, and saunas. I absolutely recommend also their massages after a fun afternoon in the snow! If time permits, book a personal training from the program R1: The “Athlete of Life” offer, conceived in cooperation with the Munich R1 Sports Club, not only builds on strength training, but also pursues a holistic approach to work-life and energy balance, mindfulness, nutrition, and exercise! Get a full picture of all of their Sports & Spa services here.

Restaurant & Drinks

The hotel restaurant TWIST is a casual way to enjoy healthy food. The cuisine designed by Chef Marco Campanella is particularly versatile and offers something for gourmets, fans of vegetarian and vegan cuisine as well as conscious gourmets. Find mostly regional products for example the salmon Lostallo from the company Swiss Lachs. I absolutely recommend sharing plates, as this is the best way to taste a bit of everything from their menu. My absolute favourite dish was the barley risotto with mushrooms, dried tomatoes, leek, and basil.
Enjoy a drink at the bar where you can find a variety of Swiss spirits including extraordinary Gins!

Why does using the latest technological innovations minimize the hotel’s impact on the environment!

What happens in the cellar of the hotel is something I’ve never seen before! The entire Valsana complex is heated using geothermal probes and by capturing and reusing waste heat from other appliances that are ordinarily lost to the surroundings. This waste heat is stored in a large tank or ice battery, essentially a large water tank housing a 400m pipe register of 1.5 m high pipes.  Hotel Valsana is probably the greenest hotel in Switzerland.

Thanks to its energy concept, it uses virtually no fossil fuels.

Want to know more about this fantastic concept: get it here!

A warm thank you goes to all of the Valsana Staff that is incredibly hearty and always helpful; and to Stephanie and Michael Lehnort and Rahel Rohner, the PR Manager that made this press trip possible.

www.valsana.ch

Address: Valsana Hotel & Appartements, Oberseepromenade 2, 7050 Arosa, Phone: +41 81 378 63 63, info@valsana.ch

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