In Switzerland, bringing down the cows from the higher pastures to the lower ones in the fall calls for a celebration. I do like cows and all the wonderful things they produce so I thought I’d check it out. The first one I tried to go to was in Liechtenstein, the ridiculously tiny country not at all far from where I live, but we found out when we got there it had been canceled because the cows were too ill to walk all the way down the mountain, and had to be carried in trucks instead! Tragic. I did get to see the castle in Vaduz, but it wasn’t that exciting as someone (the prince!) lives there so you can’t get very close. Anyway, take two in Flims, where I would like to go on record saying that the cows were LATE to their own party. Yes, Swiss cows, with no concept of punctuality. It was a pretty cool sight to see, the long line of hundreds of cows on the path, coming down from the mountain through the mist. Also interesting to watch were the herding guys who looked big and burly to me but were no match for the cows who threw them around like rag dolls. I also learned several methods for getting cows to move, should I ever need to move a cow. Oh! Also last month I went whitewater kayaking in this gorge (known as the grand canyon of Switzerland) around the same area which was really fun in a life-threatening type of way. I didn’t get any pics on the water but here’s where it was.
Acting silly on the lakeshore in Laax
Handily a train runs in the valley so you can kayak down one way and take the train back! Special car for kayaks!
Anyway, the cows…
Alphorn players summoning the cows
Flowers to be adorned on the cows
The first of the cows!
Still more on their way
Excellent lederhosen
Fog starting to clear as the last of the cows come down
Cows in the foggy meadow
Concert for the cows
Cow herders at work
The tail-pulling method
Out-of-control cow
Very angry cow
The pull-by-the-nostrils method
Ready for adornment
Happy cows?
