Switzerland 2018: Day 13

We woke up early today and went out to breakfast.  We went to a little café in Lauterbrunnen and had interesting waffles.  Mine was bacon, waffle, egg, banana and maple syrup (all on the waffle), Jeff had waffle, ham, egg, hummus and cheese.  It was delicious and we just fed Wren from our plates. 

We took the lift up to Grutschalp and then hiked to Winteregg.  The mountains were covered in fog and clouds but every once in a while they would peak though.  The path was flat and easy.  There was a fantastic playground at Winteregg and we stopped for a 30 minute play break. 

We started hiking towards Murrin and were almost there when we saw what we are calling the “cow parade”.  Every fall the cows are taken from the upper pastures to the lower ones and they are decorated and they are walked down the mountain paths to Lauterbrunnen.  We just accidentally were on the right path at the right time to witness this cool thing that happens only twice a year (once going up, in spring, and once going down, in fall).  It started as a strange sound.  It didn’t sound like the train and it didn’t sound like the normal cow grazing noise, it was too loud and too deep. We just kept walking and it kept getting louder.  Next thing there was a huge procession and we were trying to stay out of the way. 

It started with a large cart filled with huge wheels of cheese and the kids who were too small to walk down (including a baby in a bassinet).  The cart was decorated in flowers.  Next came the cows.  Some had HUGE bells on them (way bigger than I’ve seen when they are grazing), and they were decorated with flowers and little hats that looked like decorated Christmas trees.  Some had garlands across their backs.  They all just kept walking and clanging by.  It was really cool.  The cows were dairy cows so they were super friendly which was a little problematic since we were sharing the path with them and there was no barrier between us and them and they didn’t understand personal bubbles.  They got a little closer than Wren was comfortable with and Jeff said he got a pretty good nudge.  It was really special and we feel super lucky to have gotten to have seen it. 

Kids on the cheese cart.  There is also the baby bassinet that is decorated with sunflowers.

If you only watch one video of the blog, this is the one to watch.  The "cow parade" is awesome.  You can see Jeff's head keep getting in the picture as he gets nudged by the cows.

These people were right behind the cheese cart and they were in front of the cows.  

This is the HUGE ceremonial cow bell.

These guys were grazing and waiting for there turn to start the walk down the mountain.  They had on their fancy head trees.

So fun to see the cows just hanging out while decorated.  Decoration a cow just cracks me up!

Apparently, every region in Switzerland does something similar where they decorate the grazing animals and have some sort of a festival when taking them from high to low pastures.  It is called Alpsfahrt and according to a website that we looked at it has been taking place in Europe for around 3000 years.  Pretty cool.

Once we were passed by the cows, we headed through town and then back up the Funicular and to the flower park.  Wren was super hungry so we got lunch.  Jeff and I got and shared perch and venison.  The venison was one of the best meals since we have been in Switzerland, I hated to share, lol.

The good news is the clouds all burned off and it cleared up and we could see the mountains.  The bad news it it was really sunny and there isn’t much shade in the play area so we made a makeshift tent with our picnic blanket.  This gave Flynt a nice shady place to roll around and be out of the pack while Wren played.  We were there for a long time before taking the funicular back to Murrin and then the cable car to Gimmelwald and Stechelberg. 

Lunch with the alps on one side and the play ground behind us.

 

The Alps are "so big".

Wren bringing the zip line up and a view of the playground.

Zip line fun.

Our makeshift shade and Flynt in his hexigon.

My kids are so cute!

If you look to the right of the peak there are two para gliders floating around.  Many people ride the lifts up and the float down. 

This is what the funicular looked like

Out the front window of the funicular at the town below

At Stechelberg, there was a little bit of a cheese festival where there were lots of people selling cheese in little tents and there was a polka band.  I wish we weren’t leaving the country so soon or I wish customs would let us bring cheese home.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t buy a wheel of cheese to take home with us (I really wanted a ridiculously large wheel of cheese!!!). 

The paragliders were landing in the field right by where the festival was.

Perfect landing.

The band.

One last alps picture...

We had an amazing lunch and cooperative kids after a long day (Wren’s longest day of hiking all trip) so we hit the easy button and did take-away pizza from across the river (it was a 3 minute walk for Jeff and he also grabbed wine and chocolate). 

It was a wonderful and amazing day and I’m so happy we had this wonderful time in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland.  

Tomorrow we are off to Zurich.  Packing time!