I went to Semiswald (a small Swiss town) at 7 a.m. and stayed until the cows came home

I really did.  I literally stayed until the cows came home.

It's called Traditional Alpabfahrt and it is the time in the middle of September that the cows which have been up in the alps eating alp grass all summer come down and return to their home farms.  Now this could happen without any fanfare, but traditions are important here.  Keeping reminded of what it is to be Swiss is important here.

In many towns during the past 2-3 days there has been a ceremonial parade of the cows through the town square in joyful return from the alps.  

The cows are dressed in their cow finest.   They have bells around their necks which are 10-20 times larger than the regular bells they wear. The cows don't really care for the heavy bells, but they are proud to be Swiss cows and therefore they understand the importance of the flowers in their hair and the dress-up bells.

On my journey that early morning, once I got outside of the city and out of the morning rush hour, I was often the only person riding in my car on the train.  If any other passenger was around, I checked with them to see if I was on the right train going the right way--even though I had followed all my directions to a "T".  (Ya just don't want to miss an opportunity because you got on the wrong train.)

Anyways, on the last train of my journey, I asked the only other person in my compartment "Do you speak English?"  She answered the same answer I hear all the time, "Not very well."  To which I always respond in Swiss German, "Y veschtoh echli Suisser deutsch." (I understand Swiss German a little bit.)  That made her laugh and, to my delight, she moved her belongings over to my area to sit with me and talk with me.

She was a charming older lady, born and raised in the area.  She was excited for me to come and watch this ceremonial tradition in her town and offered to walk me from the train station to the middle of town, since the bus wouldn't be running yet, due to the early hour. She was returning from a visit with her grandchildren for two days while their parents took a short vacation.  She lived all alone since her husband died six years ago.

That gentle and kind former grammar school teacher led me up this hill and into the Semiswald city square where crowds had already gathered for the bovine parade home.  She even sat with me for the first farm's returning cows and explained that the local ladies' clubs had made the flower headpieces the cows were wearing. They had come to her house to collect any blossoms that she could donate toward the event. She said she picked off all the flowers that she had and gave them to the ladies.

What a delightful woman and I never would have found the city square on my own for it was a two-mile walk up a very steep hill.  I would have had to wait until the bus started running to be able to get there on my own.  And almost every time when a Swiss person tells me that they don't speak English very well....they are often quite good at speaking English.  They are being modest.

It is the Swiss way, I am discovering.  Even though they are excellent at so many crafts or talents, they will be quite modest about it.  It is not their way to talk about their accomplishments--except in business.  They are quite happy to tell you how well their companies stand in rankings for successful businesses.  :)

I didn't get a picture of my momentary friend and I am sad about that.  It was a beautiful experience meeting her.


Sweet clanging street music

Back to the cows.

The cows and their herders have started the journey home several hours before in order to arrive around 9:30 a.m. for the gathered crowds.  They are grouped according to the farms that the cows belong to.  Sometimes the group of cows is small (10-15) and sometimes the group is large (20-30).  But they are all decked out in the ceremonial large bells and flowers. The herders also wear costumes that are coordinated to represent the individual farms.

When the cows finish the march through town, they go to a parking lot where all the trailers are waiting to transport them back to their home grazing place.  This is their least favorite part of the day.  

This friend was atypically calm.

The do not like to get in the trailers at all.  It often took 3-4 farmers to work together and get the reluctant cows (naked now with the bells and flowers removed) to walk up the small plank incline into the trailer.  I enjoyed that unofficial part of the show as my viewing point for the parade was right by the parking lot ending area.





Once loaded, a tractor or some type of truck drives the trailer and the cows home.

So I stayed until the cows came home.  :)

Then a local directed me to a eatery for lunch which was right up the street and a preferred spot for those living in the area.  When I went in, several tables already had "Reserved" signs on them, waiting for the regulars to come for lunch.  I sat down at one available table and watched the "tea room" (as it was called) fill up.  I had to chuckle as most of the patrons coming in were gray haired.  I thought I had found the Luby's Cafeteria of Switzerland.  lol

But the reserved tables were for the younger set who were working and when they got off work for their lunch break, they just walked in, sat down, and the waitress started bringing their drinks and opening salads before she took their orders--she knew what they were going to regularly have.  :)

I had a lovely fresh piece of fish with a home made tartar sauce.  It was very yummy and it had tiny bits of hard boiled egg in it.  I found that to be an unusual but tasty addition to the tartar sauce.

Of course I had to have my sweet desert and I chose a carmel custard which was very reminiscent of flan.  Nice.
 
It was a really great day.  I enjoyed feeling the heart and soul of Swiss tradition that day.  I could have repeated the experience in numerous towns within a 2-3 day span.

It was also fun to see the after-even cleanup.  Once all the farms had brought their cows home and the crowd had dispersed, out came the water truck with an elongated spraying aparatus on the front that sprayed water over a whole lane of the road at one time.  Washing off the remaining cow deposits so the road was sparkling and shining and "Swiss clean & pretty" once again.

Cow deposits....lol  Well said.  :)