Septmeber 17, 2011
In Switzerland, they take the cows up to the Alps for the summer. In the fall, they bring them back down. In many places they have a festival for this. I went to one in Urnash. It is very traditional. The men bringing the cows down are in traditional dress. The townsfolk give them drinks of wine or Apenzeller on the way down.
Some even bring goats down. The goats are brought down by the children. The best cows have the biggest bells. These bells can be worth thousands of dollars and are many times handed down through generations.
I walked a few kilometers with the cows and the Alplers laughed at me for this. It takes 4 or 5 hours to bring the cows down. The first cows reached town at 9:30 AM. This is an early morning. It also isn't easy to bring the cows down. They fight, they try to run (which could cause a stampeed), they go in other farmers fields, and sometimes they even go into random barns (see photo below). Every time they get out of line, the farmers beat them with sticks or grab them by the horns to stop them. This is so funny!
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