Each spring all through the Alps, the Swiss celebrate the cows heading up into the high mountains to graze on fresh grass in the warmth of the alpine summer. Then, each Fall, they celebrate again as their beloved cows descend back to the low country as the wind starts to blow and the snow of winter starts to accumulate at higher altitudes. Some mountain villages have cow parades, with the bovine beauties marching in decorated hats, costumes, and of course--huge bells. The Swiss make a pretty big deal out of this custom, so we decided to check out one of these festivals in the scenic town of Elm, a ski town nestled at the base of some breathtaking mountains. At this particular festival, the farmers also bring down the huge wheels of alpine cheese that were made during summer, and they cut the large wheels to trade with each other and sell. We arrived in Elm to a big crowd of people. Although none of us are particularly fond of crowds, we are all (well the adult half of us) fond of a cold beer on a Sunday afternoon…so we indulged in some Swiss traditional food and some brews while waiting for the big "cow parade". We tried Raclette, a dish of potatoes with melted cheese and sour pickles, Rösti, which is a fried potato dish (the Swiss version of a hashbrown), and of course we had some Wursts (sausages!). Pretty heavy eating in these mountain towns (we skipped the cheese fondue and still had leftover cheese and potatoes from the 2 dishes we ordered to split between 6.5 people...Grandpa Mike and Grandma Sue were in tow)! With our bellies satisfied, we headed toward town to find a spot along the parade route that was rapidly lining up with people. Our anticipation started to build as more and more people flocked to the road. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day…and the cows were (gasp) late to their parade! Now, in the US, we are used to things occasionally running late. But here, in the county of time-keeping pride, nothing ever happens late. The trains run to-the-minute on time. Same with the ferries, buses, and trams. Swiss people are always very punctual. There is a clock on every church tower we've seen. Apparently, it is only the Swiss cows who don't abide by the Swiss time table! So…after waiting a little over an hour for the cows, we started to hear their bells ringing in the distance. By this time, we are so excited we just know we are in for a real Swiss treat to have waited this long, with this many Swiss people…and here they come…with their crazy flower hats and their huge bells hanging down almost touching the ground…people are snapping pictures and clapping. And in the time it takes me to snap a handful of pics of these classy cattle, and a few of the boys watching these dressed up bessies in disbelief, it's over. Yep. After the buildup we had, we were expecting a parade of hundreds of cows. I think we saw 15. It was hilarious. We waited for a few minutes, thinking that maybe the rest were coming…but witnessing the makeshift parking lot our car was in turn into a huge line forming to leave, we realized we better get on our way. It took us close to 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot. All of that waiting for a 2 minute parade. Chalk it up to another Swiss learning experience!
