In September I started to post pictures on Facebook to share. Eventually, I figured out how to make and post to a blog. Here are the posts I made in October to Facebook. En Guete!
Fritag 1.10.10: Urnasher VechSchau (cont). Great fan fare. The hand carved and painted butter buckets, as well as the ornate cow bells, are special and shown off to all in a special display once the parade is over.
Samstag 2.10.10 Zugerberg mit Christine und Reto: Christine and Reto led us on a great bike ride from Christine's Wohnung in Baar. The views of Zug, Zugersee, and Rigi (on the right), and the Alps were stunning. Fiona came along. I towed her in the kindervelokart, that is now referred to as the ‘elternhundmobileundMannexerciser.” Old dog mobile and Husband Exerciser.
Sonntag 3.10.10 Springen Fest: So I got a ‘bike pass’ this morning, which mean Ruth said go for a bike ride. It was going to be a beautiful day and I still hadn’t climbed a mountain pass. I took a train to Fluenen, near the base of Klausen Pass and started the 1600 meter ascent. I got in a zone, but the sound of cow bells and stopped traffic ahead caught my attention. Alpabzug!? I had not heard anything about this – a nice surprise ahead, I thought. I raced past the stopped cars, saw hordes of people, hopped off the bike, and ran up some stairs to get a view. Wow, not only was there a cow parade, but there were Alpen horns, a rock throwing contest, beer garden, flag throwers, and cow-bell carriers. It was a real party going on! I stay and watched for 20 minutes and then continued up the pass. I took 90 pictures that day, every one was stunning. Funny thing is I didn’t know the name of the event, so back at out apartment, I got the town’s website thinking it would be described there. The only event that day was an ‘altmetalsummlung’ = scrap metal collection. This festival wasn’t even special enough to make the town website… maybe they do it every weekend?
Monday 4.10.10: Continued from Sonntag…. I bonked. So, I climbed 1600 meters on the bike (Klausenpass) yesterday, eating only cheese and a granola bar. My stomach revolted, my pace slowed and I was still 40km from home. It was 6pm on a Sunday - the only things open were 40$ a plate restaurants and it was going to be dark in an hour. What do you do when this happens in Switzerland? You hop on a train. Ding Ding Ding . . I heard the crossing guards come down and booked it to the train station ahead. I put my bike in the train's handy bike rack and sat down. One connection, 100 minutes later and I was two minutes from home. Picture: Me cresting Klausenpass pre-bonk.
Tuesday 5.10.10: Controversy? On the news, I couldn't understand it all, but this calendar was the feature and there was some discussion on the merit of it contents. This was Ruth’s favorite; yes he is pouring milk on himself in a barn. All the photo were Swiss working men; loggers, a lineman, farm mechanic, sheep herders. The female version had women posing with a hen, goat, cow and bales of hay. Only in Schweiz?
Wednesday 6.10.10: Fun Fountain. I get a feeling there will be more posts about Swiss fountains. They are functional (especially to one who forgets to bring water) creative and communal. This one along a quiet road ~10km from home is one of my favorites. D-
Thursday 7.10.10: Alpkäse. If you travel any Swiss mountain road this time of year, you are likely to see plenty of hand-painted ‘Aplkäse Verkaufen’ (Mountain Cheese for sale) signs. The blend of sweet alpen grass and flowers as food for the cows produces different tasting milk and cheese than milk from cows of the lowlands. Every summer a separate cottage industry is created to process the milch gathered from the cows that were moved to high elevations. It seems like everyone is selling their own Alpkäse this time of year (just after the cows leave the alpine and the cheese has had time to form). This 1-4 month-old cheese is soft, creamy, and flavorful. The Aged or Altalpkäse is found in the fancy cheese shops and sell for about 35 Francs or more per kilo. The Muller family in this photo sold their two types of cheeses for 17 Francs per kilo. It was heavenly, my only problem was a 3-hour bike ride still ahead of me.
Friday 8.10.10: The anatomy of fountains. Wow, I am constantly amazed by the variety of fountains. I thought I would point out some of the common features of the most utilitarian fountains. The Spout - raises above the pool, with a narrow orifice, perfect for filling bottles. The high basin –used to be called the clean basin- was meant for humans. The low pool is better suited height-wise for your cow, horse, sheep, goats or dogs (right Fiona?). The metal cage above the pool and below the spout, allow you to rest and fill your pots with water. Having a basin full of water (at the ready) used to be very important in case there was a fire. Another thoughtful Swiss design!
Saturday 7.10.10: Appenzeller. This close-up of a farmer bringing his prized heifer to the annual Desalpe says a lot about the region. The bell, harness, and butter pale are all handcrafted. Cows, farms, and farmers are all celebrated as a cornerstone of the community.
Tuesday 10.10.10: Fehraltorf. I hurt my knee so no adventures for me this week.. Here is one of the churches in Fehraltorf. Church bells ring to help field workers know the time. The pattern is once every quarter hour and lots of times on the hour... and then like crazy before a service.
Wednesday 11.10.10: Dogs' world. After I saw the digs for dogs at Ikea, I realized that Fiona was better off than me. I had to walk through the Ikea maze just to get the towel and sheets we forgot the first time, while she had this nice little doghouse outside the store, complete with a mat of fake grass.
Thursday 12.10.10 Bike Path eatery/garden. This lovely rest stop was located on a popular bike route around the Greifensee. There was fresh Apple cider and water in the fridge... apples, pears and cheese were also available.
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