Yesterday, Friday was (again) another pretty wet day. Shane took off in the morning hoping to conquer the mountain......he got half-way before, wet and cold, he took the gondola back to the bottom and walked home for a hot shower....
After he dried off, we headed out in the car towards Bern, where we discovered yet another shopping centre that had a kids club! Being Switzerland the price was over double that of Austria and Germany...but still cheap enough for us to not think twice about leaving the kids there - plus they were DESPERATE to go to another kids club. I think they are missing school and daycare more than we realised!
So the kids had a turn in the kids club (slides, toys, painting, games....all things kids love) while Shane and I wandered aimlessly (but oh so quietly) though the shopping centre.
By the time we got home it was mid afternoon and still pretty wet - but a quick walk into the village (via the playground and the pub) and we were snuggled back in the chalet for the evening.Walking back from the pub...
Today the skies looked pretty clear. So after a lazy morning we wandered into the village for a coffee/hot chocolate. Shane and I were eaves-dropping on 4 young American guys who were trying to decide whether to do paragliding off the top of the mountain or a bungee jump. To their credit, they decided on the paragliding (honestly - you can bungee jump into a river anywhere....but you can't float among the Swiss alps anywhere else!)....
Hot chocolate through a straw....now that's different.....
After grabbing some 'supplies' (ever conscious of the fact that nothing is open on Sundays)....we wandered back to the chalet and then walked a bit further down the river to the 'cow festival'. It is the 100 year anniversary of the cow festival in Lauterbrunnen so this was a pretty big deal in the village. The cows had paraded through the town earlier in the morning (obviously we weren't on the ball for that one).......but they were now lined up in a paddock down the road (next to the tourist helicopter paddock) being judged.
One of the helicopters coming in to land....the cows for the cow festival are just to the left.....
I 'think' these goats were the second prize in the cow festival 'raffle'.....first prize (naturally) was a baby cow (calf).....we didn't buy tickets just in case we won.....
The cows lined up for judging. Now sure the backdrop wasn't the Vienna town hall.....but I think this is probably more spectacular!
A local "Bernese" mountain dog...
This was one of the bells given to a prize winning cow.....
It wasn't a huge festival by any stretch of the imagination......but there were lots of locals there and we truly felt very honoured to be a part of it all....
After leaving the festival we walked back along the river to our chalet, had some lunch and then set out in the car to explore another village, Grindelwald.
A rainbow at the bottom of the waterfall....
Our chalet bathed in sunshine....glorious.....
Grindelwald is a bigger village than Lauterbrunnen. It's on the other side of the mountain but still has fabulous views of the snow-capped mountains. Everytime I think of Grindelwald (or the name at least), I think of National Lampoons Vacation with the Griswalds - similar name perhaps?!?
Looking from Gindelwald down into the nearby valley.
Eloise trying out a new hat/hairstyle.....what do you think? A bit Bart Simpson?
The main street in Grindlewald
We managed to see some alphorn blowers......looks pretty difficult to me.....not sure I have the lungs for it.
We also went into a local chocolate/heaven shop......the smell was amazing....as was the chocolate!!!!
One of the biggest Toblerones I have seen.....4.5kg of chocolate bliss...!
After visiting Grindelwald we headed back to the chalet.....and just in time for the end of the cow festival and the 'parade of champions' through the streets of the village. Shane and I heard the bells before we realised what was going on....but we all ran down to the end of the street to watch the cows walk past.....
The locals (dressed in traditional dress) leading the winning cows down the street
The winning cows with the biggest bells I have ever seen and SUCH pretty headwear!!!!!
More cows.....the noise of the bells was quite deafening....have attached a video of it to give you some idea of the sound of all the bells
The Bernese mountain dogs pulling a puppy....
They are very good to balance the flowers while having such a huge bell around their neck!! Shane googled why Swiss cows have bells.......one of the answers he found was ...."Because their horns weren't loud enough".....love it!!!!
Check out the sounds of the bells....
Once the cows went past, we walked back to say hello to the sheep that graze in the paddock beside the chalet....and also see a few of the other cow winners that didn't manage to get into the parade.
The friendly locals.....
Must be difficult to eat with the 'hat' and the bell......
Eloise practising her balancing skills.....
Once again, a great day and once again - we found a festival that was so important to the local people and we felt very lucky to experience a part of it.
Tomorrow is our last 'full' day in Lauterbrunnen. Hopefully the weather holds up and we can do a short hike through the mountains. Shane is already talking of coming here for xmas and said he could easily live here forever....although when we looked in the local real estate and realised that a relatively small chalet apartment here costs above 1 million dollars!!!
