Swiss Cows and Smurf Mushrooms

Andi and I went to Flueeli today to watch the cows come down from the mountains. It was fantastic even though we didn't get to see the whole things. This is when the farmers dress up their cows with big flowery hats and their biggest, fanciest bells and walk them down from the tops of the mountains to the lower valleys for winter. I was laughing when I saw some of the "Aelpler" (the ones walking the cows) dressed in traditional folk costumes and textingon their cell phones. One cow decided she would rather walk on the sidewalk and came walking straight toward Andi and I. I tookthis great opportunity to take some pictures and Andi wisely pulled me out of the way before I became part of the show. I had a great time!

After seeing the cows, we went up hiking with Andi's grandpa in the mountains while he went to collect mushrooms. He's 87 years old and can easily out-hike any of us. We found lots of blueberries (there aren't any bears to compete with here) and it was a perfect day. On our way home, Andi spotted some red and white mushrooms along the side of the road! I'd never seen them before and was so excited. You can't eat them of course, but they make great pictures! I hope we can go hiking in the high mountains again soon.

It's one of my favorite places. I'm especially excited to go snow-shoeing there this winter. Yay for mountains!