As titled, the Cows Come Down to the Town. It has a poetic symmetry to it, doesn't it? It started with a distant rumbling, clanging noise. Cows! We dashed outside just as they arrived and I missed the start. Darn! I photographed what I could then went inside. Then we heard bells again. This time we made it to be there for the front runners. What a sight. The families in their white smock tops led the cows who had their heads decorated in flowers and greenery. Around their necks they had huge bells so you can imagine the noise of a hundred or so cows clomping their way through the streets. Throughout the herd were families separating their own herds from the others. It was such a wonderful sight that you would not see anywhere ... read more

Yesterday was a travel day to the Glarus region from the Berner Oberland. We took the scenic route to Lucern via Meirengen to avoid trains full of tourists going to Bern or Zurich. It was a wise decision and we had the most perfect Swiss scenery along the lake of Brienz, up over the Hasliberg Pass, past lakes Lungern and Sarnen and through to Lucern. The lakes were beautifully aqua and towns along the way basked in sunlight and clear blue skies. It was chocolate box scenery. From Lucern we took a train via a high broad plateau in parts and onto Pfaffikon on the lake of Lucern where we changed trains to take us up the Glarus valley to Haetzingen just beyond Glarus town. The further up the valley you go, the broader the valley ... read more

A note: "Higher, stronger, faster" is the Olympic Motto. And seen on a poster: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not the winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well" (Pierre de Coubertin) "And shopping is not an Olympic Event" The weather has changed and it has been a cold, blustery day. After all the hiking in the mountains over the past few days it was time for a break and to go somewhere less elevated and warmer. We figured to go to the other side of the Alps where the weather was fine but cold. Our Swiss Travel Pass allows us to go anywhere in Switzerland so we set off to visit the Olympic Museum in Lausanne which we'd visited many years ago but was ... read more

Of course, since Grindelwald has been our old stomping ground for years, we should at least pay a visit or two. The problem is, it's changed a lot over the years and is now a tourism mecca, meaning that it is teeming with tourists to visit the many popular places. It is a stunning place but it was so much nicer before it became overrun. The good thing is, it is not difficult to quickly get out of the busy places and still not miss out on the beauty. On arriving in Grindelwald, the train spewed out a myriad of black heads of predominantly Asians, so it is still popular with them but there weren't the large numbers of Indians and Arabs as seen at other times. The more popular the place becomes, the more they ... read more

I opted not to write up a blog for yesterday as it was a travelling day from St Gallen to Interlaken and then to settle into our apartment and buy food. The apartment is up to standard and in a quiet location but not with the views we've been used to from previous trips. After a chat to the family at home, we headed off to Interlaken Ost to get the train to Lauterbrunnen. What a circus! Tourists everywhere and standing room only in the train. And we thought coming later in the year would downsize the tourist population. I guess there are some places in Switzerland which are an absolute magnet and this is one of them. On reflection, in perfect weather, why wouldn't people want to go up the Jungfrau or Schilthorn? However, we ... read more