Almabtreib

Apparently, the cows graze high up in the Alps in the summer, then they are brought down to lower pastures in the fall. We heard about this from a couple that we met at a party. It sounded fun, so we gave it a try. It was great! We drove down to Bavaria Friday night. Our plan was to drive about an hour and 45 minutes into Austria. We were about an hour into the ride when we rounded a corner and started up a mountain, only to hear some clanging and traffic. (Mind you, we are on a 2 lane, fairly narrow road, right on the side of the mountain with only a barrier between us and down below.) So, we round this bend, and holy cow (literally!!), we see them coming down the mountain! I had to quickly do a 11 point turn and we raced down the mountain to the nearest village, found a parking spot and parked ourselves on the side of the street. There they came...the cows...down the mountain, dressed in their finery! They had what looked like Christmas garland and flowers on their head and cowbells bigger than Henry's head, around their necks! Then we walked into town center to find a fest. Lederhosen and dirndls galore! There was dancing and food and beer. The staples of any good German fest.

The next day, we headed to the Garmisch stadium, where the 1934 Olympics were held. Despite the numerous times we have been to this area, this was the first time we saw the stadium. We even managed to see a few skiers training on the jump. Pretty cool. Here the guys and I are posing as skiers. Well, H is a snowboarder, he says.

It was a great trip, except for Owen getting sick. He was a little under the weather (I'll save you the gory details) in the morning, but turned into a wildman by mid afternoon. It was a gloriously warm, sunny weekend, and we had a wonderful time. Nothing like a vacation to soothe the soul!



Enjoy the pictures.