A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry about the flies at breakfast! Can't wait to hear about the cow trekking!

[disney_duke]

I guess they really want to get you in the mood for being one with the cow - so you get flies with your breakfast too!!
It looks so odd to see a cow with a saddle on. But in a really cute way! I imagine it's completely different from riding/leading a horse though. And in German too.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

I know I wouldn't have liked flicking flies away over breakfast and would have been just like you with no locks on the door, but Erma and Padrone are beautiful!

They are, aren't they?

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sorry about the flies at breakfast! Can't wait to hear about the cow trekking!

Coming up in the next instalment!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

I guess they really want to get you in the mood for being one with the cow - so you get flies with your breakfast too!!

It's strange you say that - have you read their website? It says something about being at one with the cow from memory...

It looks so odd to see a cow with a saddle on. But in a really cute way! I imagine it's completely different from riding/leading a horse though. And in German too.

Never having ridden a horse (I've ridden a donkey though! ) I wouldn't know. I thought it looked very cute and the girls both seemed fine with the whole thing.

[KMB733]

Sorry about the flies at breakfast. You look like you are in heaven petting that cow!!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by KMB733

Sorry about the flies at breakfast. You look like you are in heaven petting that cow!!

I really was! I've always wanted to get close up with cows and the ones in the field behind my parents were still a bit skittish about us. There was one we could pet, but she wasn't my favourite... you can see what's coming next, can't you? My favourite never wanted to be petted, although I tried many times.

[Cam22]

I do not like flies, just pesky and bothersome for both man and beast. Your cows are beauties.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I do not like flies, just pesky and bothersome for both man and beast. Your cows are beauties.

They were!

[chezp]

Saturday 7 September – part two: riding a cow….

We set off walking with our cows, heading through some of the farmland, and my goodness, this is a huge farm!



Eventually came the moment I think we’d both been dreading, trying to get on to our respective cows. All I can say is there was no way either of us was ever going to get on Padrone, she was a massive animal. Mark tried with no luck (and quite a lot of help from Nicole), and failed, and then tried Erma, and eventually managed Ok with her.


I could kick myself – this was the closest I got to getting a photo of Mark on either cow


Having seen the problems he was having, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to give it a go, but Nicole insisted, and she was right, as at the end of the day, if I hadn’t have tried it, I would’ve regretted it big time. I tried with Padrone, and that was an immediate so we tried Erma, and eventually I managed it, with help from both Nicole and Mark pushing me on to her.



I felt fine up there for probably a few seconds, then she moved, and I didn’t feel quite so cool. Sure, I was laughing, but there was an element of hysteria in there, as I felt as if that, at any moment, I’d just go flying off her. I just didn’t feel secure at all, no matter what Nicole tried. She led me for a few metres to try and get me used to her, but I still felt that something horrible might happen at any minute. I kept thinking of how accident prone I was, and how I didn’t want to fall off, and break something and end such a good vacation on a bad note, and decided I wanted off.

In total, I was on Erma for maybe five minutes, and it was enough for me to say I’d sampled it, sort of enjoyed it, but in truth, I’d much rather be out walking with my cow, so we both opted to do that for the rest of the way round, despite Nicole’s insistence that we should try again. I could understand it perfectly, as we had paid for cow trekking, but to me, this was cow trekking. It was like walking a very big dog, and I felt much more in control here, and also closer to my beloved cow. After all, where else can you go and walk a cow?

We took a slightly shorter route, as we’d spent quite a lot of time already trying to master cow riding, and we didn’t want to be too late leaving today, as we had a lot of driving to do to get to Luxembourg, which is where we were spending the night.

Despite the fact it was only 10:00am by now, the sun really was blazing down. I was very glad we’d gone for the earlier time, as the indications were that it would be absolutely no cooler than the last couple of days, despite the weather forecast claiming that it would rain and cool down today. Nice to see they were spot on with that… again!

It was fascinating walking through the farmland. We learnt that the cows preferred a lot of the time to walk on the grass, rather than the concrete, as it’s easier on their hooves, although I have to say Erma was very good at telling me where she wanted to walk. We got to a part where the grass had quite a few rocks, and she pulled me very forcefully back on to the concrete, which we figured she preferred.

Here again they were growing sweetcorn, and we talked about that, and learnt why they grow so much of it in Switzerland. It’s not all for human consumption, which we could see when we got a bit closer. Some of it looked really past its sell by date, and was in fact for animal feed during the winter. Now it all makes sense.

Elsewhere here, they grow sunflowers, and we also saw sugar beet, and I thought I saw carrots, so as well as the cows, they have a lot of different arable farming going on here. It’s certainly a big venture. Nicole told us she was employed for the summer, like most of the workers, and she’d probably come to the end of her contract in a month or so. On that subject, we were amazed when we got up this morning, and saw how many cars there were, as when we went up last night, there were only about two others, along with our car, and this morning, there must be either or nine cars there.

I was in front for much of the trip, which meant I didn’t have to deal with one issue, and I think you can guess what that issue was… I had wondered how on earth Mark would cope if Erma had any toiletry issues, shall we say, and fortunately, for the most part, he coped fine. Erma obviously did not have a well stomach, and while he managed to read the signs fine the first couple of times, he did caught out the third time… thank goodness we’d worn jeans, and weren’t planning to wear those again for the rest of the trip.

Soon we were turning back towards the farm, which was a welcome relief to me, as I’d been feeling the sun beating down on my neck. I had put some sun cream on my face, but I hadn’t bothered with my neck or arms, instead putting insect repellent on them, knowing that flies at least would be attracted to the cows. Hopefully I wouldn’t burn, I guess only time would tell….

By now, the cows were picking up the speed. As Nicole said, they know the route, and they know they’re in the home leg, meaning they’ll get a drink soon, so they wanted to get to that. I could sympathise with that. We’d already had some water, but I could certainly do with something else to drink.

We headed back towards the farm, and gave Erma and Padrone back.



Erma had been lovely to work with, and it was such a treat to spend so long with one of my favourite animals. As I said to Nicole, even being able to pet her, never mind walk her and ride her, albeit only for a few minutes, was a real treat, and worth the money.

We met Doris when we got back, who immediately offered us some local elderflower water, which we gratefully accepted. We quickly changed before we did, as we were boiling now in our jeans, and Mark had another reason for wanting to get rid of his.

We sat there and had our elderflower water, which was very nice and much needed. Soon it was time to pay up, and head out. Doris and Nicole couldn’t have been nicer, and you genuinely got the feeling that they were sad to see us go, although it was perfect timing, as there was another group that turned up just as we left, so they would be kept busy.

We headed off, seeing this on the way…



Next: I think we might be in the Black Forest….

[Disneybine]

Ok honestly, this has got to be the coolest, whackiest thing you've ever done on any vacation, Chez!

[cubfancolleen]

Sounds like a fun experience. I don't blame you for not feeling secure astride a cow. There is a reason horses are preferred for transport - their body type is better for sitting upon.
Sorry to hear about Mark's 'bonus experience' with the cows!!

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry you didn't last very long but it still was a very cool thing to do!

[lauriep]

Even if you didn't ride for long, it was worth it just to get the photo of you on Erma! I know what you mean, though, about feeling insecure. When I rode the elephant in S Africa I felt the same. It was amazing and wonderful, but I couldn't wait to get off! Poor Mark-- He got a bit too up-close and personal! How sweet are those animals, to be so patient with you and Mark being pushed up onto them? A lot of horses wouldn't put up with that.

[disney_duke]

Wow!! I'm with Sabine - very cool and very whacky! What a morning. Such an amazing, once in a lifetime experience!!
I think I'd also prefer simply walking alongside Erma rather than riding on top. That way you get to see more of her cute face. Too bad Mark can't say the same thing.....

OH, and no, I did not read the website for the trekking! I was just making an observation about the similarities with the flies. Ironic though!