Another week has flown by us! Just about the only excitement we had was Ryan’s back-to-school night at the Middle School. I love all of his teachers and hope he has a great year.
Friday, we were heading back to Garmisch for the weekend and Matt and I dropped off the dogs at a friends house for the weekend. There, we had possibly one of the most authentic German experiences we have had so far: The Windshield Note. We drove to our friend’s apartment and parked in their parking spot at their building. We ran the dogs inside and upstairs and stayed no longer than a few minutes. As we got back down to the car, we noticed the note on the windshield. Germans leave windshield notes all the time for parking incorrectly, not using a windshield placard, parking in the wrong spot, etc. But, this was our first. What made it so funny was that we were given permission to park in this parking spot by the owner. This note was just left by a random person who did not recognize our car and assumed we didn’t belong there. What made it more funny was how quickly they wrote the note, left it on our windshield, and then disappeared again. I am guessing this person drives around with a block of post-it notes already written on so they can quickly deliver them! Regardless, we appreciated the huge laugh we got out of this and I now have it hanging in my office at home.
Friday, we made the drive down to Garmisch. We stayed at the Army recreation center, Edelweiss Lodge, where we have been a couple of times now. We arrived just in time for dinner and ate at their sports’ bar themed restaurant. It was so refreshing to have ketchup on the table, and free tap water, even if the food itself was not that good. Then, we spent the rest of the night in the pool and hot tub.
We were in Garmisch to see the Almabtrieb and attend their fests. The Almabtrieb is a Cows Coming Home Festival. In the Alps, the cows spend the Summer in the high Alpine meadows, eating all that fresh grass that helps them make the Alpine and Swiss cheese. In the Autumn, the farmers herd the cattle back down the mountain, where they will spend the Winter eating hay in the warm barn. The farmers start the cattle drive early in the morning and make it back to the villages by around mid-day. If all of the cows survive the journey down the mountain path (they can slip, fall, and break legs, all of which would be fatal to a cow), then the lead cow, and sometimes more, are decorated with headdresses as they make the final part of the journey through town.
Saturday morning, we headed out to the first festival in Krün. It should be mentioned that the weather took a sudden turn on Friday. It dropped from about 60F degrees to 40F overnight and had been pouring rain for two days. The mountains already had a dusting of snow when we arrived in Garmisch. We were just in the Alps two weeks ago and enjoyed 70F weather, even at the peaks so this was a huge change! It finally tapered off to a drizzle by about the time we arrived in Krün.
The cows were due to arrive in Krün by 11am but it was almost noon by the time we heard the first cowbells. It was probably a tough trek down the mountain in the pouring rain. Each family paraded their herd through the town, all dressed in traditional Alpine cattle herding clothes. The ages of the herders went from grandparents down to tiny children.
It’s hard to imagine that all of these cows and herders were up in the mountains this morning and made the long hike down. Unfortunately, some of the families’ herds did not have any cows dressed up, indicating they may have lost some cows on the way down. With the way it had been pouring for the past few days, I guess it wasn’t so surprising, but still sad.
After the parade of cows was over, we enjoyed the music and had some food from the food stalls. Ryan got a rotwurst, Brooklyn got cotton candy, and Matt got a schnitzel sandwich. It was still pretty freezing so we went back to Garmisch and went shopping for some new tracht to wear next week at Volkfest.
Sunday, we went to Mittenwald’s Almabtrieb. The town of Mittenwald was much bigger and it seemed like you could spend a day there so we’ve added it to the list of places to return to.
Mittenwald’s parade was much longer but no headdresses on any of the cows. Not sure if the town just doesn’t participate in this tradition or if it was a rough journey down the mountain that morning.
After the parade, everyone seemed to be walking in the same direction so we followed. After about a mile, we ended up on a farm that had opened up and was having a Bierfest, with a whole tent set up and band. We had a couple of biers and some food in the tent before heading back to the car. It was really fun to hang out with the Germans on a Sunday afternoon, although I’m sure some of them were late to work on Monday.
After we the bierfest, we headed back to Stuttgart to get the pups. Next weekend is opening weekend for Stuttgart’s Oktoberfest and we are heading to one of the tents with some friends!
Gilcrests Abroad 