Switzerland
went to Switzerland for the weekend (as you do) and caught a Gondola up an Alp. Was pretty incredible. About 2500m up.
wish I could have gotten a better photo, but it was really sweet. We were driving towards the Alp and there was this little boy leading about six pretty brown cows and a dog (you can just see the little curl of the dogs tail). I was told that about two weeks ago all the cows had been brought down from the mountain because winter is coming, and everyone lines the streets and gets drunk and cheers them on and the cows get given crowns and flowers and things, and the cow who has given the most milk gets a throne, and 16-23ish year old boys bring the queen cow these enormously heavy supersized bronze cowbells (the cow doesn't have to wear the. It is just an excuse for the boys to show how strong they are)
The Alp, Säntis.
View from the Gondola
At the top of the Alp. This is the actual highest point on the mountain - there is nothing above us. The little wooden hut is an old weather station, from the 19th Century - people lived in it for years at a time, not coming down. It was incredibly lonely, and very highly paid as a result. It stopped being used because a guy who didn't get the job took revenge by climbing the mountain and killing the meteorologist and his wife. Nobody lives in the hut now. The two guys are friendly folk who gave me a place to sleep.
The view from the top. It was a bit cloudy so you can only see the little tips of mountains, but they were tips of mountains from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Lichtenstein, depending on which direction you looked. Not sure which tips those are. It was incredibly clear and beautiful though, above the clouds.
wish I could have gotten a better photo, but it was really sweet. We were driving towards the Alp and there was this little boy leading about six pretty brown cows and a dog (you can just see the little curl of the dogs tail). I was told that about two weeks ago all the cows had been brought down from the mountain because winter is coming, and everyone lines the streets and gets drunk and cheers them on and the cows get given crowns and flowers and things, and the cow who has given the most milk gets a throne, and 16-23ish year old boys bring the queen cow these enormously heavy supersized bronze cowbells (the cow doesn't have to wear the. It is just an excuse for the boys to show how strong they are)
The Alp, Säntis.
View from the Gondola
At the top of the Alp. This is the actual highest point on the mountain - there is nothing above us. The little wooden hut is an old weather station, from the 19th Century - people lived in it for years at a time, not coming down. It was incredibly lonely, and very highly paid as a result. It stopped being used because a guy who didn't get the job took revenge by climbing the mountain and killing the meteorologist and his wife. Nobody lives in the hut now. The two guys are friendly folk who gave me a place to sleep.
The view from the top. It was a bit cloudy so you can only see the little tips of mountains, but they were tips of mountains from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Lichtenstein, depending on which direction you looked. Not sure which tips those are. It was incredibly clear and beautiful though, above the clouds.