Retail therapy and extra stories

Today we enjoyed our last day in Switzerland checking out the shops for souvenirs for family. Sorry readers I couldn’t find something for all of you……..you sent a list you say, it didn’t come….must be stuck in the clouds somewhere. Clear skies here today , so that was the problem.

Forgot to tell you two stories yesterday, because I was just a wee bit tired. In Switzerland , the cows have beautiful bells round their necks , because in summer , they are allowed to wander the alpine meadows. At the end of summer, around the end of September,the farmers bring the cows down to the home areas of the farms. They are walked through the towns and it is a big local event for each town. All the cows come down the hills and into town in a single file, nose to tail. It is quite amazing, (sorry was too busy looking to take a photo)

Now as you know, yesterday we caught lots of trains. On the train, we loaded the luggage. The husbands stowed it. Pauline went ahead to grab seats. I followed…mere seconds later. I couldn’t see her. I went forward thinking she had gone further looking for our seats. No not there. It was a two stories train.  I went downstairs. Not there. The ticket collector was there. I went to the next carriage. Here comes that ticket collector again. Back I went upstairs, downstairs, upstairs again, an arm waving. Where were you, they asked. Avoiding the ticket collector, I said , because you have the tickets. Oh ,here he is now!

When Pauline travelled to Switzerland, she saw a goat that is black in the front , head,legs and half the body. The rest is white. I am not kidding you. They are peculiar to this region , and are taken to the meadow everyday then brought back at night, just  like in Heidi.

Here are models of them, hopefully a photo of the real ones tomorrow.

In the alpine regions, they have a cute little rodent. It is called a marmot and is a  type of squirrel.These cute little animals eat moss and grasses, hibernate in burrows and whistle to each other. The sort of animal you go ohhhhhhhhhh, how cute. Most people that is ,but someone discovered they have other uses.

Dinner? No , we  were good and had soup followed by Swiss crepes. We have tasted all the local delicacies , other than cheese fondue. We will have to come back for that another time. Goodbye Switzerland, tomorrow we are in Italy.