Daniela Martin (white sweater, blue blouse) and her yodeling group; rounds of cheese curing; Robert & Diana standing in front of the Schwaegalp restaurant in the fog.




SEPTEMBER 12, 2009 SATURDAY

It doesn’t seem to be a problem for me to be up early because I’m always awake by 5:30 or 6:00 no matter what time I go to bed at night. We were out of the house by 7:08 to catch the tram at 7:12. We arrived at the Martins at 8:15 exactly on time and then we found our trip was a lot different than we had imagined it would be. We thought we were going to be riding with Peter and Daniela in their car to Appenzell to watch Daniela and her yodeling club sing in a celebration or contest of some sort. As it turned out we walked with Daniela about a block to where her yodeling group was congregating by a big tour bus. It turned out to be a fun trip the group and their friends take once a year before winter sets in. There were about 25 people in the group, mostly older, who just like to get together and sing to keep the old traditions alive. The trip destination was the Schwaegalps trail head where we were going to have lunch and then everyone could decide how they wanted to spend the three hours we would be there. There were three options: one could take any one of many hiking trails and enjoy the mountains and scenery; one could take the gondola up to the top of the Saentis Alps; and lastly, one could visit a cheese making plant, a souvenir shop or just sit around and talk.

When everyone had gathered at the bus and said their hellos and we were introduced, we all climbed in the bus and we left on our trip. After getting out of the city, we went through some beautiful country and about two hours into the trip, the bus driver took his first break and we (including Daniela) had a hot chocolate and croissant while everyone else had croissants and coffee. That didn’t take too long and we were off again. We climbed higher and higher into the mountains and suddenly we had to pull over because a police car was stopped in the middle of the road waving people over to park alongside the road. It wasn’t long before we saw the reason. It’s tradition in switzerland to bring their cows out of the mountain top pastures down to the lower elevations for the winter. In the spring they take them back up where they stay all summer. They have buildings up there where they make cheese from the milk right on the mountain so they don’t have a problem trying to transport milk twice a day. When they move the cows, they use the roads and most herders dress up in traditional costumes. We weren’t allowed out of the bus when the herd passed, so we took photos through the bus window. It wasn’t ideal, but at least we got some photos. The bus continued on and a short distance further we saw another bigger herd with the herders dressed in elaborate costumes, but they were too far away and the bus didn’t stop. However, not much further along, we had to stop again for another herd. This time the driver let us out and we were able to get some good shots and film clips. That made us happy.

We finally made it to Schwaegalp where we got out and went into the restaurant for lunch. However, before we went inside, the yodelers got together and sang some songs on the veranda of the restaurant. Passers by and we were treated to some wonderful music and it didn’t even cost anything. They had a delicious lunch prepared for us of beef bouillon noodle soup, beef medallions in a wonderful gravy with spaetzli (pasta noodles) on the side, boiled spinach rolls bread and for dessert, vanilla ice cream sitting on a hot berry sauce. After lunch the yodelers in the group assembled agin and performed several songs. We love the Swiss yodeling which is so different from what we hear at home in the USA. Soon after we all split up and went our separate ways. We wanted to go up on the Saentis via the gondola, but the weather didn’t cooperate. The fog ceiling was just above where the restaurant was and, of course, the top was completely socked in. No use spending the money to make the trip if we wouldn’t be able to see anything. Diana was at least smart enough to take her quilted vest, and I wished I would have worn something more than my short sleeved shirt because it was pretty chilly. Winter is definitely on it’s way.

We visited the cheese store and saw some of the cheese making, but to see the whole operation you probably have to be there when the cows are milked. We did see some cheese rounds soaking in salt water to cure. There was also stacks of cheese rounds of various sizes in a curing room that we took some pictures of. We hiked around a bit and then for the last little while we sat in the restaurant shooting the breeze. The fog came in and out, but never really lifted enough to see much of the mountain. The whole time we were there the mountains reverberated at regular intervals with rifle fire. A rifle range within sight of the restaurant was in use for the annual Swiss Children’s Shooting contest. We don’t know exactly how this works, but kids of a certain age can register and compete in a rifle shooting contest once a year. Today was the day. We know that they also had a contest set up in Zurich City today. Maybe they have elimination shoots until there’s a winner, but we just don’t know at this point.

The ride home was uneventful, but also beautiful, but we must say, it was good to get home after a long day. The singing group is well aware that Daniela is a member of the Church and her friends even sang in our ward house when Daniela and Peter got married eight or nine months ago. They were very friendly to us and we made some friends today. Maybe some day some of them will want to hear more about the Church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope so.

We heated up leftovers from last night for dinner and then got busy on the report and this journal. In between Diana called Julienne Viegas-Haws to congratulate her on her new calling as a counselor in the Relief Society and to wish her a happy birthday. We had called Valerie Otte earlier and left a message on her answering machine that we would like to make an appointment with her and, after I tried to call her tonight, we noticed a light blinking on our home phone that we had a message. She called us earlier to invite us over tonight for dinner, but we got home too late anyway and it was certainly too late when we noticed the message light. We tried to call her back, but when she didn’t answer so we left another message that we would drop by tomorrow afternoon. We hope things work out so we can meet with her again. Diana also called Priscilla to say hello and let her know we were thinking of her.

The tender mercy for today is that Daniela was kind enough to invite us to go with her and we were able to meet so many nice people although we weren’t able to teach them anything except maybe by our example.