We met our guide, Andrea, and our driver, Claude at 7:00 am this morning for a drive to a real working dairy/cheese farm. It was a spectacularly clear, warm and sunny day! We had a fantastic view of the Alps. We were told there are only a very few days a year where the sky is so clear that you can see all the mountains! So, Swiss weather honored us today.
We met our farm family hosts, Susanne and her husband, Alois. They drove us in their cars to the first field up the mountain where the dairy cows are grazing. We had to go today, because tomorrow they are packing everything in the farm house and moving all the animals to a higher pasture where they will graze for June and July. Then the dairy cows will once agin be moved to an even higher pasture for the month of August. In September, they are brought back down to the first pasture where they stay until being moved into a barn in October for the winter. The cows are let out even in winter. They must be milked twice a day. They are moving 52 cows up the mountain tomorrow starting around 4:30 am. They have a young man, Martin, who stays up in the pasture to milk the cows and make the cheese out of the milk gathered the evening before and from the morning's milking. The big kettle in the photos holds the milk from 24 cows milked last night and this morning. There are 52 cows but not all need milking. They showed us how they make the wheels of cheese. They can make three wheels a day and it takes at least a week of "curing" in a cool room. They sell their cheese in town but we got a lot of free tastes served with freshly made bread and wine, water or apple juice!!
Susanne made us a typical farm lunch. After the milk had cooked long enough on the fire and the cheese wheels had been made, a smaller pot of water was put on the fire. She cut up potatoes, onions, and macaroni noodles and boiled them in the water. She then added the cheese and cream to the pot and "voila"-- the best Swiss Mac and Cheese you could ever imagine!! We had a lovely homemade spice cake complete with whipped cream and coffee that was made in a pot over the fire! Quite good actually!
We all loved the cows with the Swiss "bell orchestra" playing every time they move. They were quite close to the farmhouse and we could even pet them!! There was a new 4 month old puppy by the name of Tony on the premises. He will be trained as a new herding dog. There were also several pigs in the back shed which we went to see. The pigs get fed the leftover "milk" after most of it is made into cheese. They use a fermenting agent that they preserve from day to day to help make the cheese. They stop making cheese in October when the cows are brought down for winter. Since the farm is all organic, they sell the milk for a good price in town. Just before we left the farm they took us in one by one to see newborn piglets! Mom was huge and the babies were nursing. It was a little sad to see three dead babies. Mom can't be messed with right now, but it appears she sat on them. But she had about eight healthy guys all nursing.
Everyone is relaxing this afternoon in different ways. Bill is watching tennis while I blog and Gaby, Trey and Duffy are taking a quick snooze before dinner and Grant has gone exploring the hotel grounds to take photos!
Now, the Hotel Dolder Grand is a beautiful hotel on the top of a hill overlooking the city. From the outside it looks like the classic "old world" hotel, but look inside and they have built two wings that are right out of Starwars!! Everything is electronic !! The remote control( one on each side of he bed) is like a bachelor pad dream! It controls everything! You can close or open shutters, day curtains (sheers) and blackout curtains. All the lights are on the remote. There are also small switches on the wall but you have to have your reading glasses on to figure out what button you are pressing and what it does! There is even a TV in the mirror in the bathroom! The shower has three different modes and a bunch of shower head sprays! You need a bit of an engineering degree to get a handle on it all. Though the staff does an excellent job of trying to teach you! Some of us are just a tad slower about learning all these new things! But, not to worry. Just call down to the desk and they will send someone up to"re-train you!"
We have dinner reservations at a typical Swiss restaurant in town tonight. Yesterday we also ate downtown at a very good restaurant that our guide, Andrea, had recommended. She left us to our own devices after an excellent walking tour. It was a little shorter than we would have wished because we were late getting checked into the hotel due to road traffic driving from St. Moritz and the fact that we had such a nice time at Heidaland! Heidaland has a little museum house that is straight out of the book! Gaby loved the place because it was like a child's playhouse. We even got to see "kids" and the mother goats!
Due to all these factors, we were late arriving and then it took some additional time to do a quick change of clothes and shoes for our walk! The temperature was much warmer in Zurich than St. Moritz. We did manage to get a little shopping in before dinner! Chocolates and Swiss watches for all!!
Gabriela has been a trooper! She really enjoyed the farm today--- as did we all!
Tonight after dinner the boys and I will watch the soccer championship semi final match between Germany and Italy to see who will play Spain in the finals! We've been following the matches the last two weeks and it has been fun. Even Gaby went with us and ate pizza! Yum!
Tomorrow we are touring Lucerne. But then we will have to pack tomorrow night for our flight home on Saturday so this might be my last blog from Switzerland! If so, mark your calendars for July 18 when Mary, Bill and I depart for Alaska!!!
A very BIG and gracious thank you to all our guides and drivers who have made this another incredible Fuller Family adventure!! And, of course, to our friend and Travel agent Arlene Feen at Protravel in Miami!
