A couple of weekends ago, we went to Urnäsch, Switzerland to see the Alpabfahrt -- when the farmers bring their cows down from the mountain pastures for the winter. It is something Heidi and I had both heard about when we lived in Switzerland previously, but had never seen first-hand. We found this village in Appenzell that had scheduled the Alpabfahrt and a village festival on the 19th of September, and we recruited some friends to go with us. 
There isn't a specific time when the farmers bring their cows down, so you just have to be there and wait for them. Here's Luke, having just spotted the first group.
The men and boys, wearing their traditional costumes. Several of them have a decorative/carved, wooden bucket slung over their shoulder -- I think it is for holding butter.
As they got into town, some of the cows got a little antsy.
Each group was followed by a cart & horse.
Inbetween things, waiting for the next group of farmers & cows, we kept ourselves entertained. I like the look on Nash's fash as Heidi attempts to yank out one of Nash's first whiskers.
A small musical group set up outside one of hotels and played music. They also yodelled while they played on one or two songs.
The next group...
There were other things going on -- several carts & stalls selling baked goods, cheeses, crafts, bratwurst, etc., and we saw this boys' choir sing several traditional Appenzeller songs.
Then we watched a "Säulirennen" -- a pig race. You could place a bet on which pig would win the race -- the pigs are numbered, 1 - 5, with blue dots on their backs.
Grant, Luke, and Mallory trying out milking a cow. It was a plastic cow.
Those are some heavy-looking cow bells. The bells normally worn by the cows while they are out in the pasture aren't quite that big.
One of the goats got a whiff of some food in Nash's pocket. The farm-girl was there pretty quickly to swish it back into line with her tree branch.
We then went to the Appenzeller Käse factory, where you can see the process of making this type of cheese.
We also went into the downtown area of Appenzell.
We then drove 15 minutes south of Appenzell to Wasserauen, parked the car, and hiked up to Seealpsee.
Mallory ran into some stinging nettle on the way up.
At the south end of Seealpsee, with the valley behind. When Nash, Grant, and I were here in June, there were cows in the pastures in this valley, and farmers in each of the houses.
We had brought a picnic to eat dinner, then we played a little football in the pasture.
On the hike back down to the cars.
Our hotel -- Gasthaus Rossfall, on the road up to Shwägalp.
On Sunday morning, we went to church in Sankt Gallen, then we drove by Heidi's old apartment, when she lived here. Then we met our friends in downtown Sankt Gallen and went to abbey, which has a really old library. 
A few photos in downtown St. Gallen.
