Autumn in Switzerland

Our September adventure to Switzerland can be divided up into many categories. There are the Alps, green valleys, cows, food, turbulent mountain rivers, small Swiss towns, the doors and window boxes on houses and just the Swiss style.  I am starting my first of probably four blogs on Switzerland with the season, autumn.  

On country roads we saw places to buy pumpkins and gourds.  Some people went to great lengths to make their displays outstanding. I was camera happy and got many shots of what I thought were great ways to show off the season with the colorful vegetables that we have at home as well.  

Autumn is the time to bring the cows down from the upper pastures and it is always fun if we can catch that activity.  In the town of Weggis on Lake Lucerne, one Saturday morning, there was a cow contest with cows being judged in different categories.  A small fair was set up along the lake with food, tractors, cars and crafts.  But the main entertainment was the cows.

I took pictures of a group of cows being paraded through town and one cow was being very cantankerous. The man who was guiding him had all he could do to control the animal. Of course all the cows wear huge cowbells and it makes quite the sound.  

We had sunshine every day except one and it was crisp fall sweater weather. September was a perfect time to enjoy the beauty of a country we have visited many times.  Here is my view of a Swiss autumn.

In the small town of Signau, a barn in town contained beautiful displays of a couple's wares.
Kurbisse means pumpkins and gourds in German.

Pumpkins in an old cart...

The barn and house were connected as is the case with many European farms.  Usually the house and barn are in town and the farmer goes out of town to work his land.  It would be a waste of space to put the barn and house on the farmland.  

Neat window reflection....

A cow waiting to be judged in Weggis...

Notice the men at the right laughing at the man trying to control his out of control cow in Weggis.

A farmer's market booth at the autumn fair in Weggis.  It was a cloudy morning so Lake Lucerne is barely visible in the background.  

Here is a booth at the autumn fair selling ginger bread and roasted almonds.  I wish I had bought something.

This out building, outside the small village of Schlatt, is filled with wood, a sure sign that it is autumn and the Swiss are preparing for winter.  

My favorite place to take wonderful pumpkin pictures was at this huge barn which had the sign Pumpkin Sale up high where everyone coming down the road could see it.  We discovered this farm on our way back to Zurich the day before we flew home.

The old shutters, reflection and gourds made this scene so appealing to me.  

The sunshine was blinding on these pumpkins.  

Clever way to display pumpkins.

If I lived near this place, I would have been taking many colorful pumpkins and gourds home.  

As I was taking photos, this man came out of the barn and gave me a Swiss greeting.  I asked
him if he spoke English and he said, "Oh noooo."  I then got Hack, who listened to him, while I
continued to take photographs of his place.  Having a husband who speaks German makes trips
to Germanic countries so much more interesting and fun. 

To be continued....