October 1 – A Farm Visit and Interlaken

October 1, 2016 – A farm visit and Interlaken
We drove 15 miles east to visit a cow farm this morning. Hans told us that he raises cows and sells the calves when they are 11 months old and weaned from their mothers. Too old to be called veal and too young to be called beef. Hans said they are called natura. He doesn’t milk his cows because the price for milk is too low. His wife is responsible for the cows because Hans is also a carpenter who with his brother builds houses. We also learned how they move the cows up to the mountains in spring and bring them back in the fall.
After leaving the farm we went and hiked up a small hill to get a good view of a very nice waterfall.
Back at the hotel we were given the rest of the day off. Carol and I walked down the main street to find a mall where we were told had a good lunch place. As we approached the mall, we saw cows coming down the main street toward us. A farmer was bringing his cows down from the mountains to his fields. There were quite a number of cars that had to slowly follow until their turnoff or until the cows got to their farm.
After lunch Carol and I watched for friends who were supposed to be parasailing but we later found out that their time slot was later and then weather conditions changed and they got cancelled.
Due to my cold I rested the rest of the afternoon. For dinner, 9 of us went to the hotel restaurant and had fondue.  It was very good . Nothing like cheese and bread for a healthy dinner.
An interesting fact we learned last night is that Switzerland has r the highest rate of suicides in the world. Our hostess for dinner thought it was because it is easy to feel claustrophobic surrounded by mountains.
Tomorrow most of us are doing an optional tour called Bernese Oberland.