Appenzell is also known as Cow Country in Switzerland. We definitely saw more than our fair share of cows and many other farm animals. But it was great fun and very relaxing. We just stepped back and took in the culture and people of north eastern Switzerland.
We were starving (ok, I was starving) when we got to Appenzell so we decided to have lunch at our hotel
The Appenzell Hotel. And by the way, our hotel room looked exactly like the rooms pictured. The bed was super comfortable (we each had our own down blanket to sleep with and had super fluffy, soft pillows).
When we scanned the menu we both decided on the same thing right away. Macaroni and cheese, Appenzeller style. This was a simple macaroni with Appenzeller cheese and topped with fried onions. they served it with a side of applesauce.
The Appenzeller cheese was too strong for my stomach to handle. I think that it might be because of the pregnancy but I could barely get down half of my meal. Joseph, however, seemed to have no problems eating his whole bowl.
We fell asleep early the first night and I ended up waking up at 10:30 starving so I of course panicked thinking that I was screwed and wouldn't be able to get anything to eat so late in a small town. But I was wrong. The ladies downstairs were nice enough to make me a sandwich to bring to my room. I was soo hungry I didn't have time to take a picture but just picture fresh bread, sliced ham, appenzeller cheese, pickles and fresh sliced tomatoes with mustard. It was the best tasting sandwich I've had.
The second night we decided to splurge a little and go to a "fancy" restaurant in town. I knew I wanted a meal with meat and quickly chose the roast. It came topped with an herb butter, mixed vegetables and french fries. We were a bit surprised with the fries (instead of potatoes or rice, etc) but it worked.
The meat was soooo juicy and melted in my mouth. The butter was the perfect topping and I put the rest on my vegetables. Any vegetable soaked in butter is always 100 times better :) I know that the meat looks small and the fries take up 1/2 the plate but this was definitely a memorable and tasty meal.
Every fall the farmers bring their cows through town to move them to a graze in a different pasture for winter. We caught the "tail end" of the cows coming through Appenzell on the first day we were in town. The hostess at our hotel explained that usually the farmers dress up in laterhosen and the cows usually have flowers around their necks and on their heads.
Joseph had some fun on the
bobsled in Jakobsbad (yak-uubs-bad) before we went on our
barefoot walk and after we went on the Jakobsbad-Kronberg cable car (gondola ride up to the mountains). The cable car took us up to a small mountain area where parachutists took off and went down the mountain to the village below. It was great to watch. In the winter this is where they can ski down or take another lift to another mountain.
Joseph refused to go barefoot but I had a great time. I went through grass pastures, rocky paths, paved road and mud and rinsed my feet off at the fountains along the way. It was definitely an experience. And we were rained on a few times during our walk (light showers but warm air). We saw many cows (see first picture above) on our walk and had a relaxing adventure.
