Just a gentle reminder,
Laurie will be here soon
The Tigers have a sled at last
Friday night was our last practice before our game on Sunday in Basel, it was a good one although we were a bit limited in numbers.
Traditional Swiss Cow Fighting
Saturday morning came early as I was off to board the train to city of Sion and then a shuttle bus to the village of Aproz to see this marvelous spectacle.
It would complete my European animal trifecta after already seeing the Palio horse race in Siena, Italy and the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
Warning: DO NOT TOUCH ANY
UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE
THAT YOU MAY FIND!
UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE
THAT YOU MAY FIND!
OH, YEAH!
The Pre-Game Cow Pen
First fights at 9:00 a.m. sharp
Frothing at the Mouth,
Spoiling for a Fight!
Big Bell
Speaking of bells . . .
Every one of the 199 cows in the weekend's competition sports a BIG cow bell. Their sounds echoing off the mountain side backdrop just adds to the fighting frenzy.
I talked to the man who was selling these highly prized cow bells and he explained to me that they sell for anywhere from 300 to 800+ Swiss Francs or about $330 to $875 USD.
Lock Horns
Getting Dirty
Facial
Air Born!
Drive Your Legs!!!
Eye-to-Eye
Three's a Crowd
Little Help, Please!
About nine new cows were brought out at a time and they just naturally pick someone to fight with in the quest to be crowned the Queen Cow and lead the herds this Summer on their migration to greener pastures.
Shot to the Throat
Lots of head butting but no blood was shed today from what I saw.
Hold Me!
Don't you just hate it when
you get snot on your horns?
Lets get together
Sometimes the cows need a gentle reminder from the herders of their purpose today.
Pick a partner and have at it!
Hammer Time Soon Enough
Wash your hands before lunch
Charge!
At 11:00 a.m., after two solid hours of one-on-one elimination bouts, the tournament stopped for a 2 hour and 30 minute lunch break.
The cows needed some down time for sure after the morning battles.
I had to have some delicious Raclette
Raclette Cheese over boiled potatoes,
YUM!
These Harmonica players were
big during the lunch break
Not Real,
but still giving milk somehow
Harmonicas for your listening pleasure
Roving Troubadors were on hand as well
#140 is named Scarlette
Her fighting spirit and stamina caught my eye in the morning session.
Here is Scarlette in action
Beats me?
The Sun came out at lunch time
Rib Shot
Head Butting is emcouraged
Why am I doing this?
Knee Buckling
I am glad I made the trip to the canton of Valais, this was a very interesting day of sampling a Swiss traditional sport.
Now it's . . .
On to Basel!
2 comments:
Wait! Who won?
Two day event, the finals are today.
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