The Bernese Mountain Dogs were in teams of two and pulled mini carts. Traditionally, these dogs hauled cheese carts in the Alps. I figured Tycho’s lineage of hauling cheese must be the reason he has such a strong affinity for the stuff. He won’t touch his kibble without it being served “au gratin.” But, alas, I digress.
Another cow parade descended upon the crowd roughly every fifteen to twenty minutes. Their melodic cowbells (about the size of a large pumpkin) can be heard long before you can see the enormous parade marchers. The heard is lead by a horse-drawn carriage that carries the calves born over the summer. Decorated with garlands of flowers and pine, these babies snuggle together on their bed of hay. Seriously cute.
Then the big adult cows parade by. I’ve never seen cows up close and impersonal—and these beasts are huge! I mean huge! They have a bit of crazy in their big brown eyes too, so you know you don’t want to get in their path. The clanging of the bells and the clop of hooves would have done it for me, but these cows go that extra ceremonious mile to don head dresses. Yes … head dresses. The cows are adorned with what looks like the top two feet of a pine tree. The trees are decorated with bright flowers and bob happily on the heads of the cows. Think cabaret—cow style.
The first dozen beauties carry their pine trees proudly. The rest of the herd either just has a bell or, in the case of my favorite herd, has little retro Jackie O flower-pill-box-looking-things resting between their horns. Talk about stylin’ bovines!
I for one could not get enough. The cows, the Bernese Mountain Dog parade, and the herdsmen dressed in traditional costume. Did I mention them? The humans in the parade were decked out in Bredzon. The ensemble consists of a black jacket with puffy-sleeves, embroidery, and gold buttons worn over a white shirt. And if seeing grown men in puffy sleeves weren’t enough, they have matching black embroidered hats, belts, and leather “man purses” toped off the outfit. I want to say that the men wore knickers, but I would be lying to myself and to you. I strongly believe that all traditional costumes should include knickers. Should be a law. I can say that many of the old-timers had obliged my romantic notions of costume with serious beards and walking sticks. This helped relieve the nuisance of the missing knickers.
