“…The Bells! The Bells!....” as Quasimodo, the famous half-back for NotreDame, once exclaimed, yelling to his QB about the 2-min warning (or something like that). But the bells so prevalent around me are not just church bells every ¼ hour, but also COW Bells. Yes, here in the alps, one is awakened daily to the sounds of an alpine cowcerto by Bessy and her bevy of brown bovine buddies, heading up pasture for their graze after an early morning milking. Up at dawn, and waiting for breakfast, I gaze out of my chalet window and greet them. They seem to ask me, “Cow are you this morning? Cow about a nice cup of cowffee?”
As the cow-cophony of sound resonates down the valley, I try, in vain, to avoid making much noise myself this early in the AM. So I wonder, is there an alpine-hut etiquette for early risers’ noise? It was sooo quiet at 6:30 – just the sound of the bells and the water in the stream nearby. Every board squeaks in these places. The harder you try NOT to make a noise – the louder the squeaky noise is. So, after a few days of this, I find Im better off just rambling down the hall and the stairs quickly and get it over with. Ironically – even some of the 3-star hotels had squeaky components… but that all adds to the charm I guess… along with the cow bells! These harmonious sounds would be a ubiquitous part of our daily adventures for the next 10 days... a treat to be sure.
From my blog-journal notes at Schwarzwaldalp chalet @1454m
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