Moved and mesmerized in the land of Appenzell

APPENZELL, Switzerland —Autumn has just embraced this Swiss medieval village when we arrive. The green trees that line its charming side streets and fertile hills are slightly teased with the iridescence of leaves in orange, auburn and yellow. The township’s skyline is fickle-minded — cerulean in one moment and nimbus-gray the next minute. In the weather tussle, the sun always prevails and its rays give glorious reflections to the village’s rain-drenched grassland, the dwelling place of Swiss brown cows. The temperature drops to five degrees in the morning and picks up to a still chilly 16 degrees before sunset. The sweet, fresh scent of the environs serves as the purveyor of the cleanliness in the air of the village. Appenzell, God’s answered prayer on earth, is truly His handiwork.

Truth is, at this time of the year, the whole of Switzerland is in this nippy, beautiful and charming state. My best friend Bum Tenorio and I are happy and satisfied to discover the clean and green splendor of the country via the Swiss Travel System, a highly efficient and precise transportation system that tourists can use to connect them anywhere in Switzerland either by train, bus or boat. All you need is a pass and it will get you anywhere. A pass, either first class or second class, can be purchased for a validity of three, five or 10 days. The Swiss Travel System is so friendly that even people who find it challenging to read maps will find it easy to navigate Switzerland. With this system, we found our way to Appenzell, a village that is home to 7,000 friendly inhabitants.

The quaint village of Appenzell is in the eastern alpine region of Appenzell Innerhoden, the smallest of the 26 cantons in Switzerland with a population of 80,000. Rows of clouds, on a favorable autumn day and rolling hills contribute to the beautiful landscape of Appenzell. (It was in the same rolling hills that Bum started to serenade the fat cows that graze the land. He sang to them. The dairy farmer clapped while the cows mooed in delight.)

At the onset of autumn, the village, laidback almost whole year round, becomes alive when its residents come in full force to celebrate the traditional descent of the cattle during the first Tuesday of October. Cows, whose home is the mountains, will be brought to the homes of the farmers because the animals ought to be protected during wintertime. This special celebration is called Vieh show, wherein all the cows from the finest breed and other animals flock to the town while their owners proudly parade them along the streets. The traditional festival displays the reverence reserved for the hardworking dairy farmers and, literally, their milking cows. There are numerous unwritten rules to observe during this period. A small boy in a herdsman’s costume leads the procession with a herd of white Appenzell goats. On his left shoulder, he carries the carved milking pail with its removable bottom, a painted wooden disc depicting a rural subject. (If Pamplona in Spain has the San Fermin bullfight festival, Appenzell has the Vieh- show that is ultimately safe and subdued.)

In no other region is everyday life steeped in its historical culture, traditional crafts and hospitality as in the green hills of Appenzellerland. Rocky giants embolden the natural ambiance while in the valleys, ramblers and the great outdoor aficionados make their way through the meadows carpeted with wild flowers, through fields and woodlands. Pictures of these deep verdant hills clad in the soft morning mist pierced by shafts of sunlight are familiar all over the world. Well-known photographers and painters have made their claim over God’s canvas, His masterpiece.

The Aplstein, which surrounds the Apenzellerland, is “the most beautiful mountain range in the world,” according to famous geologist Albert Helm. Towering out of the Eastern region of the Appenzellerland up to a height of 2,502 meters above sea level, these mountain ranges are like sentinels proudly watching over their environs.  Here, people don’t lock their homes or cars because it is very safe. Young people take pride in being farmers. 

At the Show Dairy, one of the cheese factories in the village, we had the chance to witness how cheese from Appenzerland is made. The spiciest cheese from Switzerland has been produced for over 700 years in this idyllic and alpine environment. This cheese is lovingly manufactured in 65 village cheese dairies in a traditional recipe and then treated with mysterious herb brine.

The Show Dairy’s visitor’s gallery provides an excellent viewpoint for observing the cheese production process. Particularly impressive is the 6,500-liter cheese vat and the birds-eye view from a height of six meters into the cheese cellar where up to 12,500 wheels of cheese mature. One also gets to watch a film called Cheese Cinema about the cheese making customs traditions in this region.

We learned that a milking cow is named such because one cow gives off 40 liters of milk every day. A small dairy farm normally has at least 10 Swiss brown cows. Every day, the dairy farmers bring their milk harvest to the small neighborhood factories. So that spoilage is avoided, the milk should be processed to become cheese within 36 hours. To ensure the cow’s productivity in giving milk, it should at least produce a calf every 18 months. Sadly, a milking cow can only be milked for four to five years. When it has dried up, only then will a farmer opt to turn the milking cow into steak.

At the Show Dairy’s restaurant, Bum and I ate the most delicious cheese fondue with apple calvados or kirsch with wheat bread and red apples cut up in cubes ready to be drenched in the gooey and tasty cheese fondue mixture. We were also served a platter of the famous Appenzell cheese from the mildest flavored Classic cheese (aged up to four months) and the spicy Edel wurzig cheese (aged up to nine months in the cheese cellar). But I liked best the two other varieties of Appenzell cheese, the Surchoix (aged from five to six months) and the Extra (aged from six to seven months.)

These famous Appenzell cheeses also come in organic form. This means that the milk used in producing the cheese comes from cows that are treated with homeopathy cures when they get sick. These cows also munch on grass that is devoid of pesticides. If there are weeds that are harmful to the cows, these weeds are not treated with chemicals. Instead, the plants are painstakingly removed by the farmer’s hands. Yes, the organic cheese is more pricey than the non-organic one.  

Appenzell is also famous for its beer. At a local centuries-old brewery in the village called Brauerei Locher AG, Bum and I found ourselves doing beer degustation.  The Locher brewery in Appenzell has been quenching the thirst of happy wanderers from all over the world for five generations.

The people from this canton in Switzerland are proud of their beer. The secret of the famous Appenzell beer is in the spring water. Loud, quiet, still — three sorts of water flow in Appenzellerland. First exploited in 1657, the mineral water springs have been reviving body, soul and spirit for centuries.

At the Locher brewery, we had the chance to sample its several beers from the fruity juice-like apple and pear version to the “Full Moon” beer that is harvested only during the full moon to the Indian Beer with eight percent alcohol content. We also enjoyed the beer with the brewery’s homemade pretzel and chips.

The picturesque village of Appenzell is also famous for its mostly carless streets lined with centuries-old colorful houses that are still inhabited to this day.  Each house reveals an interesting Appenzell architectural history. Even the church of St. Maurice in the village center is an architectural conversation piece. 

Taking in the colorful houses is a hip and eclectic experience as we walked through the quaint town.

Check out the Ebenalp where one can take a short walk on a well-maintained hiking trail that leads to a hermitage and chapel. The cave chapel was established in 1621 while the Hermit’s house was built in 1658 and offered sanctuary to hermits until 1853. It later became an inn.  The hermits and herdsmen began selling food and drink on the Alp Escher as far back as 1800. Dating to the early 19th century, the mountain chalet gradually evolved into Bergasthaus Aescher, one of the oldest inns in Switzerland.

Nowhere in the world have I witnessed such a charming, quaint and peaceful village where one can feel the presence of God talking to you in the air in the sweet wind and the bells of the cows that clang for all to hear.

Get ready to be mesmerized in Appenzell.

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Email the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.