June 24
As if staying on my old family farm and hiking through the Alps didn't give us enough of a taste of the Swiss culture, we definitely went to Switzerland's annual yodeling festival tonight!
It was absolutely fascinating and comical at the same time! All the yodelers wore traditional costumes that identified them with the region or city they are from. The clothing does more than just identify though, it also reveals the wealth of the region. Poorer areas sport simple, bland designs while the wealthy regions display gold lining and fancy accessories.

Thousands of people come form Switzerland, Austria and Germany for the festival each summer. You can find them congregating spontaneously in the streets offering yodeling serenades throughout the weekend! Then there are the bugle and alphorn players. Alphorns are similar to bugles but are much bigger. In fact, they are taller than most of the people who play them. It was just priceless to see these men, including my great uncle, in extensive constumes, playing these alphorns in the middle of the steet.

It was another unique adventure that took us from tourists to townies in so little time.