Before Frau Holler (or Old Mother Frost) can even begin to think about shaking her feather eiderdown (resulting in the first blankets of snow as the German fairytale goes), something pretty special takes place across most Alpine regions, whether they are in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria or in this instance Italy…
I wrote about the Austrian Viehschied we saw when we first arrived, and we haven’t managed to go to another since, but recently we stumbled across this Almabtriebe (same thing – different name) near our hotel in the Dolomites – but sadly the weather wasn’t quite as kind.
Despite the pouring rain it was really lovely to watch the farmers proudly walk their decorated charges through the streets (and onto pastures new so to speak), and stand amongst the locals as they welcomed these gorgeous creatures back from their high altitude munching grounds well before winter’s arrival…
This is the first time I have seen an Almabtriebe with such an array of creatures other than cows by the way – while they passed in a gentle majestic manner, the goats (in similar handmade floral headdresses) passed like a gaggle of arguing children on a school trip, bickering and occasionally butting each other, with flowers flying everywhere…
Predazzo is well worth a visit with or without an Almabtriebe taking place, but if you happen to be visiting solely for that then stop a while, say welcome back to the animals and enjoy the food and wine festival that takes place just afterwards…
Where to stay/what to eat
And if you are not staying that far away, then you should explore this area completely anyway with stunning towns like Cavalese nearby (great sandwiches and other heavenly breads and coffee at Botega Dal Pan Betto and excellent pizza with the locals at Pizzeria La Salera should you need a couple of recommendations.
We stayed nearby in the picturesque Castello Molina Di Fiemme at the family run Hotel Olimpionico. Established by an Olympic medal winner (hence the name) we loved the super friendly staff who were really sweet with the kids (the baby had a private tour of the kitchen on one occasion!) and our comfortable family room with a separate room (and fabulous alpine bunkbeds!) for the children, I would really recommend it.
And if you happen to be in the area and would like to see an Almabtriebe/Viehschied – you can have a look at the special calendar here…
This is wonderful to read and your photos, even in the rain, are so colourful.
So pleased you had a great stay.
#farawayfiles
It was a lovely break! Back to Austria next week! :D x
That’s a lovely festival to stumble on to. #FarawayFiles
Thanks Ahila! (:
Beautiful even in the rain! I loved your description of the goats and can truly picture it! I have never seen this, but would love to -so charming – thank you kindly for sharing with #FarawayFiles – a perfect one! Cheers from Croatia this time!
Erin
Thanks so much Erin! :)
Such fantastic photos – absolutely love that one of the goats! What a wonderful tradition. Thanks so much for sharing it with us on #FarawayFiles
Thank you Clare! (:
Oh my gosh.. baby goats!! Love them. What a beautiful tradition and one my flower obsessed daughter would love. I cant wait to show her these pictures. Thanks for sharing with us on #FarawayFiles
Thanks Katy! (:
I loved your shots of the cows and goats with their special headdresses. I really need to explore this part of Italy – it looks magnificent.
It really is a lovely part of the world! Thanks Nell! :)
What an amazing tradition and a wonderful way to mark the changing seasons. Everyone looks to be in such good spirits too!
It’s a really sweet celebration, and illustrates how important the herds are to the community! Thanks Emma! :)
What a lovely tradition – I’d love to see something like that although I suspect I wouldn’t know where to look first ;-)
If you happen to be in any alpine region in the Autumn, take a look at the calendar I have linked at the bottom of the post, and you will find them all listed! :) Thanks Cass!
Such a shame the weather was not playing ball, looks like a wonderful event nonetheless and your photo’s are fab. I bet the Brits would have called it off for less :)
Thanks Kara! Yes, I know what you mean. I guess this goes ahead whatever the weather as they can’t really have a practice – the cows are coming down from the mountains and that’s that! :D
Oh wow what a wonderful and colourful tradition. Must have been amazing to see that.
It was really sweet! Thank you Fozia! :)
It’s quite a spectacle to see all the animals dressed in their finery. I’m sure such a parade would not be allowed in the UK!
I guess they have to walk through the town to get back to their lower pastures anyway, so there’s no real harm done! I remember watching the cows walk through my grandparents village to the dairy when I was small. They didn’t have beautiful headdresses though! :D
That is so fascinating and what a wonderful way to welcome in the season to come. I love that they go to the trouble of decorating the animals like that, it must be amazing to watch.
Thanks Nikki, it’s taken very seriously. If a cow is injured or sadly dies on the mountains during the summer months, there’s no Almabtriebe out of respect.