Hello, as I'm departing Zurich to head to Luxembourg City to kill a couple of hours. But what is better than visiting one tiny country in a day?-visiting two different tiny countries two days on the trot!
So, as suggested, yesterday I went to Liechtenstein, one of the tiniest countries in the world! With just 5000 inhabitants, its capital, Vaduz, is more small-town, than capital city, but it's what makes it an interesting proposition to visit when in the area.
It's about 1hr30 using public transport from Zurich, but is very straightforward to get to from the Central Station. The train takes you on a stunning route through mountains and Lake Zurich, and yes, there once again was people of all ages swimming- a painful reminder that I didn't bring my trunks with me. WIth such close proximity to the capital, you can certainly see why living in Zurich is appealing- especially with such good public transport, and many swimming facilities to use in the Summer. Still, you can also see why it's an expensive place to live!
Anyways, after that slight digression, upon arriving at Sargans, the last station in Switzerland before Liechtenstein, you disembark and take a yellow bus. Conveniently, the bus to Liechtenstein waits around if there is a delay. From there, it takes you about 30 minutes to get to the centre of Vaduz.
Being a principality, Liechtenstein definitely gives off monarchist vibes- in loads of the shops there are crown-based things on offer. To add to this, the monarch's residence is a castle that imposes itself over Vaduz- a reminder, you could say, of who reigns over the country. That does make it sound a bit dictatorial, but I've been told that once a year, the Prince invites the whole of the country to have a party at the manor- no word of a lie. For the rest of the year, though, the castle isn't open to the public, but, I still took it upon myself to ascend the 120 metres up to the castle, in the hope that I'd find a nice lunching spot. I'm usually "Mr. Health and Safety", but hiking up to the castle in 30 degree heat, was perhaps not the wisest thing to do, but I didn't know when I'd be able to Liechtenstein again, so I wanted to capture a good vista. And, a good vista, it was, embellished in scaffolding, and roadworks outside, too. Ach! To think that I could've caught a ride up to the top! But, hey, that would be going against my frugal principles, and I'd have to test out my poor German skills, too.
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| The Castle! |
Enjoy some dodgy filming of the view!
I eventually had lunch in the centre, but afterwards, I headed to the tourist information, where you can write a postcard that they'll send off- which is quite a sweet thing to do, if that's up your street. After, I went to"LandesMuseum"- the Liechtenstein National Museum. And guess what-, they had a "Special Exhibition"on. After perusing the taxidermy, and local artist displays, I headed to the "Special Exhbition", where I was greeted by a friendly staff member, who told me a bit about the exhibition. It revolves around how Liechtenstein came to be, It had some neat interactive displays, and also had a bit of the moon on display, as gifted to the Liechtenstein PM from Richard Nixon in the 70s.
Also part of this exhibition, was an explanation about how Liechtenstein has become so financially successful. It started off as a poor, agricultural country, but began to flourish after WW2. Instead of choosing to emigrate, foreign workers chose to come and work in Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein toughened up who was allowed to live in the country in the 70s, and now, the only foreigners allowed to live in the country either have to be married to a national, or, in the words of the friendly employee, "buy their way in". At the end of the display, you were given a little card, and a job to select, to see how compatible you would be at doing the job, after going around various stations and answering questions. I was a "hotel manager", but was a bit hit-and-miss with my responses, and ended up being informed that I wasn't a born hotel manager, but "up and coming". Not that I'm particularly considering becoming one, but it's nice to know, nonetheless.
I then made way to the Post Museum, which conveniently, was free to enter. Liechtensteiners are big stamp fans, and given the batches of them that are available in the shop, they aren't cheap! Think a pack of 10 cost over £100- though, in hindsight, perhaps they were really old stamps. Still, there may be a potential business venture there!
After seeing the Crown Jewels, I was exposed to the sweltering heat outside, and decided to head back to Zurich. I'd started to feel that I was becoming weary, and a little stressed about my weariness, and the fact that I hadn't planned where I was going to eat, didn't help matters. Anyways, there was very little seating available, despite the fact that the train had many carriages, and was split over 2 levels. The only place where I could find a place, after scouring several carriages, was a leather seat (typically, something I'd like), bot when it was 30+ outside, and had no air con, it was only fractionally better than standing up. To add to that, I was sat adjacent to a stoner, subtlely puffing away on his e-cig. He was also having conversations with himself, and told a child to "shut up, bitch".What a charmer 🤣 Let's just hope that the child did not have a good grasp of English.
I managed to find an Italian restaurant for dinner- 2 lemonades and a pizza cost me about £30, and that was on the cheaper side! Good news, though, is that I've still got 2 slices left-over for lunch, today :)
'Til next time,
Tom :)
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