I almost hesitate to write this post because I feel like I want to keep all the good things for us, but EVENTUALLY you’re bound to find out about the magic of Liechtenstein, so I shall share :)
Breakfast at the Jugendherberge this morning was the typical spread of cereals, breads, cheese, and meats. You’d think it would get old, but it is so dang good! I blame the fresh bread and delightful way each place has had their items displayed. We fueled up and then headed out for a day in Vaduz! If you’ll recall from my post yesterday, the entire country (a lot of the literature and signage we saw calls it a principality) of Liechtenstein is only 5 square miles bigger than the city limits of Pittsburgh, PA. We looked it up before we left the US and found that you can walk west to east in about 3 hours and north to south in 6. That’s WALKING, not jogging. So, do with that what you will :) While we did not test those times, we did get to see a lot of Vaduz. Brandon had found an Adventure Pass online last night that provided free or reduced admission, as well as other fun bonuses, to a lot of places in the area. This included a series of museums in the pedestrian-only center of Vaduz, as well as a souvenir passport stamp in the tourist center! The tourist center was open first today. Around 9, we dropped in to check out what they had, as they also sold souvenirs. The girl at the counter was lovely and very helpful in letting us know how to get to some of the places covered by the Adventure Pass easily. She gave us our passport stamps, and we bought a couple of things, including a postcard, souvenir medallion, a sticker, and a hat. Then, we headed down the street to a small souvenir shop that was listed in our pass as offering a free magnet and glass of locally made wine. We debated on the wine, given it was about 9:45 in the morning at that point. But, we decided, “eh, why not?” It was a good choice :) We each got a sample of the Pinot noir. I’m not really a dry wine person, but I enjoyed it! By the time we finished our wine, the museums were opened. We went first to the Landesmuseum, where we were graciously given our admission ticket and a recommendation to start at the Treasury, then to go to the Postmuseum, and then we should come back and do the Landesmuseum. All the museums were basically either connected or next to one another, so that’s what we did! At the Treasury, we got to see a replica of the Prince’s crown. Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy. But it also works quite democratically. The Prince and Parliament work together with the people to make sure things work. The Prince and his family actually live in the castle in Vaduz, so you can look at and admire it, but you can’t go inside. Anyway, his crown was cool, as were the other items in the treasury, which included a fabergé egg and pieces of moon rock given to the principality by Nixon after the Apollo 11 moon landing. There were no pictures allowed, so you’ll just have to trust that it was excellent! The Postmuseum was equally cool. It had collections of stamps from over the years and went through the history of the “post office” within Liechtenstein. There were SO MANY STAMPS. Definitely worth checking out if you like collecting them! When we returned to the Landesmuseum, we were given little electronic guidebooks that were pretty cool. Different exhibits throughout the museum had numbers that you could type into the guide and there would be an extensive explanation of those items in whichever language you chose! The museum itself went through a couple different aspects of life. It talked about archaeology, history, and nature related to Liechtenstein. There were also a couple special exhibitions of traditional dress around the world, and another exhibit on 5000 years of Chinese culture which we unfortunately didn’t get to. After the museums, we found a Konditorei (bakery/pastry shop) where we got a small bite to eat before our actual planned activity for the day, a City Train tour! The City Train was so cool! It was like those train rides at an amusement park that either takes you through the park or maybe from the parking lot to the park. That’s what it reminded me of anyway. This one took us up towards the castle, by the vineyards, through some of the old town neighborhoods from the city of Vaduz’s original founding, and past the Rheinpark Stadium where the Vaduz football (soccer) club plays. The train ride included narrations about the different highlights, again in whatever language you needed. It was a really nice way to see the city! After the train tour, we went back to the hostel for a little bit to rest. The one other thing we knew we wanted to see was the Alte Rheinbrücke (Old Rhine Bridge). This covered bridge goes across the Rhine river and actually crosses the Switzerland/Liechtenstein border in the middle. It’s actually a fairly small bridge, but it is neat to walk across! After the bridge, we walked back to town and found some dinner to eat. We enjoyed the food, but we kept getting pestered by a stupid yellow jacket that just would not leave us alone! We’ve been having ongoing issues with bees and flies hanging around us, actually (we must smell…good, bad, I’m not sure lol). After dinner, it was back to the hostel again to settle in for the night. Tomorrow is another big travel day (we’re having those quite a bit!), so it’s early to bed so we can be early to rise! There were A LOT of pictures from today, but I only chose a fraction to share for now. Enjoy!
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