A few days after landing in Germany, Julia and I departed on a road trip in the direction of Zurich, Switzerland. We left on a sunny late morning heading through the mountains. Our first stop was about three hours west in Innsbruck, one of the larger cities in Austria. The sun made the mountains sparkle. Innsbruck is in western Austria and is nestled between snow capped mountains on all four sides. Walking through the city in the afternoon sunshine was delightful. The architecture and colors of the building in the city center were bright and fun. We managed to make it up to the city tower, Stadtturm in German and climbed the steps to breathtaking views overlooking the city and the surrounding mountains.
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| Innsbruck, Austria. |
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| Innsbruck along the Inn river. |
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| View from the city tower in Innsbruck. |
We left Innsbruck just before sunset and got on the Autobahn (highway) heading towards Vaduz, Liechtenstein, about 100 miles due west. Between the both cities there seemed to be nothing but mountains, snow and tunnels. We pulled into Vaduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein around 8pm. Before leaving Julia's house, we booked an Airbnb in Vaduz to spend the night. It was more like a youth hostel than a bed and breakfast, as their were bunk beds and students also staying there. It was a cozy room we had to ourselves. After having a snack, we decided to check out the nightlife in Vaduz, which was quite a joke. We saw a flyer on the kitchen wall of the airbnb, claiming that there was live music at this hotel bar. We punched the address into our navigation system in the car and ended up driving 45 minutes up this steep, windy, icy road to a ski resort town called Malbun at the top of the mountain! Since we had driven all the way up there and prospects of finding anything else were slim, we decided to have a drink at Hotel Galina. We walked in to an empty bar with a man playing the piano and singing Elton John songs with a thick accent. The wait staff and pianist seemed happy to see us walk in. We ordered a few drinks and a snack and the bill was over $80! Liechtenstein is even more expensive than Austria, Germany or Switzerland. As we were leaving Hotel Galina, we noticed a party going on across the road at the other hotel.
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| Restaurant Galina Hotel. Malbun, Liechtenstein. |
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| Julia in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. |
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| Werdenberg Castle, Liechtenstein |
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| View of the mountains in Liechtenstein. |
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| Cafe Conditerei Gulfina, Triesenberg, Liechtenstein. |
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| Heading out of Liechtenstein into Switzerland. |
We decided to do that same drive the next day up to Malbun to see the view in the daylight, as we thought it may be pretty spectacular. The views on the way up were interesting but once at the summit, all we could see was ski resort, as it is nestled between mountain peaks in this sort of valley. On our way down we stopped at a bakery and cafe where I had a piece of cake, and they charged me two francs for a mug of hot water.
After leaving Liechtenstein, we headed towards Zurich through the Swiss countryside, where we visited a small town, known as the region of Heidiland. Heidi, as in the story or movie with Shirley Temple was filmed in this region. Since the film came out, it has become quite the tourist attraction. There is a Heidiland, Heidiland museum, Heidihof and other sites. We didn't pay for any of these tourist attractions. Instead, Julia and I wandered through a quaint town and outside the town a ways to view the countryside full of vineyards.
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| A small village in the Heidiland region of Switzerland. |
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| Heidiland. |
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| Translation: "Give every day the opportunity to be the most beautiful day of your life." |
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