Day 32: Hopfgarten to Lauterbrunnen - Swiss Alps

---

First, to Vaduz, the capital of Lichtenstein. Next an orientation tour of Lucerne and time to shop. Tonight stay at the base of the Jungfrau in the beautiful Swiss Alps.

Went to Lichtenstein today. Left the site at around 8 and got to the Swarovski crystal museum about half an hour later. Had to rush through the museum so we'd have time to look around the shop as we only had an hour. There wasn't that much to see anyway, just displays and stuff, though they do have an original Dali. They prouduce 20 000 - 30 000 tonnes of crystal a day there as it's so cold. The crystal dome was the coolest thing there, I hope photos turn out. Took about 2 1/2 hopurs to get to Lichtenstein, which is the most industrialised country in Europe. Most of it's income comes from stamps, and it's also the home of false teeth. The main street of Vaduz is socute, with cafes, banks, tourist shops and a post office. Found heps of patches there, the even had ones for Vatican City and Monaco. Don't know how all these are going to fit on my pack.
Drove to Lucerne, where I got a blue swiss army knife. Walked over the Chapel Bridge and wandered around the streets with Cara and Simon. Got some Swiss chocolate and saw the Lion Monument. The weather is so hot here, it's great. We all thought it was going to be cold in Switzerland so had my warm stuff in my day pack, but it's over 20 degrees. It's weird being so hot and seeing snow capped mountains.
Everything in switzerland is so clean and organised. It's a neutral country, which is lucky as it's military and defence is amazing according to Amanda. All males over the age of 20 have to do military service, and their army of over 400 000 can be fully mobilised within 72 hours. As it's pretty much surrounded by mountains, the main access is via tunnels. All the tunnels have a detonation device in them that looks like a smoke alarm, and it can be activated at any moment to block off a tunnel. They also have metal rods in the road that come up so that tanks can't enter. We saw an air conditioning duct in the side of a hill, so there's probably a military base or something inside.
Got to the campsite pretty late, but it stays light until like 9.30 here. Had burgers and chips for dinner, then had a few pre drinks in our cabin with Melissa, Jess and Nic. Went to 'the bomb shelter' and had a big night on fugels (red bull and vodka shots that come in a little bottle).

---