Good things come in small packages

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After an eventful drive from Interlaken, Switzerland to Triesenberg, Liechtenstein whereby we were caught in an avalanche and had to reclaulate our journey that last 5 hours.... we arrived in Liechtenstein weary but excited to be in a country thats probably smaller than most english towns. But we soon learnt that what Liechtenstein lacked in size, it certainly made up in spirit and atmosphere. If i'm truly honest, i fell in love with the place... we stayed in Triesenberg,

On our 2nd day in Liechtenstein, we discovered a personal highlight of the trip... The most eastern part of the country hugging the Tyrol mountains on the Austrian border, a town called Malbun. We set off from our hotel in Triesenberg and weaved up the mountain roads through a town called Steg. 2 mins later (in Liechtenstein, a 2mins drive can take you halfway across the country!) we arrived in Malbun. Clearly set aside for its main trade in the skiing season, we arrived in the May sunshine and pretty much had the place to ourselves asides a friendly lady running a merchandise stall. I think she was trying to greet me in German, and much to my embarrasment abroad, i couldnt return the welcoming vibe with anything other than a thumbs up... another minus point for modern language teachings in British schools in the 90's! :-). Walking around Malbun, you couldnt help but wonder how this quiet little haven must have been rammed to the rafters with ski-loving familes enjoying outdoor alpine BBQ's in 6 months time. So... it was another prime opportunity to exercise the camera skills and capture the tranquility.

Later that day, we ventured down the sloping landscape on foot into the capital 'city', Vaduz. Walking in Liechtenstein is a pleasure but also a challenge, one wrong turn and you are walking down the private farmhouse road with cows looking at you with disgust at your lack of navigation skills. Vaduz is a charming place, its certainly not your average capital city... ive certainly never seen a group of girls walking a ferret anywhere else before! We walked through Vaduz towards the River Rhine, this is effectively the recognised border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Along the River Rhine lies the home of Liechtenstein football, FC Vaduz, who play in the Swiss 2nd division in similar fashion to Cardiff or Swansea City in the UK. Only a small ground but nonetheless a good tick in the CV of any football enthuisiast!

In the late evening, we had another stroll up to the Austrian border to ask about the road tax vignette system, after 2 mins of loud,
slowly spoken dialog with lots of pointing and hand gesticulations, we realised that we needed to purchase a vignette to travel on the Austrian freeways. We were all set to head from Trisenberg into the Austrian Tyrol into Innsbruck...

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