Blogs from Liechtenstein, Europe - page 3

In my years of wandering the planet, I have had the opportunity to visit kingdoms, constitutional and otherwise, as well as the odd emirate and sultanate. But I had never been to a principality until I set foot in teeny-tiny Liechtenstein a couple days ago. When I was in elementary school, I stumbled on a book about the micro-states of Europe – Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, the Vatican City, and, of course, Liechtenstein (Luxembourg, although on the small side, is a giant in comparison to these guys, so was not included) – and I was entranced, sparking an early interest in such compact political entities. How can such a country exist in this day and age? How can it sustain itself as a distinct unit in this globalizing world? My travels have taken me to some ... read more

Leaving early we headed off to the alps again this time via the Grimselpass and Furkapass if they are open, the destination is Liechtenstein all going well. What a stunning drive we had, firstly through the lower hills and finally winding up through Grimselpass for a brief stop and to admire the awesome view. Onwards and ever upwards we headed up the Furkapass which was open today for the first time this year. This and many of the passes in the alps are closed during the winter as they are very dangerous, the snow in places where we drove was over 4 meters high at the edges of the road where they had cut a way through, very cool. There are hotels dotted right through the area which are sponsored by the Swiss Military in exchange ... read more

Location: Vaduz, Schaan, Malbun, Triesenberg, Triesen, Balzers, Eschen, Mauren Length of Stay: 3 Days Cost per Day: $70 Wow... Liechtenstein is small... really small... like only 26km in length by 6km in width... Literally, you only need to spend a few days here and you can traverse the whole country... Liechtenstein has one of the oldest monarchies in Europe... while small, the country has a certain air of regalness about it... The Royal family live in a castle overlooking the main town Vaduz... The odd thing though is that everthing... buildings, homes, streets etc... all look reasonably new... certainly nothing that looks like it has been there for hundreds of years... where are all the historical old buildings and homes, the cobbled streets... how curious... With a whopping population of just 35,000... people enjoy a fairly ... read more

Friday 26.2.2010 day 136 Liechtenstein To drive to Liechtenstein, to get there we had to drive from Germany though Switzerland and Austria. So we drove though 4 countries today! Liechtenstein borders Austria on one side and Switzerland on the other were the Rhine is there border. It is in a valley with the Swiss and Austrian alps towering over it. I think that it would be a very hard country to defend. It disbanded it army in 1866 after a military engagement were non of it’s 80 soldiers were killed infract 81 returned including a new Italian ‘friend’. It is the 6th smallest country in the world. It is 25km long and 6km wide. Its head of state is Prince Hans-Adam II and he is said to be worth about uk £3.3 billion. At one point ... read more

We decided to spend a day in Liechtenstein, a country of 35,000 people (which is less than the college I went to!) We had our hotel booked ahead of time ... the Martha Buehler in Triesenburg, Liechtenstein. Upon arrival we were greeted by Giovanni, a lovely little Italian man who ended up cooking us dinner. Before we knew it we were friends with a German named Rolph and various other locals were drinking with us on the terrace overlooking all of Switzerland below. Giovanni brought out the "Grappa" ... an Italian liquor ... and we all did shots of this slightly evil drink. I was given a flag of Liechtenstein by one of the locals and enjoyed myself so much I will go back to the Martha Buelher again someday! The next morning we went into ... read more