Day 9 - Liechtenstien

It is notable that hotels in this part of the world do not have AC, something which I also noticed when I was here in 2022. I assume Switzerland has historically been cold enough throughout the summer to not need AC, but global warming is changing that. Last time it was hot enough in my room that I had to go pester the clerk at the front desk for a pedestal fan, this time one has already been provided in the cupboard.

Clothes getting a bit sinky, needed to find a washing machine. Ultimately I would be unsuccessful in this, and would wash my clothes in the bathroom sink. Need to remember to bring paracord next time to make a washing line.

I'd had a good nights sleep and woke up early, so spent the morning wandering around the area taking photos. Bought a coffee and tried to pronounce milchkaffee, something which I thought was within my capabilities when reading the word but failed completely in practice.

Met up with Buckie and took the train to Sargans, change to go to Sevelens, then we would simply walk into Liechtenstien. Why are we going to Liechtenstien? Because it is one of only two countries in the world that is double landlocked (has no ocean access because it is surrounded by countries, and those surrounding countries also have no ocean access because they themselves are surrounded by yet more countries). Is this a 'good' reason to spend time and money to visit a country for this reason only? Opinion varies but, meh, we are doing it.

Failwhale at first attempt to enter Liechtenstein. Having arrived at Sevelens we walked for a bit before crossing a bridge into Liechtenstein. Great success at crossing the border but we reached the end of the footpath that petered out leaving with no real room between the barrier and a busy road.

Crossed back into Switzerland and crossed back again into Liechtenstein using another bridge. Pretty cool bridge actually, a wooden, covered bridge. Occasional pile of horse poo to dodge.

After a bit on a long walk we arrived in Vaduz, and stopped in at a cafe. Great place and great food. Amazingly pleasant staff. The weather was also noticeably getting hot, so it was nice to get inside. I started making the first of many comments that Australia's weather had followed us to Europe.

While in the cafe, Buckie wrote out all the postcards he had collected so far. Bit of drama finding the post office but we got there. Pottered about town for a bit after that. There is a really nice castle overlooking the town but apparently the prince was in residence and didn't feel like having tourists in his house that day. We also chatted to a German guy who said the Swiss trains are much more reliable and nicer than German trains, something to which we could definitely attest!

We visited two museums. First the Treasure Museum. It has what is basically an airlock but for light (lightlock?), to prevent UV rays from entering and damaging the artifacts. You put your token in and the door opens, you step into a small chamber, the door closes behind you, and after the perfect amount of time to make you think the mechanism has malfunctioned, another door will open and you can access the treasure room.

The treasure room has a large number of artifacts, some on loan from the prince. Many jeweled Easter eggs and paintings, as well as a piece of moon rock. Liechtenstein engineering firms had provided vital technology to the Apollo missions, with the Liechtenstein flag being carried to the moon on Apollo 11 and Apollo 17. One of those flags and a piece of the moon is now on display in the museum.

We then went to the... Liechtenstienisches LandesMuseum. Yes, that is really how it is spelt. Very enjoyable place to visit. Has displays from thousands of years ago (pottery shards, arrowhead, skeletons, etc) all the way up to the modern day. Lots of beautifully taxidermied animals as well.

Bus back to Sargans. Ticked off "Cross a national border using a bus" from our list.

At Sargans I spotted a food stand selling bratwurst. This was the beginning of a comedy of errors. I ordered the food and the guy started cooking it, only when I went to pay did he tell me he only accepted cash. This was the first time I'd encountered this problem, and I didn't have any on me. I ran around to find Buckie who had gone to buy train tickets, he only had Euro, which fortunately the guy accepted. The cooking process also took longer than expected, which caused us to miss the train but fortunately the next one was only 30 minutes later.

We traveled back to Basel and the rest of the day was pretty uneventful except for the fact all the restaurants were closed by the time we went to get dinner. I wasn't really hungry after the bratwurst anyway, so I just ate some crackers I had in my bag and went to sleep.Read more