Bill&Theresa: Liechtenstein Day

Apparently it was a big pink bus.

The bus to Vaduz (pronounced Va-dootz? as closes as we could understand) last night was quiet and sort of eerie. But we crossed the Rhine river and were into the Principality of Liechtenstein, a new country! The bus dropped us off right near our hotel. The downtown area was lit up very nicely, and we intended to go check it out after getting into our room.

Between the bus stop and the hotel.

Our room in Vaduz.

The hotel had a “self check-in”, which was a bit of a trial. They had a touch screen…which didn’t respond to touch. Hmm. They had a call box downstairs by the entry door, so Theresa went down there, and talked with the person on the phone while calling up instructions to Bill at the functionally challenged kiosk. After 10 minutes or so, we had a key card, and it work, and we found our room (on the third floor!) Turns out, one flight of stairs to the check in, one to floor two (where room 22301 is NOT) and one more flight to the third floor. That elevator would have been nice! To our delight-chagrin, the room had a little patio. We checked the temp, and the step, and well, it was really more of a smoking balcony, with two chairs and an ashtray. But we heard music, and looked around noticing the Vaduz Palace way up the hill, and … a party?? They had a party in a square, with ice skating, music and we’re about to find out what else!

The view from our balcony. The Vaduz Castle (where the
Prince of Liechtenstein lives) sort of watches over the party.

Arriving at the party, we started scoping things out, and walked most of the way around the rink, checking food vendors along the way. One place had Raclettes, either with bread and bacon, or with potatoes, and also had “hot dogs”. We got one hot dog and one … sliced potatoes covered in melted cheese! We also got two Glühwein, one with white wine and one red. (The red was better!). They came in cute little mugs, so we verified we could keep one of the mugs in lieu of the deposit, and she said, “Bring it back and I’ll give you a clean one!” Bill replied, “So, these were not clean?”

Hot spiced wine!

The hot dog was unusual. She took a long sort of “baguette” (crunchy crust, soft middle), and cut an axial core out of the middle. She then put mustard and ketchup (per request) in the middle and dropped the hot dog in the hole. It was really good!

We enjoyed our treats and watched the people a bit, and then wanted a little bit more. We passed a place that was doing some sort of chicken Rotti that smelled great, so Bill held the seat and Theresa went for the chicken, ordering in “perfect” (?) German. He asked back in English, “how spicy” and she answered “medium”. He asked “European medium” or “Sri Lankan medium”. :-0 She opted for the lower scale, but it was still very tasty! Turns out the guy making the Rotti was also the DJ, as while he made hers, he had to stop to change the song.

On our way out, we passed the crepe stall. They had Nutella. It was 5 Swiss Francs. Hmmmm….yeah! That was a great little treat before heading back and calling it a night!

Incidentally, we guessed there were at least 250 people there, and the whole city has about 5,000 people, so like 5% were at the party. Still, we seemed to stand out and it was like every vendor knew we didn’t quite belong!

The morning view.

In the morning, we headed down to breakfast, where we found some scrambled eggs, bacon, and some sort of sausage (the sausage was the best!), and fruit, cheese, meats, and something purple (?) thing. It was like a yoghurt with some muesli and cranberries, and was surprisingly good!

After dropping our bags in luggage storage, we strolled the town. With the sun out, it felt warm, and we realized this was the first time we “just walked”, not schlepping bags. We found our way to St. Florin Cathedral, and stepped inside for a bit. It was beautiful, and celebrating it’s 150 year anniversary.

Vaduz Castle.

Liechtenstein flag.

Vaduz

St. Florin Cathedral.

Then we headed to the national museum to enjoy some history and artifacts. It was a nice little museum and free with our rail passes! After lunch, we headed back to our hotel to pick up bags and catch the bus back to Switzerland, and Zurich, and the airport for our flight(s) tomorrow.