Vaduz
Wednesday, 13th August 2008
I had breakfast at 7.00 am and Kitty came down in time to catch the bus around 8.00 am. We had tickets for the 8.35 train and didn't have a lot of time to waste. We changed trains at Tharwil then travelled to Sargans where we had to catch a bus. I asked for information about getting to Innsbruck the next day. It turned out we would have to catch a bus back to Sargans then take the train from there. That wasn't clear on the Internet. The hotel in Schaan was just around the corner from the busstop which was convenient but we did have to lug our bags up a few flights of stairs. We had separate rooms booked - they don't have twin share. We should have done that all along - it was so nice to have my own space. I told Kitty that I was going sightseeing and would be back at 4.00. Hopefully she would be ready by then to go sightseeing herself.
I took the bus into Vaduz and walked to the main tourist drag where I spotted these wonderful horses. Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein - a very modern but expensive city. The sculptures in the town square were wonderful.
The thing to do here is climb up to the castle so I looked for the pathway and started my ascent. You can see the castle from the town square and the path leads up past some shops and houses and along the cliff line. I took a photo of some interesting letterboxes and a very futuristic house and followed the path till it reached some steps.
From the steps the buildings were starting to get smaller as I climbed higher. The natural pathway snaked higher and higher and the town became smaller and smaller.
Before long I had reached the road which you can take up to the castle. I followed this for a while until I came to an open space around the next major bend. There was a small cottage across the field. The road led to the castle itself which was being renovated.
You can walk around part of the castle until you come to a wall and private entry. Visitors are not allowed inside the castle as it's the home of the prince and his family. The following Friday was their national day when the citizens of Vaduz are invited to have drinks with the prince. A marquee was being set up on the open space for the event.
I started to climb back down again taking a different route. The rustic furniture was an interesting design. There were some nice views of the town as I descended and I was impressed with this lovely little pool beside the track.
Somehow I managed to end up on a wild section of the track and had to retrace my steps and go around a house to get to the right path.
Soon I was back in the main square and now it was time to find the natural history museum to learn something about the area. Again the sculptures were outstanding and I liked the painted stamps on the pavement. Liechtenstein is famous for its stamps. I bought a few postcards, found the post office and sent them away.
The museum was excellent with a fantastic alpine interactive display but I hurried through the last section which had all the stuffed alpine animals so that I could get back in time for Kitty. I needn't have hurried. She was sitting in the outdoor cafe section of the hotel nursing a vodka and I had to wait for another half hour before she finished her drink. I told her about the stamps which she was interested in so we took the bus back to Vaduz - found the stamp sales place which was just about to close and then we walked around town a bit looking at shop windows and taking in curious details like these wooden sculptures.
Back in Schaan we found a local dive called the Post Restaurant with regulars. Here we sat outside and ate Abendbrot. The service left a lot to be desired.
