Liechtenstein

22.09.05

I had a late start today. After doing a load of laundry, I started up to the castle in Vaduz around noon. The castle is still inhabited by the royal family, so it can only be viewed from the outside. I talked briefly with who appeared to be a butler near the entrance. It must be weird having tourists visiting your home, and it felt a little weird taking a photo.

What would it be like to live in a castle? Does the castle define part of who they are? Being a prince is pretty special — but could that overshadow what’s really special about you? Of course I can only speculate.

Portions of the castle were under construction — this is a common theme I’ve seen in Switzerland and now in Liechtenstein. Building, growing — an indication of economic prosperity.

I visited the modern art museum in Vaduz, which had some very peculiar displays. While there is art that portrays a beautiful picture, that isn’t always the purpose. The most enjoyable piece for me were photos of “the titanic” and a other events, using common household objects to recreate the scene (styrofoam glaciers, a white bottle for a ship, etc.)

Eventually I found my way to the tourist information office — and while I didn’t remember exactly what I wanted to ask, the lady seemed to know just what I wanted to do. In a few minutes I caught a bus up to Malbun where there was a Falcon show taking place at 3 pm. I couldn’t understand the German narration, but I just enjoyed watching the birds and trying to snap photos as they flew past.

After that, I took the chair lift up to Sareiserjoch, where I looked towards the mountains of Austria as a kind of prelude to where I’m going next.

Only 2 hours until supper, and still not having lunch, I stopped at the local grocery for a snack. What I bought turned out to be different than I expected — Trink-Molke is flavored and sweetened sour milk. Completely bizarre, but it actually went well with the extremey sweet Lindt Cresta chocolate (with corn flakes inside).

Back at the hostel, supper was simplistic bratwurst, fries and a salad buffet — but well presented and fresh. All these buffets — I’m sure I’ve been eating more lately than in the past.