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The prince of Liechtenstein's castle looks over the capital of Vaduz and surrounding homes and vineyards

The prince of Liechtenstein’s castle looks over the capital of Vaduz and surrounding homes and vineyards

From St. Moritz we traveled by train, another train, and a bus to reach the little principality of Liechtenstein. I can’t say that I really knew too much about Liechtenstein before, but now that I’ve been here, I’m happy to share some of my favorite findings about this pretty little country (my 85th country).

Since I do actually have one friend who is a native Liechtensteiner (We met Martin and his wife Val at a really cool dinner party in Mendoza, Argentina), I asked what we should do here. At Martin’s recommendation we took a bus to Malbun, the nation’s only ski resort, and set off for a hike along the dramatic mountain ridge that separates Liechtenstein from Austria.

This takes me to my first cool fact about Liechtenstein. It’s not just a landlocked country. It’s double-landlocked — surrounded by two other landlocked countries. In fact as we hiked along that ridge between Liechtenstein and Austria, we were contemplating taking an extension up to a point where Liechtenstein, Austria, and Switzerland all meet. I wanted a photo for this very blog of me standing in all three countries.

But this was not to be, since just as we were approaching the highest point of our hike this morning, a wicked wind came blasting in with icy cold rain to boot. The sky on the Austrian side was ominously dark, and we decided to do the sensible thing and hike back to Malbun. By 2 pm we ended up back in the capital city of Vaduz, where we picked up a bottle of wine and headed back to our hotel. We ended up sitting on our lovely balcony enjoying the picnic lunch we’d packed for the hike with a nice bottle of Chianti Classico. Not a total disaster.

I may have mentioned previously that Switzerland was the most expensive country we’ve ever been to. Within days that record was been shattered here in Liechtenstein, where it’s pretty much impossible to get dinner for under $200 ANYWHWERE (and hence our strong penchant for picnicking). So it’s not surprising to learn that by some measures Liechtenstein has the highest per capita income of any country in the world. They also have rock bottom unemployment, hovering around 1.5%.

It’s also the only country on earth located entirely within the Alps. OK, I’ll quit now. This is a lovely place, but tomorrow we head to Zurich to get some welcome Swiss relief from these crazy prices.

The trail leading up to the national border mountain ridge

The trail leading up to the national border mountain ridge

Jim celebrates just after we reached the ridge. That's Austria in the background.

Jim celebrates just after we reached the ridge. That’s Austria in the background.

The authorities have an opinion about your choice of footwear up here

The authorities have an opinion about your choice of footwear up here

Enjoying the scenery just before all hell broke loose with wind and rain

Enjoying the scenery just before all hell broke loose with wind and rain

The lakes of the Engadine Valley, with St. Moritz the biggest town down there

The lakes of the Engadine Valley, with St. Moritz the biggest town down there

From Zermatt we took the beautiful Glacier Express, self-described as “the world’s slowest express train” to St. Moritz. In the winter this is one of the world’s most expensive ski resorts, vacation destination for the rich and famous. It still brags that it was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948, though we thought that after 66 years they might get over that. It is also allegedly the original site of winter tourism in the Alps and perhaps in all of the world: in 1864, exactly 150 years ago, the first British winter tourists arrived here.

One of Switzerland's quirks. The smallish hotels we stayed at in both Zermatt & St. Moritz lock the front doors at 9:00 PM. When you go out for the evening you insert your room key into the control board and it releases a key to the front door. Then when you come home you put the front door key in and it releases your room key. Pretty efficient, but something utterly unique to Switzerland from our experience at least.

One of Switzerland’s quirks. The smallish hotels we stayed at in both Zermatt & St. Moritz lock the front doors at 9:00 PM. When you go out for the evening you insert your room key into the control board and it releases a key to the front door. Then when you come home you put the front door key in and it releases your room key. Pretty efficient, but something utterly unique to Switzerland from our experience at least.

We found it a pretty sleepy place in the summer. There were signs all around of the wealth the town is famous for – a big Rolls Royce in front of a neighboring hotel, exclusive designer shops, pricey menus – but not much activity in our two days here.

One of the amusing things about this area is that it seems as though throngs of Japanese tourists keep them in business. Everywhere you turned there was another big Japanese group moving (slowly) in a clump somewhere, all with their big floppy hats to keep the sun at bay. The restaurant we ate at our first night was nearly empty, and by the time we were finishing up we were the only patrons, so we talked for a while with the owner. He explained that yes, by 9:30 it was quiet, but at 6:00 PM he’d had a group of 35 Japanese. I won’t miss those big groups when we move back into France!

The other amusing feature of the area is that if you stay two or more nights at a hotel (we stayed two nights) they give you a free pass to all transportation in the region, including chairlifts and all that to get up into the mountains. So our experience is that everything in Switzerland is either two- or three-times as much as in other places … or it’s free. We liked the free part.

We did a loop hike that combined a difficult outbound segment and a pretty easy return. On the "easy" return we saw this family of five hiking. You'll see Mom in front with an infant on her back while Dad is carrying a two-year-old on his shoulders and a four- or five-year old on his back. We were truly impressed!

We did a loop hike that combined a difficult outbound segment and a pretty easy return. On the “easy” return we saw this family of five hiking. You’ll see Mom in front with an infant on her back while Dad is carrying a two-year-old on his shoulders and a four- or five-year old on his back. We were truly impressed!

And yes, we did another hike here. Beautiful mountains and valleys, great trails, perfect weather, and (of course) hordes of Japanese. Here are some more of our favorite pictures.

Mark on the trail. You'll notice how the large stones have been set out to make a great trail. We observed, though, that moving those rocks and making the easy, level trail had to have been an enormous amount of work. Thanks to whomever...

Mark on the trail. You’ll notice how the large stones have been set out to make a great trail. We observed, though, that moving those rocks and making the easy, level trail had to have been an enormous amount of work. Thanks to whomever…

Some of the gorgeous scenery

Some of the gorgeous scenery

More of the gorgeous scenery

More of the gorgeous scenery

Mark's on top of the world

Mark’s on top of the world

Even the Swiss cows are beautiful

Even the Swiss cows are beautiful

Just in case you thought you were done seeing pictures of the Matterhorn

Just in case you thought you were done seeing pictures of the Matterhorn

Two more days complete in Switzerland, one hiking and one riding on a panoramic train. This is one seriously scenic country!

Our second full day was spent hiking, but a much more modest hike than day one. Instead of climbing up a few thousand feet, we took an underground tram well up the mountain and then a cable car further up. From there we started a four-hour hike back down, passing five lakes along the way. We stopped for our picnic lunch at one of the lakes, and I even went for a reasonably quick swim.

Here we are starting out on the five-lake journey. It's all downhill from here....

Here we are starting out on the five-lake journey. It’s all downhill from here….

Lake #1

Lake #1

This was lake #3, Grünsee, if I'm not mistaken. It was the prettiest of them all and  so we stopped for a picnic lunch and a swim.

This was lake #3, Grünsee, if I’m not mistaken. It was the prettiest of them all and so we stopped for a picnic lunch and a swim.

The last half of the hike was a pretty easy trail through beautiful forests

The last half of the hike was a pretty easy trail through beautiful forests

We were definitely enjoying this part of the hike

We were definitely enjoying this part of the hike

One of the things that amuses us about hiking here is the amount of money people spend on clothing and gear. It seems as though a significant majority of people use hiking poles, even on paths that are really easy. Mark & I have both tried those polls and find them far more trouble than they’re worth. Even worse, though, is the specialized clothing that people buy. Apparently Patagonia and North Face and those kind of brands have done a great job of convincing people that the shorts and t-shirts you wear normally just wouldn’t work for hiking in mountains. We saw lots of fancy duds up there.

One last shot of the Matterhorn, with Zermatt spreading out at the foot. The town is a *lot* bigger than when I was here in 1976.

One last shot of the Matterhorn, with Zermatt spreading out at the foot. The town is a *lot* bigger than when I was here in 1976.

Oh, and one of the treats that we’ve enjoyed here is that we found a store with limes, hazelnuts, and Bombay Sapphire gin. So we’re having gimlets in our room before going out to dinner, just as good as I could make them at home. When we had a home, that is. That’s been a treat.

Today was a long train ride, some eight hours from Zermatt to St. Moritz. The Glacier Express is one of those “must do” experiences here, so we did it. The difference between this and a normal train is primarily the huge windows so you can enjoy spectacular views all day long. When you’re not drifting off to sleep, that is, or reading. It was really a great way to see Swiss mountains and villages and rivers and all that stuff.

This is looking through the curved windows that reach to the roof, so you could see the really high stuff

This is looking through the curved windows that reach to the roof, so you could see the really high stuff

Our neighbors enjoying the view through the huge windows

Our neighbors enjoying the view through the huge windows

This was what we were looking at over and over again for eight hours. That's a reflection of our less-than-friendly French seat-mate in the window.

This was what we were looking at over and over again for eight hours. That’s a reflection of our less-than-friendly French seat-mate in the window.

One last view from the train. Summer in Switzerland - nice!

One last view from the train. Summer in Switzerland – nice!

Tomorrow we’re off on a hike in the mountains again.