Our hotel has a really lovely view.
Today we are going to Vaduz, Liechtenstein! It turns out Liechtenstein isn't particularly easy to get to unless you are driving your own vehicle, Vaduz especially. So we took a bus from Feldkirch, Austria.
Views from the bus! A floral apple?
A somewhat cloudy landscape.
I'm not sure what's happening here.
A little history of Vaduz.
The castle looming up on the hill.
The first thing we did was find a cafe to get some breakfast. Some photos from along the way:
An art!
Liechtenstein is one of two countries that is considered "double landlocked." The countries that boarder it are also landlocked. The other county is Uzbekistan.
Other Dan in Vaduz!
(Vaduz is easier to type out than Liechtenstein, plus I never get the i's and e's in the correct places.)
Other Dan and the horse art.
Mexico has a consulate here. Neat.
We found a cafe! We order many pastries because they all looked delicious. While eating wonderful pastries and tea and coffee we tried to make a plan for our day in Vaduz. I accidentally dropped my camera, but it's clearly still working okay, just a little dented.
More horses? Also Asian tourists.
Full of pastry, I had the brilliant idea that we should hike up to the castle. I may have regretted this decision fairly quickly. I am not in shape. But we saw this weird house decor/architecture/thing.
We also found a nice view. Look at all that Liechtenstein.
Other Dan taking photos of the cliff face.
I liked how the water runoff affected this plant. It's very drippy.
Another lovely view. It's been cloudy, but quite pleasant.
Along the path up the mountain were many informational signs about Vaduz and Liechtenstein.
The information is presented in German, English, and French (I think).
I little path-side pool.
What in the world is a constitutional hereditary monarchy upon democratic and parliamentary basis? Maybe this chart will help...but I doubt it.
It was a very nice path. I wish it wasn't so steep though....
And now, a bunch of signs:
Pre-history to 1700s, in a nutshell.
None of the "ruling" Liechtenstein family lived here until 1938.
Some Geography and the town crests.
The biggest contribution to the economy is industry and industrial trade.
Liechtenstein claims Catholicism as its official religion.
History of the Princely House.
A little higher elevation, a little better view.
A guide to the mountain peaks from the view.
The current ruling family. H.S.H. stands for His Serene Highness.
What's also neat is the coat of arms has a harpy on it - the lower left panel.
Also of note is that H.S.H. Prince Hans-Adam II is one of the world's wealthiest heads of state and the wealthiest Monarch in Europe. He's personally worth about $4 Billion dollars. In comparison, the richest man in the world (at the writing of this blog) is Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon; he's worth about $105 Billion dollars. It's all ridiculous.
And finally we can see the castle!
It's a nice view for a driveway.
Because the family lives here, we are not allowed to go tour the castle.
But it has a lovely driveway/courtyard thing.
It's important to know that this is Vaduz Castle, NOT Liechtenstein Castle. That castle is in Austria.
The main keep was built in the 12th century. The castle was purchased by the family in 1712.
I was there!
Once a year, on August 15th, the royal family invites all of Liechtenstein to come to a party on the castle grounds.
We went a ways down a hiking path to look for a geocache.
It was over in this little grotto-y area.
It's dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God.
I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but I like it's bead looking seeds.
It looks like a nice trail, but it doesn't go where we want to go.
On our way back down to the town, we can see the Rathaus.
Another view of that house and its...art.
A Vaduz neighborhood.
A quaint walking path down towards old town.
Someone's fancy gate.
The Red House was constructed in 1338.
So...Google thinks this says "The two lychees in a bloody dispute around 1500."
I'm not sure it's correct on the lychee bit. I don't think I've ever seen lychee have a dispute.
Over the fence and the rooftops lurks the castle and snow on mountains.
This might be the fanciest fire hydrant I have ever seen.
A Vaduz suburban street.
And then there's a vineyard, because, why not.
It's about to rain on us!
The vines belong to Hofkellerei, or the Princely Winery at the Wilfersdorf estate.
You can find out more about their wine at their website.
The Prince can oversee his vines.
It was starting to rain, but we decided to cut through the vineyards because 1, we could and 2, we needed to go in this direction anyway.
These might be Merlot grapes, but they could be Zweigelt, or...something else entirely.
Do you know why vineyards often have roses at the end of each row?
It's because roses and grape vines are susceptible to the same diseases and the roses act as an early warning that there might be a problem.
These almost look like giant blackberries.
Back to the horses, now without Asian tourists.
Tre Cavalli by Nag Arnoldi (2002)
The Rathaus!
Resting Woman by Fernando Botero (1993)
Time for museums! But first we went to the Visitor's Center to get our passports stamped. I forget exactly how this went down, but it was something like for a Swiss Franc (currency of Liechtenstein) more we could get tickets to the Treasury, the Stamp Museum, and the National Museum. So we did.
There were no photos allowed in the Treasury or the Stamp Museum.
So....see cool things from the Treasury here.
Messages to Mankind - International Poster Exhibition (2017)
I feel like I stepped into a weird dystopian Canadian residence or something.
.....okay. There are fake flowers "growing" out of the elevator.
They have a whole exhibit about Egypt:
Two stone hippos from the Predynastic Period (3700-3200 BC) from Egypt.
ALL the pyramids!
Other Dan and I did the activity for kids. We built the best pyramid.
A collar and bracelet from the Old Kingdom, Fifth Dynasty (2494-2345 BC).
The beads are usually made of faience - a glazed ceramic.
Stone slab of Imen-Hetep from the New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty, Reign of King Seti I
(1314-1304 BC)
A reproduction of the Tomb of Sennedjem (1250 BC).
This back wall is considered one of the most beautiful representations of Egyptian funerary art.
Other Dan was too tall. He came in for a bit and then moved on.
A model of the tomb of Sennedjam in Deir el-Medina.
The Pyramid in Garzau (1780).
Hang in there for this explanation:
Oh hey, it's the weird Elk heads again. I think they're made of plaid flannel.
And now we're in Natural History. A comparison of an eagle and its skeleton.
A bunch of things - a crayfish and a shrew in Polyethylene Glycol, squirrel bones, the death mask of a wild boar piglet, and a carving of a duck.
The Death's Head Hawk-Moth. You may know it from the cover of The Silence of the Lambs.
Apparently they can squeak.
All sorts of animals.
Hey! It's angry eyebrows bird again. Or a relative at least. This is a Ptarmigan. When I did the translation from Schneehuhn to Ptarmigan, I wasn't sure that Google gave me an actual word.
Bream with swim bladder and gills.
A model of Liechtenstein:
This building is all roof!
The National Archives.
Enhance!
The Archives have a lovely set of mosaics.
A church! We haven't been in a church in like...days. That's unheard of.
I liked the juxtaposition of this older classic building with the much more modern one behind it.
Also Other Dan.
Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina.
He looks so....disapproving.
Oh, right, the church. This is St. Florin.
On the left is Mary and the Baby Jesus. On the right is Mary with Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. Above is Other Dan.
A very doggy looking gargoyle.
The church was built in 1874 by Friedrich von Schmidt.
It became a cathedral in 1997.
This allowed Vaduz to have its own diocese instead of having to be under the Swiss diocese of Chur.
I lit candles for Sherrie and her mom and my godmother and grandmother.
What a fun view from the front doors! I like all the different architecture.
The webby-looking building is the library.
The gargoyle is slightly unsettling in appearance up close.
After the church we caught the bus back to Feldkirch. This is the Ill river, a tributary to the Rhine.
I'm not sure what these are crests of, but the painting looks fun.
A marble ball fountain.
It made me think of going to the Norfolk Zoo with Michael and Christian.
So many pretty flowers!
Again, some fun architecture. I like the green building.
Old cobblestone streets.
The Dormant
500 years of the Hammer Guild 1479-1979, dedicated to the masters of the city Feldkirch.
His sign says "Farewell. 36 years ago I conceived you. With brain, heart, and hand. I bow down to Earth soon and you shall continue to be the admonisher and friend of all those who live in Feldkirch Take care and Severus Isidorle."
10 points to whoever can tell me what "Servus Isidörle" means.
Update: My mom wins the 10 points with "Stern Justice."
This concludes our adventures for today.
