Switzerland and Liechtenstein

This past weekend we went to Switzerland (the close part) and Liechtenstein. There really wasn’t a whole lot to see or do in either place. So why go there, you might ask. One (big) reason is so that Doug can add those countries to his list of places he’s visited. Another, and probably more accurate reason, is that despite their lack of excitement, both places were beautiful and since we’re this close we might as well visit.

We started off in the town of Appenzell, Switzerland, a small town basically known for its cheese. So we went to a cheese factory first. (The picture of Gianna looking excited has cheese being made in the background.) It was fun to see the cheese getting made and it was complete with dangerous playground. (This one actually has a pretty nice slide. Most of the other slides we saw in Switzerland looked like rusted pipes. Yikes!) Unfortunately, this slide was too wet to attempt even with Daddy’s help. Then we strolled downtown Appenzell and went in the shops. Doug has been looking for schnapps. So he was so happy to find this ½ meter of Schnapps…his new pride and joy. After a delicious cheese-heavy lunch, we drove to Liechtenstein. While Gianna napped, our car ride was interrupted (we literally had to pull over) by a herd of cows complete with old men and little girls in traditional garb with sticks to keep the cows in check. It was classic! We were hoping this would happen (we read it was a possibility in our guide book)!

By the time we got to Liechtenstein, the weather had cleared. So we had a nice evening strolling downtown Vaduz (the capital). It is VERY small. So we saw it all pretty quickly. We went in some shops, sat and danced around some benches and artwork, and went in a church where Gianna renewed her obsession with church bells. (“I hear church bells…in the window…by the clock…can’t fly up there.”) By then, we had done it all so we went to our hotel room and were too lazy to leave again for dinner. So Doug got us some (expensive) takeout pizza. I’m pretty sure that’s traditional Liechtenstein fare.

On Sunday we got up and made the very tiring, steep hike to the Prince of Liechtenstein’s castle. From this fortress he rules over his vast country of 35,000 people. You can’t go in the castle, but the views were very nice. We took lots of pictures because it was quite an accomplishment for us to make it up there, Doug with Gianna in the stroller and me, 29 weeks pregnant. (For those of you who are interested, I've included the requisite belly shot. How many people have belly shots in front of castles? So many firsts for us!) We also took a lot of pictures because, well, there was nothing else to do up there! Then we walked back down and drove the 2 1/2 hours home. It was definitely a fun trip.