Frieburg (no comment) and Liechtenstein

Since leaving Kassel, I spent a day in Freiburg (still Germany), a day in Vaduz, Liechtenstein and I just finished my first day in Salzburg, Austria.

I would comment on and post pictures of Freiburg, but I think Brad is going there while he works at a lab in Basel, Switzerland. All I will say is that it is a nice place that you need to walk around and explore for a couple hours to really appreciate. There is a huge student community, and I could really imagine living there. That is to say, it's a livable city.

The train from Freiburg to Liechtenstein took me through half of Switzerland. The biggest event of the day happened early on. I hopped on a morning train on what happened to be the last stop before the Swiss-German border. Just a few minutes after sitting down, I was confronted by border guards who check my passport and then searched my backs and clothing pockets. They looked thorough every thing in my bag (on a moving train), and smelled my Tylenol for a few seconds. It was wrapped in Aluminum foil by my friend Morgan, who assured me the worst thing that could happen is someone could confiscate it. Fortunately, the best thing that could happen did. They gave it back. And actually, I was happy that they took an interest in me, I got another stamp in my passport!

The Swiss scenery was beautiful. Lakes, Mountains, fields and small houses and sheds-- that's what I saw, basically. I arrived at the only Lichtenstein hostel at about two in the afternoon, where I learned that check I didn't start till five. I was looking forward for a rest and so tie to drink water and rehydrate, but Instead, I had to chain and lock my luggage to a shelf in the laundry room and make use of the rest of the day.

Liechtenstein is a funny place. It is the fourth smallest country in the world and looks exactly like Switzerland. In fact it is situated on one side of a river in a valley, with Switzerland on the other side. The country extends over the mountain into a small valley, but almost everyone lives in plain view of Switzerland.

I walked to the centre of town down bike path that led through farmland and houses. I could feel a headache coming and eyes felt sensitive to the sunlight. I took deep long deep breaths as I walked slowly. I managed to release most of the tension in my neck, but I could tell that a nap would have been better than running around.

The main town, Vaduz, is a pretty faceless town. I was reading that the country makes money off banking just as the Swiss do; it seemed like a commercial town. I stocked up on fluids at the grocery store and headed to the tourist office where I got some great free maps and paid 2 bucks to get a Liechtenstein stamp in my passport. Other than the German stamp earlier in the day, the last stamp I got was entering Finland from Russia. I was feeling like I needed a bit more passport action.

I rehydrated and felt a little more energy. It was time to hike up the mountain side. Taking it slow, I made about a quarter of the way up, far enough to see the Prince's castle (he still lives there.) After a short rest, I hiked a quiet path across the face of the hill back toward my hostel, had dinner and went to bed at 8 or 9. The beauty of the mountains was astounding, but because I was on the hill IN Liechtenstein, all the mountains I was looking at were on the Swiss side. Very beautiful, but not in the country I came to see.