Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein - my favourite Liechtenstein

After a nice new years I head to Zürich. I am treating this place as a base only to get to Liechtenstein and München, and get some needed rest.
My first impressions of the city was of surprise. It is more attractive than I thought. And the city centre is more based on the river opposed to the lake. Like all Switzerland it seems, there are views of the Alps.
I however, bring tired, started my time here going to the hostel to chill and sleep. The next morning I wake up all excited. It was the day I would visit my 50th country. In fact, since moving to Europe 4 years ago (and a few weeks) I have been to 49 different countries, as well as visiting some favourites a number of times.
But back to 50. Liechtenstein. Not the cheapest place to get too. About 60 euros return. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to any expectations. The city of Vaduz, the capital was a mish mash of ugly modern architecture and old rural style buildings from way back. There didn't seem much planning involved. After the war they decided to move away from agriculture, and so buildings shot up. In fact I had read the city lacked a soul.
There is a castle on a hill that the head of state, the Prince lives in. But you can only see the outside, as it is obviously someone's house.
From what i have read, the more rural areas have more charm add they are up in the mountains. But the poor weather, and expense to travel around put me of much more exploration, so instead headed back to Zürich disappointed.
Today I did a walking tour of Zürich. The tour guide was a historian, so expected done good stories, but his information was rather shallow. He made a big deal about the reformation due to a guy called Svingly. Maybe I am wrong but was curious as to how important he was outside Zürich and Switzerland as I have heard of Calvin and Luther, but not this guy. Maybe a historian can tell me. I saw where both Lenin and Einstein studied and where Lenin lived before the Germans sent him to Russia to overthrow the democratic revolution of Russia. Another regrettable decision I'd imagine.
A nice city with some character. If I had the motivation would probably have tried to do more. Oh well. Of to München before going back to normality in Stockholm.

Joshua

Lions and tigers and bears Oh my!

After the days in the mountains, I have reverted back to city travel.
So from Brig, first stop was Bern, the capital, and listed by UNESCO for the cultural heritage of the old town.
Through couch surfing a girl from Bern. contacted me and offered to show me around the city. I jumped at the chance for a personal tour guide as well as the opportunity to spend time with a local. After all this is what travelling is about, interacting with locals and experiencing culture. So we started by being typically touristic, checking out one of the most famous monuments, a clock Tower.
But we then decided to head for the only Hill of note in Bern (surprising for Swiss standards) Mt Gurten. This is surprisingly only really a local spot, perhaps due to the effort to get there. From it you can see the alps top the South which was stunning, and then the city to the north. Unfortunately, as we got to the old town the day was diminishing so did not spend too much more time sight seeing. But I did see where the bears live (they are currently in hibernation). They are important to the city as they are on the coat of arms and have apparently always been found in the city.
The evening consisted of chamois fondue. First time I had used fondue for meat, but it was good food. Then we just chatted. She is an inspiration. She was the only survivor pulled out of a bus wreck that tumbled 200m down a mountain in Switzerland in 2005. She has had to learn to read and write, gets memory loss and has had many operations to repair broken bones. Yet she is studying a masters, then plans to do her phD. She owns a house. She is my age! She is doing the phD so she won't have to work as much due to higher salary and therefore can enjoy life. Remarkable woman.
The next morning I left the hostel to have a quick look around the old town in daylight, including Einsteins house where he came up with some of his quantum mechanic theories.
Of course, being new years eve it was time to head to the next destination before it was too late. So of I had to Luzern.
Do i arrive in the early evening and after checking in and having a nap I head straight to my evening festivities. This is my seventh year in a row I have celebrated in a different city. My festivities again were organised through couch surfing. Someone saw I would be in town and decided to invite me to the gathering. It was a great night too. There was 9 of us in total, and some random joiners at different stages throughout the night. It was held at Isabel's art studio (couch surfing girl). This was an excellent venue right up against the train tracks, so if you open the back door you were stepping onto the carriage parking area. So sheet eating, it was 6 hours of dancing and acting the fool. The sister of Isabel is studying theatre, there was a musician, a few other artists, people working on humanitarian programmes, so everyone was just as loopy as the next. I have to say I really appreciated the invite, and considering I was going to cancel last minute, I am glad I didn't. Definitely one of my better new year celebrations.
After such a lovely evening, I had to get up to check out and check Luzern out. Was tough as only slept four hours. Luzern scenically is gorgeous. Big Lake surrounded by mountains. I didn't go up a mountain as they are all over 2500m and snow covered, so no time to walk them (or desire), and I wasn't interested in being exploited financially. The charges to get to the top are excessive, and having spent a week on top of mountains, didn't feel the need to do this. I did check out the old town. It was okay. And saw a large monument of a lion as a tribute to Swiss mercenaries. Was definitely more touristic and hectic than Bern. Comparing the two,  the actual city of Bern is nicer, and Luzern has the picturesque setting.
Tomorrow to visit my 50th country, Liechtenstein.
Oh and sorry, no tigers!

Joshua