A perfect time to yodel

Liechtenstein is a country which has always fascinated me. A tiny country with a paltry 34,000 inhabitants, wedged between Austria and Switzerland is not on the top of everyone’s must-see travel lists, but as I was in the neighbourhood and I thought ‘why not at least check it out’. Famous mostly for their postal stamps, the first thing that struck me about the country is the speed cameras – they were everywhere. With four cameras on every intersection and what also felt like on every power pole, you really got the feeling ‘Big Brother’ was watching.

I tried looking around the capital, Vaduz, but there wasn’t a whole lot to see. I was a little cheesy and got a souvenir stamp in my passport, but that’s about all you could do in the place. The scenery was gorgeous however, and so I pulled over the car, and sat in a field, admiring all the spring flowers, and Alps. Oh and for those that are interested, I found Liechtenstein to have the cheapest petrol out of all four countries. Austria and Switzerland are not too far off, but Germany is by far the most expensive, because of all the taxes. But then again when driving in Austria and Switzerland you need to get a ‘vignette’ to drive on the motorways.

So after a short drive and little more than a flag on the side of the road, I entered into Switzerland. With a wide grin on my face, I meandered down through the hills into Maienfeld, better known as ‘Heidiland’. Cheesy I know, but I grew up listening to tapes, watching movies and reading all about Heidi.

I remember when I was around 14 I rang up the travel agents, to find out how expensive flights to Frankfurt were, because that’s where Heidi had moved to. Who knew that would be so close to my home for a year?

Anyway, Maienfeld itself is relatively small, and although the story is fictional (written in 1880 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri) you can go to Heidishaus, but because there was major roadworks, I couldn’t get to it. But I was happy regardless just sitting in a field, soaking in all the views.

I then carried on along the back country roads (thanks to my handy navigator, which let me avoid all the toll roads) along the impressive Wallensee, and finally along the skinny, and somewhat less impressive Zurichsee. I saw a random New Zealand flag flying from this guys workshop, that sells wood, and so I decided to stop. Turned out he just had some kiwi friends visiting, who decided to put it up. I figured you never know, who you might bump into.

That night I stayed with Dule, a Serbian Evolutionary Biologist, at his cool apartment, right in the Zurich city centre. We went out for Thai, and Dule showed me around the sights, then we met up with one of his American friends and checked out a few local night spots. Including one place, that if you had a giant record player, you could play music off the walls. Had a great time with Dule, and his friend and would have loved to have spent more time there.

Next addition is about meeting up with Gizzy locals, babysitting cats, exploring the rest of Switzerland and the Black forest.