Liechtenstein - Triesenberg and Vaduz
09 September 2017, continued
The narrow roads wound tight downhill, still as steep and still with those 180-degree turns, but with the added benefits of rain and lower visibility. It was a bit of a nervous drive considering the steep and immediate drop just beyond the guardrail, but we made our way down well enough. Back in the town of Triesenberg we found our hotel, right across the street from the main church. We had free parking underneath, which is not the most common thing to find in Europe, but in this case what other option did they have? Most places in Europe are convenient enough via train, but here up in the mountains of Liechtenstein it was near impossible not to drive.
The Hotel-Restaurant Kulm was a lovely little place, overlooking the cliff side as most buildings around here do. There was confusion at first as our booking didn't go through to their system. The people were very helpful in getting us set up in a room, and because they didn't have any with a view, the room we got was a bit cheaper than what we booked. Fine by us, we plan to be out in that view more than looking at it from the room. Besides, with the weather the way it is the most we would see is fog. We found our room and took a bit of a rest, getting out of our wet clothes and warming up under the blankets. It was a comfortable bed in a nice little room, shame we were only staying for the one night.
The road from Triesenberg down to the valley was less steep and windy compared to further up by the trail, but it was a fun drive nonetheless. We found an easy parking spot in Vaduz, and were able to walk out onto the main plaza! The presidential palace stood before us, with the weird brownish-colored tiles that made up the entire courtyard- the walls, ground, and stairs were all the same tile. It sure made for some interesting shapes and patterns, though when wet from the rain it also had a bit of a bathroom look. The palace itself was pretty, and the church across had some cute-yet-weird gargoyle things. There didn't seem to be too much going on in town, though to be fair it is a small city in a small country. The rain probably didn't help. We stood down on the main walkway and looked up the cliff behind the city, and standing above it all was the castle. We quickly headed back to the car to see if we could get up there before it got dark.
Castle Vaduz stands high on a cliff overlooking the city far below. It isn't a huge castle by any means, but the shape in relation to the hillsides around it make for a really nice sight. I especially loved the curve of the road as it wound down the hill around the castle. We followed the road a bit more and found a lookout point on the edge of the cliff, giving an amazing arial view of the cities of Vaduz and Schaan all lit up below us. Too bad it was getting late and the castle was closed, and too bad the weather was not very cooperative. To be fair, we've done a lot of traveling and have not had many weather issues, and in the grand view of it all, a little rain and fog is hardly the worst thing we could encounter.
The map showed a more direct way from the castle back to Triesenberg that would avoid backtracking through Vaduz and should save us some time. But when do these planned shortcuts ever really become shortcuts? Halfway back to the hotel, the only direct road was down to one lane, likely due to the conditions and the fact the road was winding, narrow, and had that same steep drop. The signal showed the wait to be eight minutes. There was another way to turn and go further up the mountain that would bypass this strip and come out on the other side of the hotel. We decided to take that road. Up tiny, tight roads into a little village, we slowly crept up the steep hillside. Beth had to close her eyes a few times as we took those curves in the rain. Almost to where we need to be, there was a part of the road under construction. We tried to go around the dirt-road detour, but the rain had washed it out. There was no way we could get through, and we almost got stuck in the mud! Good thing we didn't splurge for that Mercedes, huh? Defeated in our plan to take the shortcut, we went back to the eight-minute signal and had to wait it out. Going back down that narrow hill was extra nerve-wracking with an oil truck coming down from the village behind us!
Finally back to the hotel, we needed to find dinner. Two of the most highly rated places in the area were a few doors away from each other, and one of them was our hotel. We decided to eat where we were staying, and sat alone in the dining room at the Restaurant Kulm. We got a free beer from the mixup with our booking, and sat looking out the windows despite not having much visibility. Tomorrow we would walk through those hills and see the mountainside, rain or shine! Tonight though we settled in with our dinners. We shared some spectacular herb soup, and we each got the schnitzel... we were only a short hike from Austria. The free local lager was nice, but I finished the meal with a Liechtenstein Brewpub coffee stout. Maybe more like a dunkel than a stout, but it was super good!
The shortest possible walk after dinner was just up the stairs and into bed. The rain patted against the windows, providing a nice calming atmosphere in the dark room.
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