My International Plan for my cell phone expired this morning, and even though I applied for an extension, Verizon was flipping me the bird, so I had to navigate to Liechtenstein the old fashioned way….looking at the google map and the little blue dot.
Fortunately we made it. Along the way, we went through the longest tunnel I have ever been through, much less even heard of. This is the Arlberg Road Tunnel (not to be confused with the Arlberg Train Tunnel), which runs almost 8.7 miles underground, and more than 9.6 miles with galleries. Amazing! Below is the entrance.
Here is a shot that shows part of the “galleries”, which basically means they dug into the side of the cliff, but didn’t completely enclose the tunnel.
The tunnel was built between 1974 and 1978, and cost the equivalent of about 300 million euros, which according to Biden equals less than zero, since $3.5 trillion equals zero. This new math is just swell! I’m saving money every time I spend it! I can’t wait to use this new math with the IRS! “No, I earned nothing this year….it was way less than $3.5 trillion, I swear”. Should work, no?
There was a toll road right before we entered, and it was 10.20 euros (how much less than zero can you go!). I can’t imagine how long it would take to cross the mountains to avoid this toll, so this is cheap…as in zero plus zero times zero! Winning!
We arrived at our hotel, the Park Hotel Sonnenhof, in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, which is the Capital of the country. This is likely the nicest hotel in the country….just stunning grounds and impeccable service! It cost slightly less than $3.5 trillion for 3 nights, so we basically stayed for free! Still winning!
This was the view from our room. It rained the day prior, and obviously left a dusting of snow on the peaks.
We had dinner in three restaurants:
1. Made in Italy – Great homemade pasta, and the owner is super funny and engaging. Glad we stopped by. Advised us that he can only offer indoor dining due to the weather (it’s pretty cold evenings here…in the high 40’s), and only 50% of Liechtenstein is vaccinated, so he can’t let them sit inside. I hope he makes it!
2. Amarone – This is a unique restuarant in the central part of town (it’s not a city, with just 4000 residents). Excellent food and great wine list. The service was impeccable. We did the tasting menu with just 4 courses and it was way too much food. I would opt for 3 courses. Interesting photo on the wall by our table!
3. Maree – this is a Michelin Star restaurant in our hotel. When you book to stay here, you select if you want to eat at their restaurant, and you get a pretty good rate if you do, but we didn’t want three straight nights of Michelin Star restaurants, so we just picked the special rate for one night. The meal was truly worthy of a Michelin Star, and well worth the rate they refer to as “half-board”. They set us up with our own 4 course menu, and all the dishes were excellent. I highly recommend eating here! Super waiter Faisan made the meal the best! Actually Faison has been our waiter for each breakfast as well. Does this guy ever sleep? Amazing….they aren’t paying him enough!
The first day here we walked downtown, had a snack, and discovered there was a winery on the way back to the hotel, with a slight diversion. This isn’t just any winery, this is the winery owned by the Royal Family of Liechtenstein, Hofkellerei Des Fursten Von Liechtenstein
I’m going to admit, when celebrities and rich people have wineries, I’m very suspect, as I know they aren’t really intimately involved in the process, because making wine is a shit-ton of work. However, there were two standout wines, the 2017 Riesling and the 2017 Zweigelt. These are both exceptional wines, and they are cheap at $23/bottle! These are truly outstanding wines!
Princess Marie is apparently quite involved, to the point that she has her Sommelier certificate. I can’t comment on how many barrels she’s cleaned recently though.
The tasting was quite thorough, with a total of 6 wines, and we ran into another group of Americans, who were here on business, selling caffeine of all things, and one of their major customers is Red Bull, which is apparently located in Liechtenstein. Guys, if I’m wrong on that count, let me know in the comments section. Or ignore me. I don’t care.
That’s Brian Zapp, the Marketing Director for Applied Foods, in the mask. Nice to meet you Brian…take off the damn mask! Follow the science!
Our excellent host from the winery, Steff Rau, Sales Manager! This guy isn’t being paid enough…even though the wine sells itself!
This is a beautiful spot for a tasting!
It’s early October, and they are still waiting to pick! This is their Zweigelt still hanging on the vine. Or it’s their Pinot Noir. I was drinking…details! Steff, let me know!
We also visited the Liechtenstein Museum, which discussed the history of this little country. They had some very old examples of the history here…including this 2500 year old bowl.
They also had this example of a 2500 year old dude on his Iphone. Nice doo! Text you later!
This map gives you an idea of the shape of Liechtenstein.
This was a 3D example of the elevations of the country. Only 30% of it is on flat land.
We drove by the Royal Palace. The Royals actually live here, so you can’t visit unless you have $3.5 trillion. I have zero. Will that do? Hmmm.
Here is Kim sitting on the bench enjoying the view of the castle.
Selfie time! One of the days I’ll figure it out.
We drove above the valley for a ways, and nearly died a few times since the roads here are narrower than in the Dolomites, but I got a good shot of the valley, and isn’t that what really matters after all? The Rhine River is beautiful!
I was very impressed that Liechtenstein has looked into the future, and has already created the future Presidential Library for Kamala Harris. The name seems very appropriate!
One last look at the Royal Palace from down below, where the “subjects” live. Still waiting for my invitation!
The Covid experience in Liechtenstein is similar to Austria…no masks, no where, no how. Even in the museum we visited, they asked us to wear the masks when we bought our tickets, but then told us once we entered the museum we could take them off. This is science!! Thanks Fauci!
