Driving to Liechtenstein

Martin's family lives in Liechtenstein, which is a teeny tiny little (did you get that it's small) country of about 33,000 inhabitants between Austria and Switzerland near Germany. The country is in part of the Rhine river valley (the river itself forms the border with Switzerland) and roughly half of an Alp. Liechtenstein itself is insanely gorgeous (more on that later when I have proper pictures), the 90-minute drive between Zurich and Liechtenstein is also very scenic.

Martin and I drove to his parents' house last weekend to say hi and pick up some furniture (thanks to his parents our room is fully furnished and excellent!), and we are there now getting ready to go to Mallorca (!). It was a beautiful day, so we got a good look at all of the alpine scenery.

Please note the castle perched atop the little hill in the foreground!

The drive starts out through farmland that feels very, very Swiss. It's all green meadows, cows grazing, and a skyline of silos and farmhouses; backdropped by the foothills of the Alps.

I'm pretty sure this is what yodeling looks like.

Once it starts to get a little more mountainous, there are tunnels so long that they have jet engine-looking fans inside to keep fresh air moving through them. Holding your breath here is definitely not an option.

And, as this is the land of Bond villains, as we started getting closer to Liechtenstein there was a definite supervillian lair under construction.

 Pictured: evil in the making.

As I mentioned, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are divided by the Rhine river. We drove along the river for a while, so what you see on the left side of the picture below is Switzerland, while the mountains on the right side are mostly Liechtenstein! I'm not sure if we're actually at the border yet in this picture, so the right bank of the river may or may not be Liechtenstein. If not, Switzerland.

We plan to climb that mountain. I'm excited.

Love Katie