(Warning! This is a Long Entry!)
Thanks to some amazingly fast tailwinds, the flying time for my flight was cut down to about 6 hours and we arrived at about 7am on Monday morning. There were a few other flights arriving at the same time, and unfortunately this meant many people cramming into a very small subway train to the immigration checkpoint. They even had a guy to push us all in it was that tight. As one can imagine there was a mad dash to the immigration checkpoint, but it was relatively simple. They hardly check passports with mine not even getting scanned. As the agent handed it back, I did ask for a stamp, and while I have heard they dont like to, she was more than willing to, which is great as it adds yet another stamp to my passport. Making it through this, I headed for the rail station in the airport, but first stopped at the food store located in the airport just to see what kind of goods they had. Plus it is a little odd to have a food store in an airport.
Anyways, I headed down the SBB Reiseboro to book my 4 consecutive day youth Swiss pass. At only 195CHF it would be cheaper than buying individual tickets, plus it gets me into 450 museums for free (if I even make it to one) and a few other benefits while I am here in Switzerland for two days. The agent who sold me my pass told me to a certain train, but I guess he had not counted on me heading straight to the tracks where a train bound for Zurich Hauptbahnof (Central Station) was sitting. I got on this overcrowded train and made my way toZurich. When I got off, I had to stand there in amazement. There were hundreds of people getting on various trains, including the German ICE high-speed train right next to the one I got off. I made my way though the station and eventually found the storage lockets for my suitcase before looking for the next train toSargans, Switzerland. There was a regional train about to depart so on I jumped and began my journey to my first destination: Liechtenstein which is a 160km square country with about 30,000 citizens between Switzerland andAustria. It probably took about an hour and half for the train to reach Sargans, but along the way we passed some amazing scenery, which I managed to get a few pictures of.
Upon my arrival at Sargans it was straight on to the Liechtenstein Bus route 12 which would take me straight to the capital of the principality: Vaduz. Here I noticed that first of all there really wasnt anyone else around. I guess I would be one of the few tourists today. Anyways, I paid a visit to the tourist office and paid my 2CHF for the privilege of having one of their passport stamps grace my passport and of course a free map. I wandered around nearby at first, looking at the old and new parliament buildings, Schloss Vaduz high on the hill above, and the post office! After taking care of business I wandered what to do next.
I decided to hike up to the top of the ridge Schloss Vaduz sits, and reading my guidebook it said to take a very, very steep path which coincidently started right next to where I was sitting. I eventually made it to level ground and snapped a few shots, but as I continued to walk I noticed that I was going downhill and that meant that I must have missed my turn. By that point I did really like the prospect of hiking back up again as I did have a headache going on, but nonetheless I still have some amazing views where I did hike.
Still needing something to do, I used my Swiss Pass and jumped on a Liechtenstein Bus heading towards Feldkirch, Austria. I planned on jumping off at the last stop before border (Schaanwald Zollamt), but the bus driver didnt see me and well I got to add a country to my list by accident. I stayed on the bus for a little while and while I should have just stayed on until the end got off to walk back to the border. It was a nice walk with good views of surrounding mountains and landscapes, plus it now helped legitimize my accidental country visit. As I approached the Austrian Border Police I motioned to an agent through the glass to see if I needed to do anything (some EU countries require exit checks). After about a minute of me and him trading confusing hand gestures through the glass, I went inside and asked, and luckily had to do nothing. Now it was time to approach the Swiss Border Agents, who patrol Liechtensteins border as well due to a customs union between the too. I suppose I could have walked through, but I stopped and asked to make sure and well they scanned my passport anyways. However, I was not lucky enough to get a stamp. Nor did I ask considering I did not want to come off as a complete idiot this time. In reality I should have just waited at the bus stop on the Austrian side and then rode across then no passport checks at all.
Anyways, I kept on walking until I made it to the Schaanwald post office, where as waiting for the bus I noticed an Austrian train go by. Now I wish I had known then I could have gone all the way to the train station and taken a train back. Oh well. At least I can say I have been to Feldkirch, Austria now!
I took this bus back which took me to new areas I hadnt seen on my previous bus, and then transferred on to a bus that would take me back to Switzerland. Upon arriving at the train station I found out I had just missed a train toZurich, so I had to wait another 45 minutes before the next one. This trip was much faster thanks to not stopping at any of the in between stations. However, I did start to feel tired on this train and I still had two connections and two more trains to ride before I would be at my destination. Luckily I managed to retrieve my luggage and make the next train to Bern where I connected in about a 2-3 minute time span to the Interlaken West station.
I had not eaten since my flight, so I decided to get food, and saw that the food store next to the train station had a restraint. I went in and they rung up a bill of 7CHF, and I handed over my credit card. Turns out they didnt take Visa for some strange reason, so I had to run all the way across town to find an ATM (well more like just past the train station) as I only had 5CHF on me. Went back paid and ate my mystery thing that was actually not that bad. I finally made it over to my hotel down the street, checked in and shown to my fairly simple room. Its not bad for about $47 a night. I have a bed, TV, shared balcony, and even a sink. This of course means the bathroom is down the hall, and if I can put up with the roommate I share a bathroom with then I figure I can put up with whatever is here.
Thats about it. I have another busy day tomorrow, but I still am not entirely too sure what yet. I guess everyone will find out when I get to Berlin and post my next entry!