Liechtenstein: From the Pylons to the Autobahn.

So having Wednesdays free as discussed previously, Katrina and I decided we should go on a trip a little further afield. In fact we decided we wanted to do something a bit international, which is not too difficult around here. We settled on somewhere we both though was a little ridiculous and therefore all the more appealing: Liechtenstein. It’s the 6th smallest country in the world (3rd in Europe) and something of an oddball. It has limited possibilities for visitors/residents/castle aficionados.
Here is what we learnt about Liechtenstein in our day:

• It is one of the last vestiges of the Holy Roman Empire – the Princes carried on being sovereign Princes (with added sovereignty) after the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire during the Napoleonic Wars and became fully independent after the dissolution of the Deutscher Bund in 1866. 
• Its main industries appear to be Stamps and pictures of stamps.
• The above is in fact not true; they are incorporating companies, precision tools and money laundering banking. 
• They like sculptures – some of them even make sense. 
• The capital city (Vaduz) is small; in fact they call it the Städtle. 
• The sights of Vaduz include:
• The 5 year old Parliament building for the 25 members (from the outside only)
• The government building (also from the outside only)
• The ‘Cathedral’ – which was a parish church until the Pope made Liechtenstein a new Archdiocese in 1997.
• The postage stamp museum, which has original artwork and stamps covering everything from the first Austrian stamps to the first Zeppelin post to the modern series of Princes and flowers.  Its better than it sounds, especially as its free.
• The National Museum, which takes advantage of there being a very small space to recount the history of to do it well.  The staff were also the most friendly I've encountered: we were practically lead into the first exhibit and shown how to proceed.  The café is probably also the only National Museum café anywhere in the world which consists of a vending machine and a basket of Muffins with an honesty box.  
• The Red House, which is, as the tourist site says, a house which is red.  What the site misses out is that t has only changed hands twice in 600 years, the wine press has been proved to have been made of a tree felled 600 years ago and there is storage for 20,000 litres of wine.  Oh, and its red.
• The Castle, which is pretty - from the outside.  Apparently where it is overlooking the city town offers a great view, which we didn't fancy risking a soaking for.  I'm sure the view from inside is very nice but I'll have to ask the Prince should I ever meet him as its his house, so no-one else is allowed in.
• The Hoffkellerei, which makes Liechtensteiner wine, except that most of the grapes come from the royal family's land in Austria because, as previously mentioned, Liechtenstein is small.  
• You can get a stamp in your passport, just not at the border because the ones that are controlled are managed by the Swiss.
• There are fox cubs living under the visitor centre.  They're adorable.

So there we have it, sovereing state, historical anomoly and interesting day out.  All in all very glad I got the chance to go and take further advantage of my being within a couple of hours travelling of all sorts of wonderful places.