Roadtrip part 1 : Liechtenstein is small

Comrades,

I have once again resettled myself in my Strasbourg home after a rather surreal voyage, which will take me quite a while to recount to you, my enraptured audience. I was originally planning to go to Italy with three other friends for our week-long vacation, yet when we commenced searching for tickets, everything was far too expensive. As such, Aida suggested a road trip -- and some road maps later, we had planned it out ... more or less.

Firstly, because Germany is a great deal cheaper and more convenient for car rental, we rented our car from Baden-Baden, a short train ride from Strasbourg. Our car was an Audi A3 (yes, that's right -- I traveled through Europe in an Audi). After a period of five minutes trying to find out how to reverse the car, we then proceeded to get lost for another fifteen minutes. But then we were soon stretching our legs -- metaphorically speaking -- through the German autumn countryside.

Our first stop was the principality of Liechtenstein, home of the smallest German monarch in the world. Why Liechtenstein? Well, simply because we liked the name of it. We wanted to simply pull over in the first town we came to, Schaan, but while looking for a parking spot, we ended up in the capital of Vaduz. If that doesn't show how small the country is, nothing does. Typical Liechtenstein.

Next we made all possible haste to our next destination, Salzburg. However, apparently the sun sets at 5 o'clock in the territories of the Alps. As such, we were hurtling along to our destination in a shroud of black and a bit of gray thrown in at times, twisting and curving around sudden turns with absolutely no road lights. May I also state how much I dislike the highways of Europe? Granted, the autobahn can be superb, as when Kira reached driving speeds of 200 km/h (roughly 124 mph); however, there are absolutely no exit numbers, which can be quite confusing when you end up circling a city for an hour as you don't actually know which exit takes you to the actual city (but more stories of Munich to come). And in addition, the lack of lighting even in metro areas is rather disconcerting.

 We arrived in Salzburg, got lost a bit more, then pulled over at a hotel to ask for directions to our hostel (this becomes a pattern on this trip, as you shall see). We stayed in a hostel that plays The Sound of Music 24/7 to celebrate the influence of the city on the musical (I feel quite bad for the receptionist). As such, we spent our day in Salzburg tracing the steps of that splendid Rogers & Hammerstein jewel, as well as the path of the brilliance that is Mozart, who was born in Salzburg. Some sites included the garden with the famous Do Rei Mi fountain, which is the same garden where Mozart came up with the idea for The Magic Flute; there was also the convent where Maria was a novice; Mozart's birthplace, which is now a museum; and churches that had nothing to do with neither, but traveling any European country necessitates a lot of church-viewing. And despite a steady drizzle of rain (which, to throw some random trivia at you, frequently halted the filming of the Julie Andrews film), Salzburg is a rather lovely place.

Later that day, we continued onwards to Vienna, or Wien as the signs say -- good thing I read that on maps first or I would have been very confused. Though this shall be further detailed in my next segment -- stay tuned!

Miss you both --
Alison