From Vineyards to Whizzing Trains

We were blessed with another beautiful day to explore Liechtenstein and then travel onto Zurich, Switzerland. How does one start off a day in Liechtenstein? Drinking wine from the Prince’s own personal vineyards of course! That is exactly what we did at the Prince of Liechtenstein Royal Vineyard outside of Vaduz. Our host, Ella, was very nice as we sampled four different wines, 2 white and 2 red.  Our favorites were the Profundo Red and the Pinot White. Strolling around the vineyards we took in the simple beauty of the mountains and surrounding village.

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From the vineyard you could see Schloss Vaduz up on the hill. The road wound through quaint neighborhoods before reaching this personal residence of the Prince. Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside, but were able to take photos of the gardens and the surrounding mountains.

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Haus Gutenburg is another personal castle belonging to the Prince that is situated atop a beautiful hill with fantastic views of the sprawling valley and vineyards below. Nestled against the northern side of the hill is the town of Balzers, which could be seen from Haus Gutenburg. This small castle was begun in the 1200’s and has the original 13^th century chapel and gatehouse. The part the Prince resides in was built in the 1700’s.

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It was hard saying goodbye to Liechtenstein. We all really enjoyed this little country, but it was time to cross the Rhein River back into Switzerland and drive on another hour to Zurich. We arrived mid afternoon and checked into our hotel in Horgen, a suburb of Zurich. Our hotel had stunning views of Zurichsee as well as the local train stop. It was fun watching all the trains pass through! We went to a local grocery and purchased dinner. After eating in our hotel room, we headed out for an evening walk. The church bells were calling people to Holy Saturday Mass and the sun was making the waters shimmer on the lake.

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There was a lovely boardwalk out to a marina, a rather large spray fountain in the lake itself, and of course several little parks along the banks of the lake. Our favorite was an old turn of the century estate that had been turned into a local park and music school. The kids once again had fun playing on the dangerous playground equipment! We love finding old playgrounds to enjoy! Another fun thing we did was to stand right up against the fence as the commuter trains whizzed by. It’s quite thrilling to hear the tracks pop and hiss, then see the train coming, and feel the breezes made by the cars as they whiz by you within 8 feet!

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