Explorer Genes

(May 31) After our visit to the “bustling” 6000 person capital of Vaduz, our original plan had been to go to Malbun the area of Liechtenstein which is most known for its mountain vistas and trails. But, time had gotten away from us thanks to our late start and traffic in Switzerland, so we continued on toward our hotel we had reserved in Feldkirch, Austria.

On the way, despite the fact that the liquid sunshine was definitely inching its way toward us, there was still enough time to climb a 34 meter (112 foot tower) just in time to feel the thunder booming. The tower is called Aussichtsplatform auf Dux, which is a gruff way of saying “Viewing Platform at Dux.”

From the top we got panoramic views of the Rhine Valley, including into neighboring Switzerland.

***Click photos for details

(May 29) As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we didn’t love the city of Zürich itself.

But what we did love was its immediate access to some pretty extraordinary nature…something that can often be difficult to find within cityscapes.

In fact, from the front door of our housesit, which was southwest of the city near Leimbach, we were surrounded by hiking and biking trails leading to countryside paths, forests, rivers, and the lake within footsteps, and ravishing views of the Alps within a few more.

While most days we just settled into our routine of easier evening walks or swims, one day, we decided to take a bigger hike around 13k RT (~2 hours/one way), leading to the Observation Tower at the top of Zürich called Mont Uetliberg.

***Click photos for details

(May 27) I won’t lie.

We took a one week housesit in Zürich basically to combine it with a visit to Little Liechtenstein…a magical, mountainous country that Greg has had his eyes on for decades.

In the meantime, we were here, so of course we wanted to awkwardly insert ourselves into the bougie bubble that is Switzerland’s largest city….Zürich. Which, by the way, locally seems to be pronounced much softer than the German or English we’re accustomed to.

Zürich is, of course, one of the world’s major financial hubs, which is also ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. Its terrific public transportation, plentiful bike and pedestrian lanes, low crime rates, sparkling streets, and easy access to nature and hiking also has a distinct tradeoff….the prices.

That said, we didn’t fall in love, although the access to nature was terrific. The city and historic center was a bit too polished, a bit too busy, a bit too expensive and…I don’t know, a bit too…Swiss(?) for our taste.

However, it did have some fascinating slices of history to learn about…

***Click photos for commentary