This could be the shortest post I have ever written. A very uneventful day, perhaps apart from visiting a country, Liechtenstein, which I have never visited before.
After a fine breakfast at the Heidi hotel, I was on my way shortly after 8 o’clock. It was grey and damp as I passed the village, Maienfeld, which I had visited yesterday, and the Salenegg Castle that dominates the town.
It was a hard start to the day, over 200m elevation over 3,5km. The cloud was low as I reached the top at the Sankt Luzisteig Pass (712m). Several military vehicles passed me as I walked along an otherwise quiet road. There was also a military museum, so I wasn’t surprised that I was soon passing a military barracks and a tank regiment about to go out on training.
I was now walking downhill with great views over Liechtenstein and not least Burg Gutenberg in the small village of Balzers. I was walking along a path next to a wide grassy area. There were several people at lookout posts, so this could be the area where the exercise was going to take place, but nobody stopped me from walking through.
I passed a flock of sheep and their relatively newly born lambs and I wondered what they would make of all the noise, if indeed the military exercise did take place in front of them.
I passed a model airplane airport, but nobody was practicing, as the castle came more and more into view. There was no sign to say that I was leaving Switzerland and entering Liechtenstein and I was soon in Balzers, blocked by roadworks and then getting lost on the detour I had to take. I passed the Burg, medieval fortress built around 1100 on a rocky hill, which seemed to be very well-preserved.
Leaving town, the weather started to clear and the sun break through. I took a short break before joining the path along the Rhine.
For the next 23km I pretty much walked on the path built on the dike next to the Rhine. I had views of Switzerland on my left hand and Liechtenstein on my right. The odd cyclist passed me, and even fewer people out with their dogs, but nowhere near as many as yesterday. To be honest it was fairly monotonous, but the sun was shining and the views to either side impressive.
I passed Vaduz, the capital with just more than 5.000 inhabitants, sitting on a hill overlooking the Rhine, and their football stadium, as they do have a national football team. There was a covered wooden bridge crossing the Rhine connecting Switzerland and Liechtenstein, seemingly one of the towns major attractions given the number of people taking pictures.
To break the monotony, there was an educational input along the path, models of the sun and planets were placed on the path at the relative distance from each other, and the models with the relative size. But there was very little else of note.
Apart from the villages along the Rhine, the area is predominantly farming country and there were a few farmers out ploughing their fields.
I left the path s couple of kilometers before Ruggell and took a break at a Coop, with a coffee and rhubarb tart.
My super modern hotel is just outside the town, on the edge of an industrial area. I received a mail with all their facilities as I checked in and noticed that they had washing machines. Whilst optimally I should wash tomorrow, given the very few self-service laundromats there are, I didn’t want to give up on a chance and washed everything.
I walked a kilometer or so back towards town to a restaurant I had passed on the way to the way to the hotel and enjoyed Cordon Bleu with ham, cheese and spinach, followed by apfelstrudel and ice cream.
I started the day at an elevation of 502m above sea level and ended at 434m, with a total elevation of 350m, mostly the hill at the start of the day. Not one of the most memorable days I have spent walking, but at least it was an “easy” 33km.