AUSTRIA and MORE

Rick Steves' Best of Europe in 14 Days

Sept. 11-12, 2008

It was fascinating to watch the landscape and architecture change as we drove from Switzerland to Austria. Germanic-style buildings became more in evidence, and gently-rolling hills replaced the steep mountains of Switzerland.

Dave and Lou surprised us with an unscheduled lunch stop at Vaduz, the capital of tiny Liechtenstein. Vaduz is a very modern little city, spotlessly well-kept. Liechtenstein, we learned, is a prosperous 64-square-mile country sandwiched between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.

Fellow travelers Mike and Kay taking a
short sun break before boarding the bus

The weather finally warmed up enough for Gene to take off "Ol' Blue," to the cheers of his fellow passengers—and his wife! That blue shirt had been Gene's wardrobe staple for the previous eleven days!

That day, we dipped our toes in four countries: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, and Austria. In Germany, we all tried out a luge run. Pete, our youngest member, who turned 14 on the tour, had a blast barreling downhill on the luge! Tour guide Dave, ever so young at heart, got extra style points for his one-handed braking.

A group dinner at our hotel in Reutte, Austria. Wunderbar!

Some hiked through the woods, some rode the bus, some took four-legged transportation to reach the paved path to King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle. The king died mysteriously at the age of 41, so the castle was never completed. A local guide took us through the castle, which, for me, held an aura of sadness at the untimely death of the king.

From a window in the Neuschwanstein Castle, we looked out over an enchanting vista to another castle, this one the castle of King Ludwig's childhood.

We took this as a hint that Pete was getting hungry! Lunch soon followed.

We had some free time, so our group browsed through the little town of Fussen, Germany. A street mime entertained the tourists and charmed these two kids.

The women did a little "foraging" while the guys kept close tabs on the time...

as did these colorful cuckoo clocks.

Overall impressions of this area:

What a delightful mixture of old and new, like the traditional wooden nutcrackers juxtaposed with modern glass and steel buildings.

It was a little unsettling for me to experience the isolation of not speaking the language. Before the next trip, I'll try to learn some basic German phrases.

Neuschwanstein's Castle was my first visit to a real castle! I wouldn't have made a very good princess—I'd get so lost in a place that big!

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