Liechtenstein: the Real-Life Fairyland.

Again it has been pretty long since I've posted anything, but instead of apologizing and feeling bad like I have previously, I'm just going to say that I've been having to much fun in the real world to bother with the virtual one.  But now I have something to share and the time to do so...
Well, my story starts a couple months back when I had a friend tell me that he was in Liechtenstein, and like you may be thinking, I went, "Wow, where is that again?"  So I pulled up Google maps and discovered that it is not horribly far from where I am living.  Here's a map that shows it's location in case you're wondering:

After realizing the country's close proximity to me, I started looking into how long it would take to get there. It was just an idea in the back of my head, though, until I mentioned it to a friend and coworker of mine.  He thought it was a brilliant idea and started looking more seriously at trains.  He found that it would be 45 euro roundtrip for each of us, which is a little bit pricey for us a daytrip.  Then I realized that it might be cheaper to rent a car for a day.  So we looked at car companies and found that you can rent a Smart car for a day for only 70 euro, so when we split that it, was much cheaper.  Also the first 300 kilometers are free, so we decided to not just stop at Liechtenstein but to continue on to St. Gallen, Switzerland and Konstance, Germany.

So we decided to just go for it and picked April 21st (last Saturday) for our mini adventure.  Even though the weather report for all of the Bodensee region was for rain, we ended up having brilliantly beautiful sunshine that hit all of the snowy peaks of the Alps.  We set out at about 9 a.m. and returned at about 730 p.m. with several stops along the way.  

Liechtenstein is the second richest country per capita in the world, so it turned out to be a country that had a very dream-like feel to it.  The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and all seemed right with the world.  Because of the country's excess of wealth, all of the streets, houses, and gardens were impeccably well kept.  Most of the cars that drove past were Audi's, BMW's, Mercedes, and Jaguar, with the occasional 'normal' car.  It seems nothing bad every happens there...  

I've included some of the best photos from our trip so maybe you can enjoy a bit of our trip too.

Bocksberg, Austria - I hiked this mountain a couple of weeks ago.

Austria

The Austria-Liechtenstein border

First picture in Liechtenstein

Like I said, sun shining, birds singing, flowers blooming, etc.

View from the front of a church, Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein Castle - You cannot tour it, as the prince still lives there.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Snow blowing off the mountains

On the red carpet in St. Gallen, Switzerland

St. Gallen, Switzerland

The Bodensee, Konstance, Germany

Michi and I before we left.  Oh, and they were out of Smart cars, so we got a Ford Fiesta.

It turned out to be loads of fun, and we had no problems whatsoever.  Now I can officially say I have been to another country!

Here's to you...

This one's for you, Daniel, so you had better read this...

So I am still getting used to this no-Facebook thing, but thus far, I am truly liking it.  Already a few times a day, I have thought to myself, "Oh maybe I should make ___ my Facebook status!"  Then I remember I no longer have a Facebook to update my status on, so therefore I must share my thoughts with real people in the real world.  It has been very enlightening so far and has actually shown me a bit of my own character...

In other news, I am currently stretching after the run that begins my 9 months of training for my marathon.  It just happens to be a simply beautiful day here in Germany and has warmed up a bit so I was able to shed some of the layers I have been forced to run with for the last few weeks.  The sunshine was a huge bonus because after a very short night (especially for a sleep-lover like myself), I was feeling slightly worn out after work.  But still I laced up my trusty Nike running shoes and hit the streets.  Fortunately, it was not very long before I was feeling fantastic and enjoying the view (after a tough uphill run) of the sun-drenched  Bodensee and the Alps beyond.  Now I am enjoying the wonderful feeling of stretching out my tired limbs and am actually looking forward to my day of cross-training tomorrow!

One other semi-major change in my life will happen in 2 short days, on February 22nd.  As many of you know, that is the first day of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday.  Many people give up something, such as sweets, bread, music, etc. as a sacrifice to remember Jesus' ultimate sacrifice of death for us all (meaning EVERYONE, no just Christians, Jews, etc.).  I have never given anything up for Lent before, but when one of my friends told me what they were doing, I considered it.  They told me about an organization called Blood: Water Mission.  This organization is helping to provide clean water to people in Africa.  So their idea is to give up all drinks except water and save all the money you would have spent on coffee, wine, tea, beer, and any other drinks besides water, for forty days.  Then at the end of the forty days, you donate all the money you saved to Africa for clean water, and you also get to enjoy a hot cup of Joe (or hot drink of your choice) on Easter morning.  I think it is pretty brilliant because it is a good sacrifice for me and gives to a very good cause.  I'd love it you would think about it, and if you want more info, go to www.bloodwatermission.com/40days.

The last thing that I must share for the benefit of a friend of mine named Daniel Paul.  This 26 year old man is from Manitoba, Canada, and insisted that I inform you all of a new nickname of mine: Robin's Egg Blue.  Embarrassing as it is to admit, I actually responded to it the other day... Depressing.

Well I have a lovely little bowl of raspberries with milk awaiting me, so I will sign off...  Adieu.