Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Yesterday afternoon the four Americans from the team took a trip to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was about a 30 minute drive to reach the capital of the 6th smallest nation in the world. Liechtenstein is the second richest country in the world by GDP per capita. In 2008, the per capita GDP was over $139,000 per person. We crossed the border into Liechtenstein via a border stop in Feldkirch, Austria, and it was very easy to tell that this was a very rich country. The roads instantly became a little wider and a little more nicely paved. We asked the guards at the border to stamp our passports for us, and they said we needed to go to the tourist office in Vaduz and they would do it there. Upon our arrival at the tourist office, we were charged 2 euros for the stamp, perhaps one reason they have such a great economy...charging tourists for their passport stamps.

View from the car as we came into Liechtenstein.

The views in Liechtenstein were pretty spectacular. It was a little cloudy and slightly foggy, so I hope to go back sometime later in the spring when the clouds lift. Despite the somewhat poor conditions, the views were still pretty impressive...

Vaduz Castle

The Alps cover the entire country (which is actually only 15 miles long, north to south and 5 1/2 miles wide, east to west). The first thing that one notices when entering Vaduz is the impressively imposing castle that sits atop the city with a bird's eye view of everything below. The castle is still occupied by the royal family of Liechtenstein, and is closed to the public. We walked near it and notice a gardener outside working around the courtyard of the castle. We asked him if there was any chance that he could let us inside the courtyard just for a quick look, but had no luck with that. I'm sure the royal family would have appreciated him doing his job.


After walking around the city for a while, we found a nice vineyard that is owned by the royal family and is open to the public. We walked in and were told a little about the vineyard (the man seemed to be very proud that it was the largest vineyard in the entire country, a fact that didn't seem all that impressive to me given the size of Liechtenstein). The best thing about the vineyard was the view it provided from outside of its front doors. Two photos of those views are below...

View from the vineyard in the opposite direction of the castle

View from the vineyard of the castle sitting atop Vaduz

I really enjoyed Liechtenstein, and am excited to return later in the spring when the weather is better and the views will be even more spectacular.

This week both Mike and Coach Mader (our head coach) arrived in Austria, and we had our first full team practice on Thursday. Things are going to start slow as we begin to install Coach Mader's offensive scheme. I couldn't be any more excited though. We have some explosive weapons on the outside, and I think we have a good chance to put up some great numbers offensively. We are 3 weeks from our first game, and the clock is ticking. I'm very excited, and will be keeping things updated the best that I can.

Hope all is well in the states, and check back soon.

Go Blue Devils/Boys!
Mitch