Off to Liechtenstein - Part I

Well, technically we aren't in Liechtenstein, but we are very close! We are in a nearby town called Buchs - still on the Switzerland side. All we have to do is basically drive (or walk) across the river/bridge and we're in Liechtenstein where Bobby's company is headquartered.
It was a really fun trip driving over here from Lausanne. It did take us a while to get out of Lausanne (due to map reading difficulties... haha!) but we managed (and are still married!!). Before leaving Lausanne, we did decide to see the Fondation de l'Hermitage - a 19th century home that was converted into an art Museum. Unfortunately, both Bobby and I were a little bit underwhelmed by it (the building) so we decided to just hit the road. Once we managed to get out of the Lausanne vicinity, we drove into beautiful countryside with terraces of vineyards and old (and huge!) lovely farm houses.It was a little tricky getting onto the autobahn/freeway going towards Lucerne, but once we figured that out (about an hour later!), we were making good progress and decided to drive up towards the mountains to have a peek and stay overnight. The view of the Alps are amazing everywhere you turn and during a pit stop, we found some yummy ice-cream! The Swiss have some creamy cows around here. Ha ha!

We ended up staying the night at a little hotel called Rustica in a little village of Inden. And I mean REALLY little - population: 120! It took us perhaps a mere 10 seconds or less to drive from one end to the other end of the village and even still, the town actually had one set of traffic lights! Nonetheless, at just over 3,700 ft, the views were gorgeous!

Bobby imagined that THIS would be the place where we would retire because they speak 3 languages here - German, French, and Italian! So during dinner and breakfast the next day, I would be speaking to the owner/waitress in German and Bobby would do so in French! And the ladies would change language accordingly. Amazing! As for Graham - they would always say "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" or "Ciao ciao" to him. Those two phrases seem to be the universal baby language here. By the way, Graham's waving skills are improving quickly! He actually waved to Bobby when he returned from work today. Too cute!

The next day, on our way down the moutain, we spotted a guy running up the mountain... CRAZY! Then, we spotted an even crazier guy going up the mountain on his rollerblades and ski poles!!! Anyhow... apart from those distractions, the views again are almost postcard-like!

Our challenge soon begun... we had to determine how to drive up north to Lucerne. We were hoping/guessing that the "passes" or roads would be open through the mountains but as we got closer, the signs confirmed that all passes were closed! BUT... We ended up stopping in a loooong line of cars for a ride on the rail (Furka Pass). We weren't exactly sure where the train was going so we asked the people in the car ahead of us and they mentioned that it was a detour that bypassed the "passes". AWESOME!!!

See the little red cars on the rail (wheels) and the dotted lines? The train took us from just south of Oberwald to Realp. What a neat concept! You actually stay in your car and you drive it onto the train! We had to wait over 1 1/2 hours to get on the train but the 20 minute ride was well worth it. We really didn't want to back-track all the way back to Lausanne! We were able to take a family pic:

And Graham was able to play in the car while we waited: Here we are getting on the train:And into the tunnel! The tunnel was over 15km long or just over 9.5 miles! And it was soooooo dark! Graham actually fell asleep on my lap and we decided to just buckel up once we hit the road again. (Ok, Grandma... you'll have to pretend you didn't see this next pic! :-)

The views were just as spectacular on the other side of the mountain...

And the roads were winding going down!

Graham woke up just before we got into the city limits of Lucerne. So we pulled over and buckled him in his carseat. :-)