One of the benefits to having a permanent place already established before entering the country is that you can start entertaining as soon as you get furniture in place. And on that front Hilti provides rental furniture until your actual furniture arrives as part of the relocation package.
Dad arrived in Liechtenstein the following Friday for a quick weekend visit to see where we would be staying and do some of his own scouting for their vacation here later in the year. Friday night was pretty standard, dinner out followed by a walk out to the local municipal sports park and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the view from the house as we caught up on all things family related.
One of the fascinating features about the Mauren/Eschen sports park is that it was visited by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1985 and still maintains the stone altar where he stopped and said Mass for the residents and visitors to the area.
We started Saturday off by taking a walk out to the village of Mauren to enjoy the bright sunny mourning and see one of the local churches. The church is very picturesque and with the Liechtenstein mountains in the background and surrounded by the local cemetery for the faithful. One could think of worse places to allow their physical remains to linger for the rest of eternity.
We returned to the apartment shortly before lunch and decided to make our way out to Vaduz so we could see the “southern” half of the country during the afternoon. On our way we made a slight detour to see the Prince’s official residence which is perched at the top of a cliff face several hundred feet above the capital city and offers commanding views of the entire valley below. While not allowed to go inside the castle visitors are able to utilize a free parking area just up the mountain from the castle as well as access several of the mountain trails that run between the small villages that are dotted across the slope.
Vaduz is the capital city and is quite small by almost any standard. You can walk from one end of the main street to the other in under 10 minutes. But like many central European cities the main thorough fair is for pedestrian use only and it makes for a very comfortable stroll from the shops and cafes at the north end to the parliament and Cathedral at the southern end.
On Sunday we decided to take a look at Feldkirch. The largest town in the area, it sits nestled in a valley straddling the Ill tributary before it joins with Rhine on the journey north. While many of the original medieval buildings are no longer around the town center maintains much of the footprint that existed back to Napoleonic times when the Rheintal Valley functioned as a gateway into the heart of the Alps from the north making it a strategic garrison and defensive location. While nothing like a bustling metropolis, there are a good number of cafes and shops that line the cobbled streets and comfortable walking paths that flank either side of the Ill tributary. And they have amazing pizza!
There’s also a local baseball team! That’s right, Feldkirch is home to the Feldkirch Cardinals and belongs to the Austrian Baseball Federation. The ABF is the governing body for Professional Baseball and Softball in Austria and also organizes the national teams it sends to international competition around the world. I had no idea this was even a thing prior to a coworker telling me about it earlier in the week so when I told Dad we should go check it out I really didn’t know what to expect. Low and behold, as we drove up to the park that functions as their home stadium they were warming up for what appeared to be a preseason scrimmage so Dad and I got out and wandered up to the stands. Attendance was free, they had food cooking on the grill and most of the fans were family members who had come to show support for their team on a brisk April afternoon. It was perhaps the most surreal environment I have ever witnessed as a baseball diamond. The temperature was in the upper 30’s to low 40’s but the sun was shining and the setting with mountains in the background was stunning. And then all of the sudden, about 2 innings into the scrimmage it started sleeting! The sun was still shining, the game was still going and there we were watching in the sleet. The winter weather only lasted for half an inning or so and we continued watching for a little longer before we had to head out but nonetheless it was an exciting find!
By the end of the day on Sunday we had seen quite a bit of my new home and I think I may have worn dad out a little.
We had a great time and I can't wait for his return trip with Mom this fall!
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