Haigerloch, Zurich, Vaduz, Schwangau

Today was a big day. We had a lot of things that needed special timing, so we got up early and headed out. The weather was lovely, which always makes driving easier. Our first stop was Haigerloch, the home of nuclear fission experiments during WWII. I don't pretend to really understand all of it, but I bought a book there, so I can learn more. It was cool, though, seeing a place like that. The Americans dismantled it after the war, but it has been reconstructed.

A reconstruction of the reactor

It's located in a former beer cellar

Then it was off to Zurich for lunch. I had looked online to find where the old town was, and to find the closest parking structure to where we wanted to be. Zurich is not a town for driving if you're faint of heart. I was extraordinarily stressed out by a couple of the intersections. There were trams, hordes of people, cars, streets coming off in strange angles and curves, and seemingly no traffic signals. I wanted to scream. But, we made it eventually, and we were fine. We wandered around a bit, trying to find an ATM or a place to eat that would either accept euro or an American credit card. We finally found one. It was quite a yummy Italian place.

Old Town Zurich

We hit the road again to get to Liechtenstein. The visitor's center where they stamp the passports closes at 5, so we needed to get there before then. We were successful in our quest. We also went to the post office to send a couple of postcards. Then, it was back on the road.

Library outpost in Liechtenstein

Tomorrow is the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, so we have our hotel in Schwangau. We decided that would be easier. But, that means we had to drive there today. From Liechtenstein to Schwangau seems like a pretty straightforward task, according to Google Maps. Go north. You'll exit Liechtenstein into Austria. You'll stay on the same freeway and exit Austria into Germany. Turn right. The whole way was large roads. Not so, according to the GPS. She took us back into Switzerland, and then back across into Austria. Instead of taking us the direct route into Germany, she took us on a small town tour of Tyrol and Bavaria. It's odd, though. The main road was horribly packed with traffic, but she doesn't have a traffic receiver, so I don't know why she took us the back way. It was like that one time in England when she took us on a tour of the Cotswolds instead of staying on the freeway.

Somewhere in Austria

On one hand, it was a really lovely drive. We got to see lots of small towns and things we would not have seen otherwise. On the other hand, we kind of needed gas. I had planned on finding an Esso when we got back into Germany, but we never passed any. Or any other gas stations, either, for that matter. But, we successfully made it to Schwangau and found our hotel. This place is freakin' adorable. It's an Alpine lodge-looking place. Em & I have a double room on the 2nd floor, and Jen & David have single rooms on the ground floor. Em & I have a balcony. I forgot to check for A/C when I booked the rooms, unfortunately, which is normally one of the first things I check. But, in a small town like this, it's hard to find. My major concern was actually that we could check in late enough today (since we had all day to drive) and check out early enough tomorrow to make it to the ticket center on time. These small hotels don't usually have people around 24 hours, so they all have check in and check out times.

Our bed at the hotel

The view from our window

We went downstairs for dinner and had a truly spectacular meal. I had an onion schnitzel on a bed of cheese spatzle. The schnitzel wasn't pounded or breaded, which I found odd, but it was still lovely. During dinner, it suddenly started to storm heavily. Thunder, lightening, pouring rain, the works. It seems like it probably happens pretty often, though, because the waitresses knew exactly what to do. Everybody was moved inside before the rain started, and they had all of the umbrellas down and tables cleared before it got very bad.

After dinner, Jen & David came up to see our room. David looked out the window and said, "Is that one of the castles we're going to see tomorrow?" I looked out, and sure enough, there was Neuschwanstein! It was all scaffolded, and I hadn't even noticed it among the rest of the grey from the cloudiness. I had even taken a picture of that very spot before dinner.

Neuschwanstein from our window, all scaffolded

Emma says - I didn't expect the Atomskeller to be so cold, but when I thought about it, I thought that was a pretty good idea.  Liechtenstein is adorable! I love it there. The bathroom had really cold water in the sink, which made me really happy, because I put it all over my face. The dinner was really good, but it became a bit overwhelming, because I just hd the cheese spatzle. The hotel is so cute, it was like a little maze. The view was really nice, I liked the bed and the people. I would recommend that hotel to anyone ever.