Liechtenstein

Summer finally arrived in Basel this past weekend so we decided to do some hiking and visit a new country at the same time.  Liechtenstein is about 2 hours Southeast from Basel, and while an independent country it feels like a part of Switzerland (they use the Swiss Franc and there is only a small sign indicating you are entering the country - no formal border crossing).  The country is only ~15 miles long by ~4 miles wide, bordered by the Rhine on the West and the Alps on the East.  Matt found a hike that started up in the Alps and then continued to go upwards to the top of a ridge.  On our drive up through multiple switchbacks we passed lots of cute chalets, all extremely well maintained (a Swiss colleague of Matt's even made the comment about how well maintained Liechtenstein is, even compared to Switzerland).  As is typical in Switzerland there are cows (with bells) all over the mountain fields providing a pleasant "tinkling" soundtrack to our hike.  At the top there were beautiful views of the small towns below and the snow capped peaks of the Austrian and Swiss Alps.

Kate or Heidi?

On the way home we drove down the main strip through the country to view the famous Liechtenstein castle (where the ruling monarchy still lives).  Other than lots of banks and a small pedestrian area there isn't much to see... oh well, we can check another country off our list.