I LOVE island nations. 
​I just have a thing for them.
Small countries such as Liechtenstein are like an island country without being an island..
In fact, it is so inland that it is one of the only 2 countries in the world (or something like that) that is completely surrounded by other countries which themselves are inland countries - not touching any body of an ocean.

When researching and gathering knowledge before going on the trip,
I was learning the history of Liechtenstein,
and absolutely loved how it came about as a country.
It fascinated me and made me fantasize about having a country of my own. 
It was also quite entertaining to learn its founding as a nation-state.
One of my favourite things about Liechtenstein's history was that when its people went to war, it came back with more friends,  more people than the number of population that left. 
And if my memory serves me right, no one died either...
I love a friendly nation,
And when inside Liechtenstein, Vaduz to be precise,
​I felt that this was a very welcoming place.

My first meal in the country was in an upstairs restaurant in the centre of the city.
The restaurant was almost directly beneath the castle (if you draw a straightline).
The cook was Asian,
And the person who I saw & I figured he might have been the owner,
he was Indonesian Chinese looking, or Thai.
The chef came out of the kitchen and stood at the doorway and peeked at me as I ate.
As not only was I the only Asian there that day, 
I was also the only damn customer while I was there.
It's always annoying when people stare, 
it's even more comfortable when you travel solo and people are staring at none else but you.
You know you stand out like a sore thumb, and
their fascination or interest is nowhere near comfortable for a solo female traveler.
I wish people exercised more respect.
The supposed boss looked as dodgy as a boss could be, just sans the dangerous vibe.
He couldn't look more like a Thai mob escapee.
Or a former drug trafficker or prostitute pimp.
He made me remember one of the Chinese people at the place I once worked at as a part-timer during uni, 
​he had his fingers chopped off by the Indonesian workers because he wasn't paying the workers enough at his factory.
He looked dodge as a person. 
And this supposed owner of the restaurant I was eating at looked dodge.
I figured he probably escaped Thailand to settle down quietly here in the middle of the middle of Europe.

The food was tasty but extremely salty.
I had to drink all the liquid I was served to try to wash off the saltiness.
But I was satisfied from it, and grateful for some food in my stomach.

The day was hot. So hot I could hardly stay outside.
When I first arrived, I was so dehydrated I was almost going under hyperventilation while waiting for a delayed bus that following the Sunday-time-table.
Thankfully it was evening when I came back out,
after I walked around the centre of Vaduz for some time,
the sun was lower, all things were lit in a warm golden hue,
I explored a lovely neighborhood that was basking in that evening light.
It was peaceful everywhere.

The castle looked beautiful from afar, 
and it really seemed a lovely sight, 
as the castle overlooks the city,
as if the Prince was really looking over and down at his subjects.
A romantic notion in itself,
and its physical position certainly conveys such an effect:
That the prince is looking at his subjects,
​at all his citizens who live on the ground level below.
He is both the watcher and the protector,
overlooking all that happens in the city beneath the castle.

On ground level, things are truly serene and idyllic.
Albeit suburban, there were goats and cows standing in fields along the edge of the city.
I saw the goats chilling and later forming a long train, 
as their human owner had returned and they were practically following him in greeting.
It was a sweet sight.

It's a very special place.
​I give you That.

​More later.

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆,
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓,
𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.
𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕,
𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂,
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆.
𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 , 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒚𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂, 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔.

𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓,
𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 -- 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒏;
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒖𝒑,
𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓,
𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏.
"𝑵𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆!"
𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆...

𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔,
𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒚𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚,
𝑰𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔,
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉.
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.
𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏,
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎,
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅
𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆
𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚
𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.

𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑽𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒛, 🇭🇹
𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑰 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒎 😊
𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓.
𝑺𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒍 💗