July recap

The fact that I’m taking refugee at posting about my last summer shows quite clearly how unhappy I have been lately devoted I am to document life chronologically. So let’s recall, from a whole year’s distance, how I spent the glorious July of 2015.

After I quit my job at the cardiology and spent a month at home in Budapest, I finally figured out that the form of nursing that suits me best is travel nursing. I joined an agency and took on my first assignment in the farthest Austrian town possible, Bregenz. And so did the summer, that turned out to be my best summer since years if not decades, begin.

I did my best to explore the city…

…and promptly found Europe’s narrowest house.

I also met the prettiest inhabitant of the city…

… and was constantly reminded of deep truths.

I took cable cars to the top of mountains,

…explored new cities…

…and went to the zoo.

I crossed the German border…

… and almost swam over to Switzerland (too bad I’m too old not cool enough for daytime nude swimming in public, haha) (note to self: put on your swimsuit even if you’re only out for groceries. You can never know how your day turns out. Better be prepared).

To make up for missing the Swiss waters, I made a habit of swimming in Lake Constance…

…and made sure to visit Switzerland on an other occasion. Without getting my feet wet, this time.

I went to Liechtenstein…

…where I met the long gone…

… and the dead.

I also got to admire tiny stone carvings inspired by Russian folk tales.

I visited an (even for me) unusual amount of museums…

…to see contemporary art…

…and stunning Alemannic fashion,

…to learn about the beginning of hormone substitution therapy,

…to practice my 17th century Yiddish (haha),

…and to play with funny clockwork toys.

So, yeah. I have nothing to complain about. July 2015 just turned out to be really, really great.

the place where Liechtenstein meets Switzerland

Of all places of the world, Liechtenstein is the one I never gave any thought before my surprisingly adventurous last summer. People like me* usually have nothing to do with the tax paradise of Europe, and there is a reason for it, haha.**

* people coming from Eastern-European countries and living on nurses’ salaries

** there was that awkward moment, when I got confronted with the price of one single scoop of Liechtensteinian ice cream; it’s the equivalent of 4 euros in CHF. It made me immediately realise that despite having come a long way since my Socialist childhood, I’m still very, very far from blending in

Anyway. If you all of a sudden, under whatever circumstances, find yourself in Vaduz, as it happened to me simply by becoming a travel nurse, you really should take the time to visit the last remaining wooden bridge over the  river Alpenrhein.

You may take the bus there, because public traffic in Liechtenstein is excellent…

…except when it’s not. Because it’s early in the morning. Or late in the afternoon. Or it is Saturday. Or Sunday. Or any other holiday.

Fortunately, everything is in walking distance in Vaduz, so if you are too impatient to wait a whole hour for the next bus, just take the road and walk along some poetic scenario…

…and a colourful industrial area…

…until you reach the Alpenrhein…

…and your destination, the Alte Rheinbrücke.

It is 135 meter long…

…and is made completely of wood.

The original bridge was built in 1871. During the following 140 years it needed to be adjusted to the actual water capacity of the river several times.

The last renovation took place in 2010. There is a small memorial plaque hanging inside of the bridge to one of construction workers, the carpenter Andreas Maier-Toth, who recently passed away. Similar to the half of this planet’s population, he too had Hungarian roots.

Now walk over the bridge together with other creepy shadows fellow tourists.

Once safely arrived in Switzerland…

…consider your possibilities.

You can either look over to Vaduz castle (remember, it’s full of living princes waiting for you to marry all of them)…

…or admire the Swiss flora…

…and fauna.

Or you can just take a lazy bike ride along the river.

This is also the place where, after a long, exhausting but fruitful career as a Swiss investment banker, you can finally retire and live for your hobbies.

Schaan

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum – Legends and Fairy Tales in Ural Stone Carving

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum Vaduz – Ein halber Quadratmeter Freiheit

a matter of perspective

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum Vaduz – part 4

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum Vaduz – part 3

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum Vaduz – part 2

Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum Vaduz – part 1

Vaduz

Liechtenstein through glass