I have been super busy this week on our vacation. It always amazes me how vacations tend to wear me out! It’s like I need a vacation from my vacation, which is what the next two days in Liechtenstein are going to be about.

Because we drove to Italy, thinking we were going to load up on groceries (which we will probably do at a truck stop), it takes longer to get back to Germany. That’s why we’re stopping in Liechtenstein. But I don’t like to do overnights when I travel, unless it’s a place I’ve already been. We did an overnight on the way down to Italy in Andermatt, but that didn’t give us much time to see the area. We have been to Liechtenstein before– back in 2009 when we actually got trapped in Italy! But our visit in 2009 only lasted a few hours. This time, we hope to see a little bit more than we did last time. Since the country is so tiny, that shouldn’t be too hard. Or, at any rate, I look forward to relaxing and decompressing a bit.

Italy’s mask mandate for most venues officially ended on May 1. Many people still wear the masks, but they are not legally required anymore, except in hospitals, nursing homes, theaters and performance venues, and on public transport. I’m not sure what the rules are in Liechtenstein, but given that it’s basically Switzerland, my guess is that it’s wide open.

This really has been an amazing trip, and I have mostly very positive things to report when I get to writing my blog series. We saw some truly beautiful wineries, met a couple of friendly dogs, ate a lot of good food, and drank lots of outstanding wines. I also enjoyed meeting the other people on our tour, as well as Tom DeVries, who organized the trip and inspired us to come down in the first place. Tom owns Sommeliers Choices, and he curates boxes of beautiful Italian wines, which he ships all over the world. I was impressed by the obvious friendships and business connections he had with the people running the restaurants and wineries we visited. A couple of the wineries we stopped at were truly special, family-owned places with lots of history.

I took so many photos of the stunning scenery. It’s going to be a challenge to pick which photos to share.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days… Stay tuned for the whole story to be posted, very soon.