Germany, Liechtenstein and Germany Trip

When did we go….

• Oct 21 – Nov 1, 2023

 

Why did we go…

• we decided to sneak in one more international trip before the arrival of our first grandchild

 

 

How did we get there…

• 9-hour flight from Calgary to Frankfurt and then a 1-hour flight to Berlin (50-minute Uber to our hotel)
• 1-hour flight from Berlin to Munich (50-minute Uber to our hotel)
• 4-hour private driver from Munich to Zaduz
• 1.5-hour private driver from Zaduz to Zurich
• 8-hour private driving tour from Zurich to Genva
• 8.5-hour flight return flight from Geneva to Montreal and then a 5-hour flight to Calgary

 

 

Where did we stay…

Berlin (Oct 22-25)

• Adlon Kempinski
• site of Michael Jackson’s famous dangling of his son outside the hotel window in 2002
• great view of the Brandenburg Gate from our hotel window (thanks for the recon from our friends Tad and Philly)
• very ornate and historic
• nice lobby bar
• nice complimentary spa and pool area

Munich (Oct 25-28)

• Sofitel Bayerpost

• a few blocks from the Old City but crazy construction along the street into that area
• very nicely appointed hotel but average service (concierge MIA, tough to get laundry picked up, a few language barrriers)
• nice complimentary spa facility with decent amenities

Vaduz (Oct 28-29)

• Residence Hotel Vaduz
• Located in the center of Old Town
• very good front desk/concierge service from Sandra,
• the cleaning lady barging into our room unannounced was a unique experience
• room was average but had a great view across the valley of the Swiss Alps

Zurich (Oct 29-31)

• Ambassador
• good location in Old Town
• excellent front desk.concierge service from Isabella
• very nicely appointed rooms and everything else in the hotel
• nice hotel bar and restaurant

Geneva (Oct 31 – Nov 1)

• Fairmont Grand Hotel
• great location overlooking Lake Geneva and in the Old Town area
• nicely appointed rooms
• did not get a chance to check out their spa, which is supposed to be one of the best in the city

 

Where did we eat…

Berlin

• Lila (dinner, historic building, nice ambiance, Peruvian ownership/influence, seafood forward, excellent tapas style food, eclectic fellow diners, indifferent service)
• Vogelweide (lunch, Austrian vibe, decent food, stern service)
• Tim Raue (dinner, Asian inspired, 9-course meal, ‘wealth transfer’ expensive but excellent food, service by a 23 year old, and venue)

Munich

• Pescheria (dinner, fantastic fun service, nice ambiance, great food, one of our best ever dining experiences)
• Xavers (lunch, authentic Bavarian setting and food, fun watching some local ole boys playing cards and enjoying their bier)
• Brenner Opengrill (dinner, huge place, fun vibe, good service, excellent food)
• Limoni (dinner, quaint Italian spot with fun servers and great chow)

Vaduz

• Residence Vaduz Bistro (dinner, service was a bit awkward at times but the venue and food were very good)

Zurich

• Buchung (lunch, outdoor patio overlooking Old Town and the Limmat River, excellent food and service)
• Alpenrose (dinner,
• Zunit Zur Waag (lunch with our banker, in an old Guild building, excellent food and service)
• Kronenhalle (dinner, historical building with a tie to some prominent artists, good food but our waiter was a little too formal for our liking)

Geneva

• Brasserie Lipp (dinner, hard to find on the third level of a shopping mall, vibrant atmosphere and fun people watching, good food and service once they warmed up to us)

 

 

 

What did we do…

Berlin

• toured the East Side Gallery section of the Berlin Wall (amazing history from its build on Aug 13, 1961 to Nov 9, 1989, which prevented people from escaping to the West from East Berlin, 155 km, 118 artists from around Europe painted the murals)
• hung out at the beautiful hydrotherapy spa and pool area in our hotel
• 3-hour Secret Food Tour (guide Dania, toured the Hackescher Markr and area, sampled Turkish-influenced donairs, crumble from Lindner Market, Currywurst (West Berlin style), Berliner donuts, and Budike Biergarten chow, vino, schnapps and craft beer)
• Valbali Spa (hydrotherapy, first ‘textile free’ experience was unique, lots of hot/cold/relax offeriings, good restaurant food and drink)
• checked out the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz area, the massive KaDeWe mall, the shops on Kurfurstendamm Street, Kulturbrauerei historic property, and the Prenzlauer Berg area

Munich

• hung out at our hotel spa, which had a nice pool and sauna, but one sauna didn’t work, nor did the steam room heat up (overall a beautiful facility)
• walked through Old Town and watched the Marienplatz clock tower dancing carousel performance, which was very cool
• also viewed a number of other beautiful and historic buildings which all seemed to have a clock tower
• checked out some of the unique local shopping including two of my favorite outdoor brands (Norrona and Salewa)
• enjoyed a liter of beer at the historic Hofbrauhaus with a couple of chaps from Finland
• visited the BMW Welt (new cars) and BMW Museum (history of BMW and historic vehicles, motorbikes, and parts), both of which were very cool facilities
• spent time at the hotel hydrotherapy spa, which was a very nice facility despite a couple of the hot rooms not working properly
• walked around the Viktualienmarket market, checking out the unique vendors
• cruised through the Au-Haidhausen and Ludwigsvorstadt districts, enjoying the local architecture
• enjoyed a beverage and some people watching in the spectacular lobby bar in the Kempinski Hotel
• toured the Dachau Concentration Camp (Hitler/Nazi’s opened it in 1933, and it became the training camp for the SS in one of the world’s biggest atrocities, very sad and moving experience)
• had a private driver (Veton) take us from Munich to the Neuschwanstein Castle through the scenic fall colors of the Bavaria region, and in a half hour, we were in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and then Liechtenstein
• we were on parts of the Autobahn with cars zooming by at around 200 km/hour

Vaduz

• walked up the hill to the Vaduz Castle, where we ran into Prince Maximilian and his wife, Princess Angela
• enjoyed the glorious sunshine at a café on the main promenade
• checked out the Postage Museum
• walked around town exploring some of the historic and beautiful properties overlooking Vaduz and across the valley into Switzerland
• its a very sleepy town, but we finally found a bar that had the South Africa vs. the New Zealand All Blacks World Championship Rugby game on where South Africa won for a record fourth time
• had a private driver (Marco) take us from Vaduz to Zurich (interesting chap from NW Italy who was also a DJ on weekends)

Zurich

• walked around Old Town along the Limmat River promenade as well as the Lindenhof Hill scenic lookout and along Bahnhofstrasse Street, which is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world
• checked out the up and coming Viadukt area, which has transformed a railway viaduct built in 1894 in Zurich West into a 550 yard long urban meeting place with shops and food/beverage establishments
• walked around the Seefeld (District 8) neighborhood near our hotel, enjoying the Lake Zurich promenade and historical buildings
• visited with our Swiss Banker, who gave us an office tour along with their beautiful views of the city from their various office balconies and gained some city and country intel
• attended the Hurlimannbad Spa (a beautiful venue in an old brewery with many spa options and a fantastic panoramic view of the city from the rooftop pool)
• had a private driver (Antonio), who was a fun 64 year old Italian, take us through Lucerne (Mare bought a Swiss watch, walked the historic Chapel Bridge and Old Town), Burgenstock (hilltop village with amazing views of Lake Lucerne and the surrounding countryside), Bern (visited Einstein’s home and walked Old Town) and Gruyere (famous cheese town with a beautiful countryside)

 

Geneva

• walked along the lake promenade to and from dinner
• didn’t get a chance to explore the city as we had to return home earlier than expected

 

Background:

Berlin

• capital and largest city in Germany
• 4.5M people
• temperate seasonal climate
• incredible history from WW2 and the Berlin Wall
• city devastated after WWII and divided into West and East Berlin until unification in 1990
• tourism and start up companies make up most of their economy
• only 15% of the buildings survived WW2
• depending on the definition of a bridge (road, water, etc) there are between 969 to 2100
• vibrant cultural scene and way of life that is somehow all go yet relaxed

Munich

• capital of the Bavaria region
• known for the annual Oktoberfest celebration and its beer halls
• third largest city at 1.6M people although the metropolitan area contains 6M people
• highest standard of living in Germany and third in the world
• birthplace of BMW
• Bayern Munich is the top soccer team in Germany
• home of the 1972 Summer Olympics (tainted by the Palestinian hostage crisis)

Vaduz

• capital of Liechtenstein
• located on the Rhine River near the Swiss border
• 6000 residents
• Liechtenstein is the 5^th smallest country in the world

Zurich

• Global center for banking and finance
• largest city in Switzerland
• 1.3M population
• hub city in Switzerland
• located at the north end of Lake Zurich
• originally a Roman city until the Industrial Revolution changed this

Geneva

• base city for some of the world’s largest organizations (WTO, Red Cross, World Bank, UN)
• second most populous city in Switzerland at 500,000
• located on the southern tip of Lake Geneva
• one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities

 

What did we not do that is on the agenda for next time:

Berlin

• take a boat tour on the Spree River
• do a guided historical tour (our food tour guide was Syrian and limited in her knowledge)
• stay in a more vibrant neighborhood to immerse in the local culture

Munich

• watch a Bayern Munich football (soccer) match (Germany’s most successful club)

Vaduz

• visit some of the other small villages

Zurich

• explore some of the surrounding countryside

Geneva

• lots to explore as we left early
• visit some of the Swiss, Italian and French villages near Geneva

 

 

Final thoughts:

• the weather was between 5 & 20 degrees C, which was very comfortable most of the time, with just a few scattered rain showers
• things were quite expensive with the conversion from Euro and Swiss Francs to Canadian
• the food was somewhat unique and generally quite good
• the people were quite friendly and almost always spoke decent English
• there seemed to be endless construction in all the major cities
• some of the cities were quite dangerous to cross the streets as you had to navigate cars, motorbikes, cyclist, trains and sometimes 3 lights to get across an intersection
• we walked as much as we could (15-20k steps/day) and took Uber the rest of the time