Liechtenstein

I'm going to try my hardest to get all blog caught up today- but it is HARD. If you've been following my normal 'what-we've-been-up-to' blogs, you know all the dog drama. Pork chop had his little surgery yesterday. We picked up him around 6pm last night, and he's HIGH MAINTENANCE for sure. So, we are at an 'all hands on deck' situation, with Calib and Peyton staying up all night to be on Porkchop duty, so Asa and I could sleep. And now, we're on Porkchop/Etta and Phenom duty (Ellie is still asleep with Calib). Basically, it's bananas. 

And, not to jinx it but Porkchop hasn't whined in 5 minutes- which is the longest he's been quiet since we brought him home (for real- it's THAT bad). 

But, the world keeps spinning. I don't think we'll get a country done today, but if I could get my blog caught up- that'd be half the battle. 

So let's head to tiny little-in-between Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein. Don't confuse this little corner of the world for their neighbors though. They may use the Swiss Franc and speak German, but don't call them German, Austrian, or Swiss. 

Liechtenstein is all of 62 square miles. That makes the whole country about 1/3 the size of Tampa (like JUST Tampa- not even all the suburbs and such). Roughly the same size as Washington D.C., it's only 15 and a half miles long. 

It's the 6th smallest country in the world behind Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru, Tuvalu and San Marino, and has a population just around 37,000. 

It's the only country in the world named after its ruling family. Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein bought the two counties of Schellenberg and Vaduz in the late 1600s/early 1700s formed them into one country and named it after himself, even though he never so much as visited the place. It's the only country in the world named after the people who bought it. 

No ruler of Liechtenstein actually lived in the country until 1938. But today you'll find the ruler of Liechtenstein (Prince Alois), living in our landmark: the Vaduz Castle. Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein, and the castle sits on top of the hillside over looking the capital it is named after. 

The castle is closed to visitors, but it is the site of the annual fireworks display on August 15th to celebrate Lichtenstein's 'National Day'. 

Prince Alois and his dad Prince Hans Adam II are pretty well loved and very popular in Liechtenstein. As far as national politics go, not too many people disagree with their prince. In 2003, Prince Hans was given the power (by a vote of his people) to allow him to dismiss the government and reject new laws. 

But, I mean, it's a tiny country, so how hard can ruling be? 

In fact, they never get involved in any disputes and follows a 'policy of neutrality'. They don't even have a military! (There's apparently only about 22 to of those). Legend said they had an army once upon a time, and that 80 soldiers were deployed to fight in Italy. But, 81 soldiers returned the next day, now including an Italian solider who wanted out of Italy's army.  They said the army was promptly disbanded. 

It's a story-book like place known for it's castles, miniature vineyards, villages linked by a network of trails and downhill skiing. Mountains envelop 2/3 of the countries landmass. It is in the Alps, after all. 

Fun fact: They're also an exporter of false teeth and sausage skins! (Among being known as a wealthy,  tax haven of a country). 

Also, I must have missed taking a picture of the flag. Opsies. No surprise here, it has a crown on a blue and red background. 

One more fun Liechtenstein fact for you: there is one McDonald's in Lichtenstein that opened in 1996. It's very popular and widely publicized with signs around the country. And the McDonald's even serves beer. 

The boys made their Lichtenstein postcards. 

Calib's featured Vaduz Castle up on a hill. 

Peyton's featured the Alps, and a church (the population of Liechtenstein is about 3 quarters Roman Catholic). 

And Hayden's featured the 18th century of the Golden Boos. Basically, this redhead traveled everywhere with a big trunk, and asked places she stayed to put it in their most secure rooms. Turns out there was a little guy in the trunk who would steal all the valuables during the night. 

For Lichtenstein dessert, we had Kirschenmichel (Bread and Butter Pudding with Cherries). Asa is not big on making desserts, and isn't always thrilled when it comes up. But we do have that fancy new mixer, so he doesn't mind it so much anymore. We used product of Germany cherries, I mean, that's kind of close. 

We also had some basic applesauce , which is often served as a side dish in Liechtenstein, (though we made ours in the instant pot), pan roasted carrots, and Kasknopfle (Triple Cheese Pasta with Sweet Onion). 

This meal earned five spoons up, all around the table. 

But, here's the funny thing, the boys called this the 'Liechtensteiners version of Nancy Reagan Mac & Cheese'. Back when we celebrated all of our presidents in 2015, we had Nancy Reagan Mac & Cheese for Ronald Reagan's birthday, and it's been a staple in our house ever since. It's one of the few things I cook (and I don't mind cooking), and I always serve it with carrots, baked apples, and biscuits. This was like that, just elevated. 

The Kasknopfle has THREE different cheeses.  Now, I'm not a fan of swiss cheese, and emmentaler is pretty much swiss cheese, so we went a little lighter on that. But, gruyere and fontina? Yes please. I'm learning cheeses, apparently. My brother, Cort would be so proud. 

All in all, we cleared on plates on that one, and I'll mark it down as one of our 5 star meals. I have been tallying them to do during the Olympics, when hopefully we're done with this crazy project and would you believe we have FIFTY-FIVE of them? That doesn't even include one's we went out to eat for, or one's that seemed like we liked them but I never gave an official spoons. (There's 18 of those!)

And the tally for 0 spoons up is at only 5 meals: Indonesia, Chad, Tunisia, Togo, and Qatar. I did contemplate maybe doing a 'second chance' meal for these during the Olympics. There's got to be something from those countries we'd enjoy, right? 

When I asked Asa and the boys to guess how many five spoons up dishes we've had, the highest guess was 25.  They all guessed at least 10 zero spoons up meal. 

I guess that goes to show we really seem to focus on the negative here. We've got to work on our positivity! 

Anyway, Liechtenstein got a green dot in the Alps, to the north of Italy, between red Switzerland and pink Austria

That's 172 down, 24 to go! 

Next Up: Burundi