Part 4: 3 Reasons to explore the world: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria

This part of the trip is all about extremes. Extremes, both intrinsic and extrinsic. For starters, we ventured our way up the Swiss Alps, standing atop of Mt.Titlis (lol), at 3,020m - the highest point I have ever been in my life. The mountain also had a glacier cave which was pretty cool, and was also the place I met my new and only friends so far on this trip. A bunch of 3 malaysian women who giggled everytime I looked at them, and ended up getting some happy snaps with them. When in Rome. The Swiss looked upon Jeremy and I with maybe the most concerned looks their neutral minds had ever produced, as we decided to take the chairlift to the summit of the mountain, where the temperature read a cool (...) -21.5 degrees. And I don't know if you've ever been in -21.5 temperatures at 10,000ft above sea level, but basically it goes like this: It is so cold that the slightest bit of water, saliva, whatever - freezes in an instant. All you need to do is keep moving, but the air is so thin that you move for 3 seconds and you are puffing worse than a fat chick climbing stairs. It is hard, and cold. Very cold. However, on our way back down the mountain the snow started to lessen and the sky opened up, giving us a view on the valley that we were venturing to, and it was stunning. We returned to Lucerne to get a glimpse of what was really surrounding us. Lakes, Mountains, Snow, Rivers, Incredible architecture, History, Wildlife and an incredibly well-functioned city. 

Switzerland

It turns out my dad does have friends, who happened to own the hotel and adjacent restaurant that we were staying at, and invited us out to dinner, at their restaurant, which meant free food and drinks, and treated like royalty from all the staff. Did I take advantage of this by ordering as much as possible? Of course. We did get to learn about some Swiss culture and enjoy really quite a nice evening with some brilliant and interesting locals. The only slight problem was that when the guy told a joke, he laughed and looked at me for about 20 seconds, so I had to laugh the whole time. Awkward.
Today we made our way out of Lucerne and headed to Liechtenstein - the smallest country I have ever been to. It was a perfectly clear day as we made our way through the asphalt spaghetti over, through and around the Swiss Alps. 
Now some of you might be wondering what the hell and where the hell is Liechtenstein? Well it is an 80 square kilometre country nestled in between Switzerland and Austria. The capital city of Vaduz has about 15,000 inhabitants. I can safely say that the main street of Ivanhoe has about 5 times as many shops and people in its main street than the country of Liechtenstein has in its capital city. It was bizarre. Though without mentioning the fact that Vaduz is a beautiful little riverside 'capital city' surrounded by some of the most stunning mountain skylines in the world would not do Liechtenstein justice. It was phenomenal.

Liechtenstein

The final extreme came in Innsbruck, Austria - our current destination.  It's where I can say that in the last 2 days, I have encountered the most beautiful views and countryside that I have ever seen in my life. Innsbruck, again, is a city nestled by a river and completely surrounded by the Austrian Alps. It's culture, history and tradition shines through the beauty of the town and the kindness of the people. Innsbruck is unlike anything you will find in Australia, guaranteed. I really do have to ramble on about the perfection of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. I can not fault anything about it (except maybe the awkward laughing man), and a day snowboarding in the Austrian Alps is planned tomorrow, which could just be one of the greatest experiences of my life. A stunning and remarkable part of my journey.

Austria