HAVE you read ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’? I’m sure that this great story was inspired by Lichtenstein. In the fictional Ruritania, the town of Zenda is dominated by a high castle where the prince lives – exactly like Vaduz, the capital of Lichtenstein, which is also situated somewhere in the Germany/Austria area, with a single railway line running through it.

The railway line through Lichtenstein runs from Buchs in Switzerland through to Feldkirch, Austria, with one station (Schaan) in the principality – even though the Lichtenstein tourist office claims that they have four stations (the others are wee halts). I decided to go there by Lichtenstein Bus from Buchs station.

With the usual Swiss efficiency, the buses stop outside the railway station, where a sign said that there was one every 15 minutes. I waited, a Lichtenstein bus came in, dropped its passengers, went to a turning circle and stopped. After a long wait, another came in, dropped its passengers and went to the turning circle, and then one came to the stop and we all got on. As I was paying for my ticket a driver got on the bus and remonstrated with my driver for overtaking the first bus. Insisting his would be the bus to Vaduz, he shouted to the passengers to get off, which they started to do. He started to help me off the bus while my driver argued that he had not yet finished issuing me with a ticket. I grabbed what he gave me and scuttled into the other bus, which roared off. I sorted out my wallet, ticket, change – and realised I had been given back my 10 Franc note.

Soon we were roaring across the River Rhine into the principality, and on to Schaan. A short stop to exchange passengers at a scruffy bus station that is being rebuilt, and off again heading for Vaduz. The whole of Lichtenstein is one big mountain, with the towns being on the flat ledge next to the Rhine. It fascinated me, as a boy, reading that the economy is based on banking and postage stamps – and it still is. Postage stamps?

I went to the tourist office for advice and a map. The lady there was excellent, efficient and sorted me out. Following her advice, I went outside and did the walk through the old town – in five minutes. I thought that I had gone wrong, but no – that is all there is. I returned to the parliament building (they have 25 members of parliament) and the cathedral, both only medium sized. I had been told that the castle, which overhangs the town, is a private residence of the Prince and his family, who are called Adams. You cannot go round the castle and with an Adams family in residence, perhaps that is not a bad thing.

The Lichtensteiners are proud of their royals, and can trace the history of their country back to 1342. They have just 47.2 miles of border, 25.5 with Switzerland (part of which seems to squeeze out round their football pitch) and 21.7 miles with Austria. They accept Euros and US Dollars, but the Swiss Franc is their official currency, which shows that they are not daft. Their economy is always in surplus, with no national debt. The population is quoted as being 35,589. I love that precision, as if they know everyone personally. There are 5,111 people living in the capital, Vaduz.

There is no airport, but a very efficient bus network (actually run by the Swiss Post Bus company) covers the mountainous country. They still claim postage stamps as one of the main things that tourists buy, as well as wine. Lichtensteiners eat very well, with some local specialities such as Tüarka – Rebel and Käsknöpfle (I will give you the recipe for their Schlosspinsen bread, or maybe it’s cake, at the end).

The language is German, with the spoken language a dialect of low German. There are no borders or passport stamping. Just as well, as 51% of the people who work in the country commute from neighbouring nations. The standard of living must be the highest in the EU. Lichtenstein has the highest number of cars per head of population, despite having such an excellent and dense bus service on their 120km of main roads and 260km of community roads.

The overall impression is of a well-run, organised country, very wealthy, that doesn’t waste money on armies or foreign wars, has a great social life (45% of the population belong to one or other sports club, and the number of different clubs and societies is amazing), and eat and drink very well.

Any country that specialises in selling you their own produced chocolate, wine and postage stamps must be good. It is well worth discovering this friendly, modern day Ruritania.

RECIPE FOR SCHLOSSPINSEN

600 grams Flour, 30 grams yeast, 70 grams butter, 80 grams sugar, 4 egg yolks, 1 whole egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon rum, some grated lemon peel, cold milk, and a pinch of salt.

Put everything (except the whole egg) in a bowl and kneed well into a dough. Leave it alone for half an hour. Then cut it into quarters, put in on a buttered sheet and leave it to rise for 2 hours. Then you cut a "Y" into the tops, coat them well with the beaten whole egg and put into a medium heat oven. After 15 minutes maximum, turn down the heat to low. In about half an hour you will have 4 super soft breads/cakes with a golden brown glossy surface. Simple!

Caught in the middle of bus battle

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