A Fascination For Liechtenstein

I have been asked numerous times why the interest in Liechtenstein? What do I see in this small, supposedly insignificant country? What is it about this mini-principality that so fascinates me? There is no one answer but many! And to answer these questions requires some leaps of the imagination and the heart.

First the Principality of Liechtenstein is not insignificant! No country is, especially to the people who live there. In a future article we will look at all the reasons why Liechtenstein is important not only to its citizens but also to the world. In the meantime we will look at my personal view of Liechtenstein.

Why am I so enthralled with Liechtenstein? The answer, I believe lies in the past - the near and the far - and possibly in the future!

In Public School I did a project on the Principality and ever since have collected newspaper articles, pictures and books on the country. I have also had a fascination with mountains. Whenever our family traveled to visit relatives in Nova Scotia or New York State, I used to sit fascinated in the car, looking out the windows at the hills and mountains passing by. I remember wondering who lived up there and what would it be like to climb up to the top. Then I moveHaliburtonaliburton Highlands in Ontario in 1970 and spend a lot of my free time wandering its hidden valleys and wooden slopes. In 1991 I moved to Vancouver and was awed by the mountains on the north shore. As you can see I am mountain lover.

Then there was Catherine, a lady friend, who, years ago told me I had been a mountain warrior in previous lives. She was an accomplished psychic specializing in past lives readings. Whether or now you believe in such things, her accounts of my previous lives stuck a responsive cord deep in my heart.

Then several years ago, I decided that I had to take a vacation soon. But where? I choose Liechtenstein. I started collecting more information about the Principality that night at the library. The synchronicitysynchronicity struck!

At work I met a family that was spending two days in Vancouver as part of their cross-country tour of Canada. They were from Liechtenstein. Go figure! What are the odds? There are thirty-six thousand citizens in Liechtenstein. I had just met four. Some would call it fate.

Among the many things I collected about this small country are a number of books with pictures from different years. One particular view depicted looks out over a mountain slope down towards the Rhine River. It seemed familiar. Then in another book that had a similar butdejaevueicture, "deja vue" overwhelmed me! This picture was taken over fifty years ago and did not contain as many houses and buildings as did the more modern one. I got the distinct feeling that I had stood on that spot and looked over that scene a long time ago. But I have never been to Liechtenstein - at least not in this life yet!

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