Toussaint Holiday- Feldkirch

Wolves in the WildPark.

After visiting Luzern, Switzerland, we got on a train and headed East to Feldkirch, Austria, a small border town near Liechtenstein.  We arrived at our hostel around 7 PM, and after some delay, got checked in and settled.  We then proceeded to have dinner at a Chinese place next door to the hostel, played cards for a bit, and went to bed.  The next day, we woke up early and hiked to the 'WildPark', a wild animal preserve near our hostel.  They had a number of animals housed there, including lynx, deer, and the local wolves, Pepe and Inga.

Riding bikes along the river.

We then went back to the hostel, ate leftover Chinese, and rented bikes from the hostel.  We rode them uptown, to the town center, where there was a pedestrian only zone and plenty of shopping.  The river, as you can see to the left, was a striking shade of blue.  We followed the river for quite a while, and it never changed color.  Although I meant to ask the hostel owner why that was the case, I forgot to, and it remains a mystery to this day.

We rode along the river for about two hours, leaving Feldkirch and riding through some smaller towns and countryside on our way.  We were rewarded with some amazing views of the Austrian Alps, traditional chalets and expansive valleys on our ride.  We turned back when we got tired, and headed back to the city.  On our way back, we stopped by Schattenburg, a castle built around 1218 that overlooks the city.

The view from Schattenburg.

That evening, we came back uptown to eat dinner at a pizzeria that we passed earlier in the day.  We were very pleasantly surprised by the place.  It was a very nice, upscale restaurant with a nice ambiance and really reasonable prices.  For comparison, we paid about 9 euros each at a kebab shop in Luzern, and in Feldkirch, we each got a great dish for less than 7 euros each.

All in all, we were quite impressed with Feldkirch.  We set upon it because lodging in Vaduz, Liechtenstein was too expensive, but it proved to be a great destination in itself.

The rest of the photos from this day can be see here.