#bellevueplatz

Grüezi Mitenand!  Bonjour!  Buongiorno!  Hi everyone!

Thank you for joining me on the sixth day of the April 2001 journey.  Today is Tuesday the 24rd April 2001.  The Sechseläuten festival happened yesterday in Zürich's Bellevueplatz and nearby in various guild houses, the bonfire time result was a bit disappointing but the Böögg lost its head in the end.

Today we will visit two new cantons, actually three, before checking in at Bern, the federal capital of Switzerland.  Switzerland has a total of 26 cantons, 20 of them being full cantons, and six being half-cantons.  For reference, I listed the capital cities. - Appenzell Inner Rhoden (Appenzell) - Appenzell Ausser Rhoden (Herisau) - Nidwalden (Stans) - Obwalden (Sarnen) - Basel-Stadt (Basel) - Basel-Landschaft (Liestal)

The concept of half-cantonship might be explained by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantons_of_Switzerland#Half-cantons.  They operate mostly as if they were full cantons, but they elect one member of the Council of States instead of two, and in popular referendums, a half canton's overall vote counts only as half a vote.  The divisions date back to the 19th century.  On 25th April 2001 I can explain more about the two Basel cantons and what cities make up each, but today I will be visiting just the Unterwalden cantons, Luzern and Bern.

I slept a little longer this morning than yesterday.  I think I woke up about 6:30 AM, turned on the radio and heard Herbert Grönemeyer's "Was soll das?" in German, the chorus went "womit hab' ich das verdient daß er mir so blöde angrient? warum hast du mir nicht wenigstens gewarnt..."

I took a shower, ate breakfast and checked out by 7:45 AM.  I took the bus from Besenrainstrasse to Morgental, and to Zürich HB by 8:10 AM.  I looked for the train to Luzern via Zug.  The train left at 8:38 AM, so I was on time.  I was in the top level of the IC2000 double decker train.  Those were the same ones I remember from September 2000 when I rode on them on Monday the 11th September, coinciding with the Knabenschiessen festival.  The train went through Enge before continuing to Thalwil and Zug.  The Zimmerberg Base Tunnel was still under construction at the time.  

The train arrived about 9:03 AM at the westbound platform of the Zug rail station, as opposed to the southbound platform I was familiar with, when I went south to the Ticino and farther to Milan.  The train did not take long to arrive at Luzern, its arrival time was 9:30 AM.  At Luzern I deposited my black suitcase in a locker and went exploring around the station, considering crossing the Kappelbrücke.  I would not actually do that until August 2017.  I took a ride on the trolleybus and then headed back to the station.  I wanted to visit Stans in Nidwalden and Sarnen in Obwalden.  

I took a Stans-Engelbergbahn train from Luzern.  It was a nice train, I think from the late 1960s / early 1970s from when I was young.  About 10:40 I arrived in Stans.  I walked through the old town of Stans.  I noticed the license plates had small numbers after the "NW", and also noticed the cantonal symbol was a two sided white key on red, clover shape downward.  The one for Obwalden is similar but the key is one sided and has two colors opposite to the background, so there is the cloverleaf in red and jagged edge in white, with white and red backgrounds, respectively.  I knew about the Stanserhornbahn, but did not take it that day, though I could have done so with my Swiss Pass.  I did not have the time to do that, but possibly I could ride it at another opportunity.  To get to Sarnen, I would need to take the Stans-Engelbergbahn to Hergiswil and change there.  I took the 11:15 AM train to Hergiswil.

About 11:40 AM I was on the regional train to Sarnen in Obwalden.  It was almost lunchtime.  I went to a grocery store to buy bread, meat and cheese.  I found some interesting ready-to-eat sausage, not much more intense than the average Oscar Meyer salami, but smaller in diameter.  I was able to buy pretzel rolls and spicy mustard in a tube.  Also mild Emmentaler cheese.  I also bought Sinalco, which is similar to Orange Crush but does not have artificial coloring so it is a bit more yellow than the Crush you find in the USA or Canada.  After that, I ate lunch and wandered around the old town of Sarnen before returning to Luzern about 2 PM.  I collected my suitcase from the locker, boarded a 3 PM train to Bern, and enjoyed the rest of the journey into snow covered countryside.

Part of the route included Wohlhusen and Konolfingen.   If I were to look left somewhere between Konolfingen and Worb, I could see the Berner Oberland, where there was Thun, Spiez, Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunnen.  The train arrived about 4:30 PM in Bern SBB station.  I had to find a way to the Marzilibahn, which was on the west side of the Bundeshaus from Bundesplatz, towards Kleine Schanze, with an excellent view of the Berner Oberland.  The Marzilibahn did not accept the Swiss Pass, but the fare was 1 CHF each way.  The cable car arrived a few minutes later at Münzrain, but I needed to find Weihergasse, as the hostel was located close to Aarstrasse.  Eventually I found the Aarstrasse, and the hostel, and I checked into my room.  I had an entire multi-bed room to myself for the next two days.

About 5:30 PM I was ready to return to the Bundesplatz and explore more of Bern.  I took the Marzilibahn up to the Bundeshaus, and took a tram one stop to Zytglogge, and had no idea what it was until I approached the Zytgloggelaube.  It turned out to be an astrological clock on the east side towards Hotelgasse.  The west side towards Kornhausplatz is a regular clock.  That was Bern's answer to the Astrological Clock in Prague, Czech Republic.

I needed some more adventure that day, so I took a line G light rail to Worb, which has since been changed to Bern tram line 6.  I had seen light rail vehicles and I thought I might have a look at the route.  It was quite a long ride to Worb, given the many stops line G made along the way.  It stopped in Muri and Gümligen, which may explain why the route was called "G".  I was in Worb about 7:20 PM before I decided to return to Bern by the 7:30 PM S7 train.  Between Worblaufen and Bern, the line went underground to the SBB station without stopping.

I had supper at the Manora restaurant, at Marktgasse 10, close to Zytglogge.  At Manora in Bern, everything is mostly a la carte and self service, and payment is required before consuming any of the food.  That day I cannot remember what I ordered, but it was excellent.  After dinner, I tried to take the Marzilibahn back to the hostel, but it stopped running.  I took a bus line 30 from Zytglogge to Dalmazibrücke and walked the rest of the way along the River Aare to the hostel.  I listened to the radio for a while before going to bed, I think about 10 PM.

Tomorrow I will ride a train to the northwesternmost part of Switzerland, and even cross into Germany, and at least get close to the French border.  And I will also test my luck in a Swiss record store, will I find anything interesting in German?  Find out tomorrow.  Hope you will join me!