#buchloe

Buchloe: „…Der Abriss der Bestandgebäude im Buchloer Freibad liegt in den letzten Zügen. Nun muss das Grundwasser abgeleitet werden. Trotz des verregneten Wetters schritten die Arbeiten am Buchloer Freibad zum Ende der Woche rasch voran. “Läuft alles planmäßig, dann ist der Abriss bereits am Samstag beendet”, sagte Bürgermeister Robert Pöschl im Gespräch mit unserer Redaktion. In drei bis vier…

Friday 24 July 1998 (as retold on 24th July 2018)

Hi everyone, Grüezi mitenand e buon giorno a tutti.  Wie geht es Euch?  Come state voi? Heute fahren wir nach Zürich mit dem Zug.  Oggi andiamo in treno per Zurigo.

And I am afraid, yes there is a lot to read here for Friday 24 July 1998.  So I will make a short list at the top, and let you decide if you want to continue. - Train from München Hbf to Zürich HB, via Buchloe im Ostallgäu, Memmingen, Lindau, Bregenz, St. Margarethen, St. Gallen, Winterthur, Zürich Airport and Zürich HB - Description of the locomotives between München Hbf - Lindau and Lindau - Zürich HB - Taking the S-4 train from Zürich HB to Manegg, Line 70 bus to Morgental and trolleybus 33 to hostel - Tram 7 to Zürich HB and Nationalmuseum - Description of Nationalmuseum - Webcams at the Limmatquai - Selfie at the Clausius Bar on ETH Zürich campus - quick journey to Stettbach station - S-10 Üetlibergbahn to Üetliberg - S-18 to Forch - Dinner at Brasserie Johanniter - Tram 7 and Trolleybus to hostel

Okay so that was the summary, so those who really want to read all the details, just for 24 July 1998, here they are!  Enjoy! Twenty years ago today, I went on possibly my favorite train routes, from Munich, to Zürich, then Milan and back home to München via Verona and Innsbruck.  And yes I took that funny red-white-and-green striped hat along.  I had taken a similar route on 4th to 6th July 1997 but with very little planning beyond reading a train schedule.  But 24th to 26th July 1998 I had a better idea of where I could generally find better deals and more worthwhile sights.  The eventual breakdown of the Samsung Evoca 115 presented challenges for that weekend, but did not take away the enjoyment.

In July 1997 I was unable to find the intended youth hostel to stay the night, and not knowing where Wollishofen was at the time, I had to make do at the Biber (Beaver) Backpacker Hostel on Niederdorfstrasse 5.  It was nice but not my kind of place, even if it shares space with the current Spaghetti Factory Rosenhof.  A little too close to the city center for my liking.  For July 1998 I reserved a bed in a six-bed all-male dorm room (do you remember from June 1998, the Na Zborenci in Prague that was co-ed?) at the Wollishofen hostel.  Also I bought a restricted reserved ticket for 89 D-Mark in First Class to Zürich instead of using a day on my Eurail Pass.  

The first leg of this journey went from München Hbf, leaving about 8:10 AM, then headed to Buchloe without stopping in München Pasing, Memmingen, Lindau, Bregenz in Austria, Sankt Margarethen in Switzerland, then Sankt Gallen, Winterthur, Zürich Airport and Zürich HB.  The train changes direction in Lindau for the reason of switching between the DB 218 diesel locomotives for Munich to Lindau as that section is not electrified, and from Lindau to Zürich, special electric locomotives of type "Re420" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBB-CFF-FFS_Re_420) use dual German (wide) and Swiss (narrow) pantographs, yet the electricity is the same.  When I arrived in Zürich, I took a photo of the locomotive, looks similar to the one in the link.  

For some reason, in Switzerland it is a practice to use the abbreviation HB instead of Hbf.  Similarly they don't use the "ß" letter for "ss".  The Rechtschreibreform that took effect on 1st August 1998 did not change that convention either. As for the German part of the journey, there is electrification from München Hbf up to Geltendorf, and from Geltendorf all the way to Lindau there is no electrification, but there is a line from Geltendorf to Augsburg.  Even with electrification, the DB 218 diesel locomotive is used until Lindau.  If you also were to go to Schloß Neuschwanstein in Füssen, the line would also be non-electrified.  At Memmingen there is a northern rail connection to Ulm where there is electrification to either Stuttgart or München.  From Geltendorf to Memmingen, the topography is basically flat, maybe a few hills here and there.  It doesn't start to get interesting until after Memmingen, where the line crosses between the states of Baden Württemberg and Bavaria. The train stops at Lindau, I think about 10:10 AM, almost at the close end of the platform, where the two DB 218 diesel locomotives are uncoupled, and then a few minutes later at the other end, the Re 420 electric locomotive is coupled.  I think I was in the furthest car in München, and then ended up in front in Lindau towards Zürich.  When the train leaves Lindau for Bregenz and Zürich, the compartment window is on the right, and is the ideal place to view passing along the bank of Lake Constance.  That day was not exactly sunny but still beautiful.

About 10:35 AM the train pulls in to Bregenz in Vorarlberg.  For those travelling to points in Austria farther east, even to Vaduz in Liechtenstein, this would be the station to transfer, as Sankt Margarethen on the Swiss side is much smaller.  At this time, we don't have our passports checked due to the December 1997 ascension of Austria to the Schengen Agreement.  The train departs 10:43 AM for Sankt Margarethen.  It is a very short distance but somehow it feels more profound as the train is crossing from an EU nation to a non-EU nation.  And there will be passport checks.

At 10:51 AM, the train crosses the Rhine river westward.  This is the natural land border for the Swiss canton of Sankt Gallen, and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, and to some degree, also Liechtenstein.  We arrive at 10:54 AM in Sankt Margarethen on the Swiss side and the Austrian rail crew exit the train to head back with the next return train.  The Swiss crew board the train and the Swiss Grenzwache (border guards) also board to check passports.  I received an arrival stamp in my passport with Sankt Margarethen as the location of entry.  After the Swiss conductor announced the train destination and the next stops in German and English, it departed about 10:59 AM.  It follows a format of "Ladies and Gentlemen, the train crew welcome you on the <train name>, to <stops and final destination>, and wish you a pleasant journey.  Next stop, <the next stop>".  Since 2000 the SBB have for the most part had this automated in German, French, Italian and English.  The RhB which is separate, has its own vocal automation regime in German and Rhätorumantsch, which I have not yet experienced. Most of the terrain between Sankt Margarethen and Winterthur varied from hilly to having fairly flat valleys and nice farmlands, even including a "Villars" sign in the shape of a cow.  You will have to imagine taking the letters and moving them askew to get the picture quite correct.  The train did not stop at Gossau but if it did, that would be an excellent connection to Herisau in Appenzell Ausser Rhoden.  To get to Frauenfeld in Thurgau and on to Konstanz in Germany, you would need to remain on the train until Winterthur and transfer there.  But not this time, my main object for the day was reaching Zürich.

The train reached Zürich Airport by 12:10 PM.  By then I was listening to DRS 1 (German-language Radio in Switzerland), the radio announcer's accent was not too difficult to understand.  Also I heard before the news, "Don't stop the dance" by Bryan Ferry and "Sexy Tango" (in italiano) by Fabio Concato.  Previously I was also listening to RSR (en francais), one of the songs included "un amour que m'irait bien" by Véronique Sanson.  I took a photo of the Zürich Airport train destination sign so I could get the timing correct to tell twenty years hence and even later, and it said that the train would not leave for Zürich HB until 12:16 PM.  At the time, a train ride from the airport to the city took about 15 minutes, so an arrival of 12:35 PM would be realistic.  As I mentioned, after I got off the train, I took a picture of the Re 420 that took the train all the way from Lindau to Zürich HB.

Ok so first things first in Zürich HB.  Transportation is not free, and the fine for not having a ticket is 80 CHF (Swiss Francs), about 90 D-Mark.  Not cheap!!!!  I wanted to visit the Üetliberg that day so I bought a four zone day pass for 13.40 CHF.  Zürich's day passes are good for 24 full hours after purchase.  I had some Swiss Francs that I withdrew from the Stadtsparkasse München Marienplatz branch, so I did not need to use an ATM yet.  Swiss Francs have high value coins like 1, 2, and 5 Francs, something like 1.20, 2.40 and 6.00 D-Mark, respectively.  The bills are only, at least with the so-called SNB 8th release, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 1,000.  Most common were up to 100 CHF.  I think at SSKM the only bills they dispensed were the 50 CHF.  Well anyway it was time to find the way to the hostel.  So why did I not want to take the direct Tram 7 to Morgental?  No idea, I figured I could take the S-4 to Manegg and take the bus line 70, either way I would end up at Morgental anyway.

The S-4 shares the same underground station location in Zürich HB as the S-10 AKA "Üetlibergbahn" but uses the Swiss AC voltage and not the DC voltage of the S-10, that is why the S-10 has an offset pantograph.  So to get from Zürich HB to Manegg, I would take the S-4 in the direction of Langnau Gattikon.  I think it took four stops until Manegg, including the second underground station Selnau, right under the River Sihl.  I did manage to catch a line 70 bus at Manegg to Morgental within 15 minutes of the S-4 heading to Langnau Gattikon.  Line 70 goes along the Butzenstrasse to Albisstrasse and on to Morgental, but it has to make a left turn on to Tannenrauchstrasse then pass by the trolleybus stop.  There is only then a short walk around the corner from the bus 70 stop to the trolleybus 33 - a short one stop journey.  I think it was about 1:40 PM when I boarded the trolleybus for that short hop, included in my bus pass.  It was not too bad of a detour, now that I look back.

In July 1998, what was the color of the Zürich SJH hostel, the one in Mutschellenstrasse 114?  I do not believe it was its present "mauve", as over the years since 2001 it has been continuously renovated.  Even the entry was different than what I remembered in December 2016 when I last stayed, namely right at the corner of the far end of Tannenrauchstrasse and Mutschellenstrasse.  Basically the breakfast room and reception between July 1998 and I guess August 2004, they swapped places.  The reception was not quite ready to let me claim my bed, as they would not accept checkins until 2 PM.  In July 1998 the waiting area had former Swissair coach class seats to sit on.  By the time 2 PM came around, I gave my passport, my hostelling membership card and 30 CHF for the night.  I dropped off my clothes bag with the coffee thermos, and took my day bag with the makeshift soda-mix bottle and extra 11 ounce cans in case I got thirsty along the way.  Then I was ready to go into town.  And yes I took that red-white-and-green striped hat along.

Because in July 1998 the "Jugendherberge" stop was not constructed for southbound travel on the line 33 to go from Tannenrauchstrasse to Morgentalstrasse, I had to walk, but luckily not with the clothes bag that time.  At Morgental I could board the Tram line 7.  At that time, the Tram Line 7 had an older rolling stock, which in 2018 I admit I miss, and they have been replaced by the Tram 2000 stock.  The tram went fairly fast between stops, up to Bahnhof Enge at the northwest end of Lake Zürich, where it slowed down to about 20 mph up to Central.  That year, Zürich had its display of full-sized ceramic cows in various locations, I think there might have been over 100 different designs, I think I photographed up to 30 of them.

First thing I wanted to see was the Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum (nationalmuseum.ch), which is physically next door to Zürich HB, across from Museumstrasse.  The building itself is kind of the same architectural tradition as the St. Vitus cathedral in Prague.  It is almost a completely uninterrupted rectangle, and to walk from one end to the other, it is about an eighth of a mile, per level.  And lots of history too.  Zürich along with Wittenberg and Geneva, was part of the Protestant Reformation, so there were many works and descriptions inside attributed to Martin Luther and Huldrich Zwingli.  Zwingli was also the head pastor of the Grossmünster, about a half mile south along the River Limmat towards Lake Zürich.  There was one particular painting that was originally painted prior to the Reformation, and it contained some religious materials that some 16th century clergy objected to, so those were cut out and painted over, and you could easily see where the cutouts were made.  That was a very interesting visit, the Nationalmuseum.

So then it was about 3 PM, and about time for me to show off my striped hat.  I knew of a webcam back in those days, that you could point a certain camera from a business place on Limmatquai just off the Central trolley stop, across the Limmat, and even across the street to the sidewalk.  I found somewhere close to where I was right across from the Bierhalle Wolf (approximately), moved a few feet here and there for fifteen minutes, and I think a few days later I was sent some photos of myself standing in that spot, with that hat.  I do not know if those cameras are still functional, but twenty years ago, that seemed to be the neatest thing, to take remote photos from halfway around the world.  

Then it became 3:30 and I wanted to ride the Polybahn.  What is the Polybahn?  It is a funicular train that operates only Mondays to Saturdays between Central and Leonhardstrasse on the ETH Zürich campus.  The fare is the same as a ride on the trams and busses and the day pass was perfectly valid.  It even had a sign saying that riding without a valid ticket, would cost a fine of 80 CHF.  Even for the ETH Zürich students.

I looked for a place on Tannenstrasse and Clausiusstrasse to get a selfie of my own.  The exact location of the selfie, complete with the striped hat, would be the current location of the Clausiusbar facing south.  And there it was.  Then it was time to come back down with the Polybahn for the next adventure.

I now and again buy German-language guide books.  One in particular I wanted to buy in 1997 I did not get around to, but I found one at the Neuperlach Zentrum Kaufland book department for just 6.50 D-Mark, a bargain off the regular price of 10.00 D-Mark.  In it, there was a mention of the rail station Stettbach.  The original German text says "Wer im neuen Bahnhof Stadelhofen die S-Bahn besteigt und das Meisterwerk des Stararchitekten Calatrava bestaunt, tut gut daran, nicht gleich bei der nächsten Station am anderen Ende des Zürichbergtunnels wieder auszusteigen".  I guess Marco Polo was only trying to warn tourists to expect Stettbach to be as interesting as Stadelhofen.  My verdict, upon taking the train from Zürich HB to Zürich Stettbach via Stadelhofen, was that it was a tolerable station, and had its merits.  I was not particularly disappointed in it, seemed worth the journey even twenty years on.

And then?  The big reason I had come to Zürich, was to visit the Üetliberg.  Even if the S-Bahn in Zürich HB is underground, there are practically two stations, one near the Nationalmuseum, and the other closer to the main shopping street called the SZU station.  So you would have to either exit the then- tracks 21 to 24 underground station, and take any passage, surface or underground, to the then- tracks 1 and 2.  Now respectively they are called Tracks 41 to 44 and tracks 21 and 22.  The reason for this is the new Löwenstrasse underground station that have tracks 31 to 34.  So a total of 10 underground platforms in Zürich HB.  With that in mind, it was about 4:30 PM, and there were shuttling S-10 trains, not all would go to Üetliberg, but some would terminate at Triemli.  I had to stop at Triemli, wait about ten minutes for another S-10 train for Üetliberg.  For the most part, the route is electrified with DC and single tracked.  Somewhere around Uitikon Waldegg there is a double track section for the opposite train.  While waiting for the S-10 for Üetliberg, I listened to the radio and the Tour De France Festina Affair was being discussed at length, among other events around Zürich and Switzerland.

Now when I arrived at Üetliberg, I was able to get a few photographs with the camera, but it started to jam.  Would not take normal photos anymore.  The only thing I could do to trick the camera to take photos, was to hold on the "long distance" focus-free emulator button noted by a mountain rage icon, and set the optical focus to the full 115 mm setting.  Not a very good way to take photos, and the flash would not work.  It was sad.  But what could I see at Üetliberg?  The train station itself had (as of December 2016) a restaurant called Gmüetliberg, and on the north side, there is a play area, including a 100 meter roller slide that must have been constructed in the mid 1970s as I remember it from my first visit as a child in 1976, has been since dismantled as of December 2016.  My following visit on 9th August 1998, I went up the hill to the top where there is a hotel which I could not afford to stay at, at the time, has its own observation deck and "Hirschlampe", namely 3x-life sized figures of elks with actual lights on their antlers installed in 1991 by Bruno Weber - must see to believe!  I will tell more about it on 8th and 9th August.  Until then, enjoy this example. https://commons.wikimedia.org/.../File:Aegerten...

For the rest of the day I could not take many photos but a few that I managed, were from the current location of the Kitag Cinema located at the Stadelhofen rail station where at the time they were showing an original English language version of "Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey, and I took a photo of the movie poster.  At Forch I managed to get a photo facing westward across Lake Zürich.  And also when I came back later, the Brasserie Johanniter when I had supper.  But not much else.

I decided to take a ride from Zürich Stadelhofen to Forch and I think it was already 7 PM.  I wanted to ride it in July 1997 but never found the time.  The ride from Stadelhofen to Rehalp was the same route as Tram line 11.  It used similar trams like the Zürich rolling stock, also using the DC power and meter gauge, and at Zumikon and Maiacher it ran underground, and this was long before both were renovated.  To kind of console myself for the camera dying, I did for comic effect, record myself with the tape recorder saying "Ricola!" just like the ad.  I needed to give myself a good laugh, it is not fun, if one's camera equipment goes unexpectedly bust.  After I took the S-18 tram ride to and from Forch, it was time to have dinner.  Since I enjoyed the previous visit in July 1997, I decided to eat at Brasserie Johanniter, on Niederdorfstrasse 70.  Similar to the Bierhalle Wolf, they serve beer by the liter.  As it was getting dark about 9 PM, it was the right time to have a liter of dark Hürlimann with dinner.  I think I had the Appenzeller Spätzli, that comes with ham, caramelized onions and the Emmentaler/Gruyère blend, that gives such an awesome flavor, too difficult to describe.  And on the radio, I listened to Die Fantastische Vier "Tag am Meer", Goldie "Dragonfly" and Papa Dee "I'd rather be with you" trip hop remix.  Really trippy music for a Friday night, huh?  As for Swiss cuisine, Spätzli are good, but I have since gone on to enjoy other delicacies, such as the Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (red-meat stroganoff with a side of hash browns), Cordon Bleu and very fine Cervelat bratwursts.  Rösti, or, hash browns can be a meal in themselves.  It depends on what ingredients are used.  You might have seen the photo of my lunch on 2nd February 2018 to give you an idea.

Going back to the hostel, I took the tram line 7 from Central to Morgental, and the bus to just outside the hostel.  The Zürich hostel has had neither in July 1998 nor December 2016, any noticeable curfew.  You need to be quiet going to your room and your bed, particularly if you are on the top bunk.  I did my best.  I needed to be out of the hostel at 7:30 AM the next morning so I could catch my train to Chiasso in the Ticino.

On this day, there is likely more that I could tell, but I think for now, you may have enough information for Friday 24 July 1998.  The next couple of days will be a challenge, and there even will be different language barrier, but they will all amount to such interesting stories to tell later on.  Hope you enjoyed this day, there are two more for the weekend.

 An essay I wrote about 24th July 1998, originally on 24th July 2019.  

Hi everyone How is summer going so far?  The last couple of days the temperature dropped to the low 90's and a nice northern wind.  For this time of year, that is good.

It has been 21 (gasp!) years since I made the weekend tour of Munich-Zurich-Chiasso (TI)-Milan-Bolzano-Munich.  The 24th July 1998 in particular is that day I made the selfie at the ETH Zürich just outside the Clausiusbar Restaurant on the Tannenstrasse across from the university hospital building (https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4...)(my camera was on a minitripod on a concrete ledge next to the stairs to the “TAN” building 1, noted with the blue “1” sign.  I was wearing my floppy cloth red-white-green striped top-hat).  

Today I am not going to exactly tell you what I did twenty years ago, as that is not the purpose of this post, or the ones for Thursday and Friday.  It is more of an epilogue as to what has happened since the actual events that took place.

Some thoughts I had from that time, include how much Europe has changed since that weekend, especially since many nations switched to the Euro but Switzerland and Liechtenstein (and also Campione near Lugano) did not.  One thing that has changed or is in the process of changing, is the speed at which trains will travel between Munich and Lindau on Lake Constance.  Prior to June 2019, the section between Geltendorf and Lindau Hbf, was unelectrified, and as such, was limited to diesel traction and around 100 mph.  Deutsche Bahn has strived to improve travel between Munich and Zürich, with "ABS 48" (ABS:  Ausbaustrecke - extension section), particularly in the Ostallgäu, the region kind of between Munich, Ulm and Lindau just north of the Bavarian Alps.  Basically it is setting up the 15 kV / 16.7 Hz catenary between Geltendorf and Lindau Hbf, plus upgrading the tracks between Buchloe and Hergatz.  More about it at www.abs48.com, you may need to use a translator as there is no known English page within that site.  Maybe at some point, there could be another extension from Buchloe/Memmingen to Kaufbeueren and Füssen - you might know the latter town as the home of the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Anyway, the works should be completed by December 2020, and travel between Munich and Lindau should be cut by at least a half hour, and Munich to Zürich no more than 3 3/4 hours including the direction change at Lindau.  Switzerland is part of the Schengen area, so stops at St. Margarethen (SG), border with Austria, would be relatively short, if only to drop off and pick up any essential rail staff, maybe there would be a random passport check.  

I may have told you about my journey on the S-10 from Zürich HB to Üetliberg via Triemli.  This was after I visited the Swiss National Museum, the ETH Zürich selfie moment and side trip to Stettbach to see the "banale" design of that station.  I could not do the same journey today, exactly as I did in 1998, owing to the fact that from Zürich HB to Selnau, the underground section between those two stations on both tracks, is under refurbishment until the end of August of this year.  Both stations are 30 years old this year, and the former ground-level Selnau station that I remember from the mid-1970s, has long since been demolished.  The new Selnau station has sort of a distinction, that it was constructed below the base of the River Sihl.  Every time I look at the north exit at Sihlstrasse, it never ceases to amaze me, that the escalator goes very deep underground, even deeper than the Sihl itself.  What else is around the Selnau station?   Immediately at Selnau there is "Museum Haus Konstruktiv", which contains artwork similar to what you might see at the Helmhaus towards Bellevueplatz and Stadelhofen station, as well as at the former arsenal at Rapperswil (SG), mainly modern art.   Next door is a public natatorium (indoor swimming pool), and at the south end is the stock exchange - you cannot miss it, as it has a big "BÖRSE" lettering on the side of the building.  However for many years I was unable to find it, until December 2016.  I guess I did not know in earlier visits, to look for the southern exit of Selnau station.

Back in Munich, in particular the Schneider Bräuhaus branch of the Stadtsparkasse München, a five minute walk from Marienplatz and also five minutes from the original Hofbräuhaus, was that in the 1990s, some ATMs would dispense Swiss Francs and Austrian Schilling.  The Austrian ATM would give 100 and 500 Schilling ($8 and $40, respectively) notes and the Swiss ATM would give 50 Francs.  In 1997 and 1998 this was very convenient.  This all changed by January 1999, when the Euro was pegged to the Deutsche Mark at about 1 EUR = 1.95583 Mark.  When I returned on Thursday 7th September 2000 to try to withdraw Swiss Francs as I would be staying a few days later at Lausanne, Zürich and Lugano, I found that the Swiss ATM had been converted to an ATM that gave out Spanish Pesetas.  But since January 2002, the foreign currency ATMs at that branch have disappeared, and even then, the Swiss ATMs would have been obsolete anyway since many places in Switzerland will accept Euro notes, sometimes coins as well.

One thing that has not changed, is that Street Parade, held every year on the second Saturday of August, is the high-occupancy weekend during the summer.  The mauve-colored youth hostel on Mutschellenstrasse, in the Wollishofen district, south of Bahnhof Enge, books up solid by early June, so it is always wise to book ahead.  Otherwise you will have to budget rail travel time to and from wherever you manage to book a room for the Street Parade weekend.  Also, even if you do manage to book a room at the Zürich youth hostel, public transit can be a challenge from 11 AM to midnight of the Street Parade day.  Anything north of Tunnelstrasse will be blocked off, and the Line 7 tram that usually goes past Hauptbahnhof, will travel for part of the Line 8 tram by Selnau station, south end just right at the Stock Exchange front door.  So if you are for example going from HB or Central at the northern end of Niederdorferstrasse, to the hostel, you will have to likely find a way to the south exit of Selnau station and take the Line 7 from that tram stop past Bahnhof Enge.  From Enge to Wollishofen, the route is as normal but you will have to deal with increased ridership.  Most of the rest of the year, line 7 is not as crowded.

One other thing that has not changed, and I hope it will not, is that the day pass, is valid for a full 24 hours after purchase.  In general, the day pass costs only twice as much as a single fare, to get it at a vending machine, you would need to pick the single fare, and then hit the button with two arrows going in opposite directions, and that would be it.  Depending on the time, a nighttime supplement may be required.  The 24 hour validity is supposed to eliminate the need for an extra ticket in the morning.  In my case, the full 24 hours might not be used, as I would be there from 12 PM on the 24th to about 8:30 AM on the 25th, so maybe 20 1/2 hours in total.  Not too bad.    

And what is for tomorrow?  I can give kind of an overview of the difference between the old Gotthard rail tunnel and the new Base Tunnel that opened in December 2016, and kind of an insight as to why the Base Tunnel exists and why it is important to at least know of its existence.  The Ceneri tunnel between Giubiasco and Lugano is not quite complete, it is expected to open in December 2020, so between Bodio and Chiasso, there is no noticeable difference in travel time for now.  Likewise the time between Chiasso and Milan remains essentially the same between 1998 and 2019, barring any recent engineering works.

Buchloe: „…Das Buchloer Bauunternehmen Hörmann will aufstocken. Das bedeutet: Aus dem dreigeschossigen Bürokomplex in der Rudolf-Hörmann-Straße 3 soll ein 19 Meter hohes Gebäude mit fünf Stockwerken und Flachdach werden. Mit diesem Vorhaben haben sich die Mitglieder des Bauausschusses in ihrer jüngsten Sitzung auseinandergesetzt. Mit der voraussichtlichen Höhe „ragt das Gebäude schon deutlich…

Zweites Großprojekt an der Buchloer Klinik ist fertig

Buchloe: „…Nach der Pflegeschule wird jetzt auch der neue Intensivtrakt am Krankenhaus St. Josef eröffnet. Beim Tag der offenen Tür am Mittwoch hinter die Kulissen schauen. 30 Jahre alt und viel zu klein war die Intensivstation des Krankenhauses St. Josef in Buchloe. Mittlerweile werden dort nach Angaben der Kliniken Ostallgäu-Kaufbeuren 1000 Intensivpatienten pro Jahr versorgt. Künftig…

Saturday 2 August 1997

Guten Tag! Twenty five years ago this weekend, I used a Schönes Wochenende ticket to travel between Munich, Memmingen, Ulm, Stuttgart, back to Ulm, then Kempten im Allgäu, Füssen, across the Austrian border at Pinswang, and back to Munich through Buchloe.  That would be the last time that when I went between Germany and Austria, that there would be an official border control.  I visited the downtown of Stuttgart, rode the U Bahn, S Bahn, and the "Zahnradbahn" line 10.  The U Bahn of August 1997 was much different than that of February 2022 when I most recently visited.  I bought a new point and shoot camera as well as some film to last until the 19th of August 1997.  I visited the Mercedes Museum in Untertürkheim.  About 8 PM I took the train to Ulm, found out the youth hostel had stopped taking in travellers for the night so I made do with a bed and breakfast hotel, had "Los Wochos" for dinner at McDonald's, explored Ulm in the morning, then took the train to Füssen by way of Memmingen and Kempten.  

On Friday 1st August 1997, I tried to take a photo with flash.  The camera failed to function with the flash.  It would work without the flash if the appropriate mode were chosen.  I thought in the meantime to buy a replacement point and shoot camera.  

Saturday 2nd August 1997, I woke up about 5:45 AM.  I took a shower, brewed some coffee and put in chocolates and milk in a mix bottle.  Likewise I took three cans of cola and lemon soda and put them in another bottle.  I also packed one day's change of clothes in my day bag.  Then I was ready to leave at 6:30 AM.  I took the bus from St. Quirin Platz to Silberhornstraße, then the U Bahn to Hauptbahnhof.  I was able to board the 7:54 AM regionalexpress train to Memmingen, and at Memmingen I had only five minutes to catch the connecting train to Ulm Hbf.  The Regionalexpress stopped at München-Pasing, Buchloe, Türkheim and Mindelheim, pretty much the same way I went on 4th July 1997, but with more stops along the way.  And at the time, in 1997, from Geltendorf to Lindau-Reutin, that section was not yet electrified.  

At Memmingen, I changed trains to a second diesel-powered Regionalexpress train to Ulm.  It was light enough to take decent photographs.  I saw a few churches with onion domes along the way.  The only stop until Ulm was Illertissen in Bavaria.  The River Iller was the demarcation between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.  Eventually the Iller flowed into the Danube just south of Ulm.  At Ulm Hbf, I had to change from the diesel RegionalExpress to an electric RegionalExpress for Stuttgart.  It would make stops at Geislingen (Steige), Göppingen, Plochingen, Esslingen on the Neckar and the head station of Stuttgart Hbf.  Stuttgart Hbf was also the station where on the 28th May 1997, I rode from Paris Gare de l'Est to Munich and had to change directions.  With Stuttgart21, Stuttgart Hbf will, from December 2025, serve as a through-station and eliminate the need to change directions anymore.  

Just west of Ulm is nice countryside, and northwest of Amstetten, there seems to be a valley along the River Fils.  I found out it was the Rohrachtal.  There is a mill, called the Straub Mühle.  The valley levels off at Geislingen.  The next stop is at Göppingen, then Plochingen, Esslingen, passing by the Mercedes Benz factory in Untertürkheim and Bad Cannstatt, and ending at Stuttgart Hbf about 11 AM.  

I had only previously changed train direction in Stuttgart but I had never actually been in Stuttgart itself, as an adult, or even as a child in September/October 1983.  At the time, the Bonatzbau was a fully functioning travel center with food vendors throughout.  The south tower of the Bonatzbau had the Mercedes Benz star rotating on the top.  I had to go to Arnulf Klett Platz at the southern end of the Bonatzbau to access the U Bahn.  The Stuttgart U Bahn at the time, had low floor meter gauge GT4 and high floor standard 1.435m DT8 rolling stock.  Hauptbahnhof was originally built only with the GT4's in mind, and as such, both directions had side platforms, so two platforms on the outer side, and one central platform in the middle.  In August 1997, Hbf had half of its platforms low for the GT4s and the other half with high platforms for the DT8s.  As of February 2022, only one platform is low and it has been rendered unusable due to the Stuttgart21 reconstruction of Hbf and Staatsgalerie, as that would be the next station, as opposed to Schloßplatz which is the other platform's next station.  I asked about how much a ticket for the U Bahn would cost, and I was told that I could use my Schönes Wochenende ticket.  

I boarded a U2 towards Botnang.  The next station from Hbf was Börsenplatz which is underground.  The train came out of tunnel at Berliner Platz, close to the Liederhalle.  I had heard of the Liederhalle.  Berliner Platz is complicated, as it has three platforms, some trains going to Botnang, some to Hölderlinplatz and the rest to Vaihingen or Bad Cannstatt or Neugereut in the northeast.  I went back to Hbf and boarded the U15 to Eckartshaldenweg.  The U15 was on a GT4 which had doors only on the right.    At the time, the U15 only went as far as Zuffenhasusen Rathaus and there was a turning loop.  In 2012 or so, this was demolished, and the U15 was put underground to Salzwiesenstraße and continues to Stammheim with DT8s.  It was interesting to note the SOS lights in tunnel that were a sapphire blue.  I went back to Hbf and boarded the S Bahn.

The S Bahn in Stuttgart consists of a trunk line between Hbf and Österfeld via Schwabstraße and Universität, and outside the trunk like, branch out into six separate lines.  Except for Universität, all the underground S Bahn stations have a central platform.  Only at Hbf and Stadtmitte/Rotebühlplatz is there a transfer to the U Bahn, if you do not count Nordbahnhof, Bad Cannstatt, Untertürkheim, Leinfelden and Vaihingen.  And recently the Stuttgart Airport which expanded its U6.  I rode the S Bahn to Stadtmitte and exited the train.  Then I went up and down the Königstraße to find a store that had a decently priced camera.  I found a Saturn Hansa, selling one for about 40 D-Mark.  The camera had a fixed focus, an automatic flash and an automatic film advance feature as well as automatic rewind.  One thing I found annoying was, I could not turn on or off the flash, unless I opened the battery door.  Then I would have to remember to close the battery door for the film to advance.  It worked fine, but the picture quality was not quite as good as the other camera, no zoom function and limited flash range.  Oh well, it was meant to just be temporary.

I boarded the U Bahn at Schloßplatz for Charlottenplatz.  Charlottenplatz has a dual level, the upper level is for the trains to Ostfildern, Vaihingen via Degerloch, Leinfelden and the airport.  The lower level is for trains for Botnang, Hölderlinplatz, Vaihingen via Marienplatz, Bad Cannstatt, Untertürkheim, Fellbach, Neugereut and Pragsattel.  I took the train to Marienplatz, which stopped at Rathaus and Österreichischer Platz.  Marienplatz is the last underground station on that line.  I exited and followed the signs for the line 10 cog rail line.  The cog rail line uses trains similar to the DT8s, but it also has a cog that is used between Marienplatz and the old Zahnradbahnhof before it was extended to Degerloch.  I rode it to the end at Degerloch.  At Wielandshöhe, the single track separates to let opposing trains pass by.  Wielandshöhe has a nice view towards the northeast.  The grade between Liststraße and Nägelestraße can be steep, and for that reason, the cog is used.  Between Zahnradbahnhof and Degerloch U Bahn, the cog is not used at all.  

I exited the line 10 train for a U Bahn train to Vaihingen, so that I could got to Südheimer Platz and take the cable car to Waldfriedhof.  It took about half an hour including the transfer time, but I arrived at Südheimer Platz.  The cable car must have been built in the 1920s if not earlier.  It climbed to the top just fine though.  I spent fifteen minutes there before coming down.

I took the U Bahn to Bad Cannstatt, and transferred to an S Bahn, and went to Neckarpark.  I had to walk from the S Bahn station to the traffic circle just outside the northwestern entrance to the Mercedes Benz factory.  They required visitors to the museum to board a bus that would go from the outside traffic circle past the security gates into an area about 100 meters away.  The museum entrance was free.  The showroom was not particularly large at the time, and I remember this was the way it remained up to at least July 2003 when I visited for the second time.  I hoped the photos I was taking with the new camera would be okay.  When the museum was about to close, everyone was asked to board the bus to the Neckarpark stadium bus stop.  It was a nice visit.  The Mercedes Benz Museum has relocated in the late 2000s to its present location off the factory grounds, now across the street from Neckarpark stadium, the home of the VfB Stuttgart.  

At 8:30 PM I boarded the train to Ulm.  It was a Regional Express.  Along the way, I was listening to the AFN frequency, 102.3 FM.  This was the USA's military frequency in Stuttgart.  They were playing hip hop and R&B.  I tried to receive Sunshine Live Radio on 104.7 FM as well.  The reception was not very good as my tuner was not digital.  The train arrived in Ulm about 9:30 PM.  I tried to find a payphone to call the youth hostel in Ulm.  The youth hostel unfortunately was full.  I was able to find a hotel that still had single beds.  I ended up with one close to Hbf, I think maybe the Heigeleshof, or Henry's Sleeping.  At 60 D-Mark, a single in a double room, including breakfast, it was a bargain.  I went to the McDonalds at Albert Einstein Platz close to the Hbf, as I was hungry and that was one of the few places still open.  McDonald's had its Los Wochos campaign where they were serving hamburgers with a Mexican flair.  They added yellow corn to its burgers and chicken sandwiches as well as a spice packet.  Bear in mind, Wochos should be pronounced as Vokhos.  Wochos is gibberish in Spanish, but McDonalds meant it to be a hispanization of "Woche".  The "chili con carne" burger I ordered was okay.  McDonald's did not have Los Wochos in 1998 when I returned, instead it served the McKropolis Greek style burgers, which I tried, when I was in Frankfurt an der Oder, just before crossing the Oder into Poland for the first time.  After finishing my supper, I went back to the hotel to sleep.

Sunday 3rd August 1997, I woke up about 7 AM, and heard the Ulmer Münster bells, from the big gothic cathedral.  I did not have a private bath, so I had to be clean about using the shared bathroom.  After taking a bath, I changed my clothes, went downstairs for breakfast, and then was ready to check out.  I did some exploring of Ulm.  Along the way, I saw a pet store, where there was a kapuchin monkey in the window.  Most pet stores I have been to never sell any primates.  Also when I walked to the Ulmer Münster, I saw a one-of-a-kind Volkswagen Scirocco that was converted to a cabriolet body.  Up to the 3rd August 1997, I had never seen any Sciroccos that were ever built as convertibles, only hard-tops like the one I was driving up to October 1999 when I bought my first car, a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta (Vento) with TDI diesel engine.  

I decided before leaving Ulm, to walk across the Danube into Neu Ulm.  I walked to Donaustraße, crossed the bridge, and entered Neu Ulm in Bavaria.  In Neu Ulm, Donaustraße becomes Marienstraße and eventually Augsburger Straße.  I walked back to Ulm Hbf and looked for a train to Füssen.  I would have to catch a connecting train in Kempten-Allgäu.  At Ulm Hbf, there were many interesting DT218 locomotives.  Some were red and some were dark blue and light yellow.  These were the same ones that travelled between Munich and Lindau-Insel before electrification through ABS48.

About 1:17 PM I caught the train to Kempten.  It stopped in Memmingen but I did not alight there.  I had to wait about an hour until there was a train for Füssen.  The train arrived about 4:30 PM in Füssen.  I did not have much time to get to the Schloß Neuschwanstein or nearby Schweingau, but I thought it would at least be worth some effort.  I took the local bus to the bottom of the castle grounds.  I tried to buy a ticket for a tour, but they had stopped selling for the day.  Instead I decided to go on a walk to the Austrian border at Pinswang towards Reutte.  I had to walk some distance along the B17 to the border crossing.  About 7 PM I was at the Austrian border.  I had my passport with me, and the officials on the Austrian side stamped it.  That would be the last time I would ever receive a stamp in my passport between Germany and Austria, other than the one on Saturday 8th August 1998 when I went to Zürich via Bregenz and St. Margrethen.  In December 1997, Austria's application to join the Schengen Area was accepted and border crossings between Germany and Austria were formally ended.  I did not notice this until Sunday 7th June 1998, when I walked from Mittenwald to Scharnitz.  At the time, I had my radio with me, and I recorded "Bitter" by Jill Sobule, "Uno dos tres" by Ricky Martin, and "Kaleidescope Skies" by Jam & Spoon, among other songs.  

I returned to Füssen Hbf by 7:10 PM, and I was able to catch a Regionalbahn to Buchloe, transfer at 8:30 PM to another Regionalbahn to München at tracks 27 to 36, then take the U Bahn to Silberhornstraße and a bus to St. Quirin Platz.  I was home about 10 PM and was able to go to work at the regular time.

I will not have a story for next weekend, so the next story will be of my final days in Munich, moving to Paris for two days before flying home to San Francisco through JFK Terminal 6.  Hope you will join me then!

Fristo investiert 17 Millionen Euro

Buchloe: „…Der Getränkehändler Fristo baut eine neue Zentrale und ein Logistik-Zentrum im Buchloer Gewerbegebiet. Was darüber hinaus noch geplant ist. Mit einem Tag der offenen Tür feierte der Getränkehändler Fristo am Sonntag die Fertigstellung seiner neuen Zentrale an der Wolfgang-Brügel-Straße in Buchloe. Auf knapp 3000 Quadratmetern stehen den 76 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern dort 30…

Friday 4 July 1997

Hi everyone, Grüezi mitenand e buon giorno! Welcome to my second international journey which takes maybe two and a half days.  I would go from München Hbf to Zürich HB without changing trains, on Saturday 5th July take a train in the morning from Zürich HB to Milano Centrale, and in the afternoon on Sunday the 6th July I would take the train from Milano Centrale to München Hbf, changing direction at Verona Porta Nuova, going through Trentino Alto-Adige / Südtirol past Brenner, Innsbruck, Kufstein, Rosenheim and exiting at München Ostbahnhof.  I stayed at hostels, sharing bedrooms with strangers.  I had my youth hostel membership card with me so I would not have to pay extra.

On Thursday 3rd July I made sure that I had all my train tickets with me, including the sections between Lindau Hbf and St. Margrethen SG, as well as Brenner to Kufstein.  I know of the station Lochau-Hörbranz, just right across the border past the future station Lindau Reutin (in operation since December 2020), but the EuroCity train did not stop there, nor did it stop at Lustenau, the final S-Bahn stop along the Bregenz S-Bahn line S3, before crossing into Switzerland.  It would make little to no difference anyway.  I listened to the radio the night before, listening to "Lonely" by Nana, an ad for an upcoming Michael Jackson concert somewhere near Kieferngarten/Freimann, "A girl like you" by Edwyn Collins, "Sultans of swing" by Dire Straits, and in the morning when I woke up about 5:45 AM, I tuned in Bayern 3.  There was a contest to win a ticket to the Michael Jackson concert for Sunday evening the 6th July 1997.  The song that was garbled was "Billie Jean", and the contestant had to play about ten seconds of it on their own radio or tape player - I could not play along because I did not have a copy of "Thriller" with me, either tape or CD.  Oh well.

It was Friday morning 4th of July.  I was already awake by 6 AM.  I took a shower, made some sandwiches and coffee in one bottle and soda mix in another, and then left for the St. Quirin Platz bus stop.  I took the bus 99 to Silberhornstraße, the U Bahn to Hauptbahnhof and I was on the 8:05 AM train from München Hbf to Zürich HB.  I made sure that I had marked 04 07 in my Eurail Pass, so that the conductor could see it and cancel it for the rest of the day.  I was in second class, so I was towards the front part of the train past the dining car.  The second class car was okay, not exactly spacious.  The train did not stop at München-Pasing at all.  It did not stop until Buchloe.  Back in 1997, there was no electrification of any kind between Geltendorf and Lindau Hbf.  I did not know this until the train passed Geltendorf and was wondering, where is the catenary?  It has been a long time since a mast had been spotted.  It turned out that the locomotives were DB-218 diesel.  The train would stop in Buchloe, Memmingen and Lindau Hbf.  Only Lindau Hbf had electrification that came from Lochau-Hörbranz in Austria, and Lindau Reutin as a passenger station had not been built yet.  For that reason, the train had to not only change direction, but because of the non-electrified section between Lindau Hbf and Geltendorf, the train had to switch from a diesel locomotive to an electric locomotive in order to continue to Zürich HB.  The weather was not particularly friendly, being a rainy day and temperatures in the mid 60s / about 17 to 19 C, yet it was fair enough for the train to make its stops on time in Germany.

After the train left Lindau Hbf, I turned on the radio and tried to listen to Bayern 3 and Radio Vorarlberg as well as the DRS (which has since become SRF).  My analog radio had its difficulties receiving stations, as it was not the digitally tuned HS-JS 475 model that I would buy about a year later.  I was able to pick up songs like "I don't want to be alone" by the Bee-Gees and "Down by the schoolyard" by Paul Simon.  I even was able to hear "Lazy Sunday afternoon" by the Small Faces (prior to Rod Stewart joining) and "Ruby Tuesday" by Rod Stewart, originally by the Rolling Stones.

The train from Lindau Hbf to Zürich HB was using a SBB class 421 electric locomotive for the remainder of the journey.  Between Lindau and Bregenz, border checks were already conducted.  The first stop after Lindau was Bregenz Hbf. It was a six track through-station with an overpass, one to the park and Seebühne venue, the other way to the taxi stand and Möhrenbräu restaurant and pub.  I stepped out for about a minute or so, and was able to take a photo before boarding the train before it left for St. Margrethen via Lustenau.  I could clearly notice that the clouds to the north of Bregenz were gathering.  The train made a southward and then a westward journey past Lustenau.  It crossed a bridge over the Rhine.  A minute later the train arrived in St. Margrethen.  The train had to stop for about ten minutes to perform passport checks.  Back then, neither Austria nor Switzerland were part of the Schengen Agreement, and passport checks until mid-spring 2009 were mandatory between the EU countries and Switzerland.  EU membership had little to no bearing before or after.

The train continued between St. Margrethen, St. Gallen, Winterthur without a stop in the canton of Thurgau (connection to Frauenfeld TG were available at Winterthur and points in between), Zürich Airport which was the only underground long-distance rail station, and past Oerlikon, Zürich HB.  The train arrived around 12:25 PM.  I had been to Zürich HB as early as 1976 with both of my parents, so returning 21 years by myself seemed a bit daunting at first.

It should be noted, that in Swiss written German, that place names generally do not start with Ä, Ö or Ü.  And they never contain the ß letter.  Instead, place names start as Ae for Ä, Oe for Ö and Ue for Ü.  Anywhere that in Germany or Austria that would contain an ß, would have instead “ss”.  In July 1998 when I returned, I would visit Uetliberg, and again in August 1998 the day after the Street Parade before going back to München.

I needed to withdraw some money, maybe 100 CHF at the time.  The ATM at Zürich HB was not working correctly, so I took my ATM card, bought a day pass for the Zürich tram system, at that time just 7.20 CHF and valid for 24 hours after purchase, then took the tram to Paradeplatz where there was an ATM.  I successfully withdrew 100 CHF from my bank account.  Then I needed to find a place to put my luggage.  I thought I would remember the location of the youth hostel, and that it would be on Mutschellenstrasse towards the tram stop Morgental.  Sadly I had forgotten that detail since I left the Youth Hostel guide at my home and back then I did not even have a cellphone, so using Google would have been out of the question.  I did however find a hostel, and it was called the City Backpacker, located at the Schweizerhofgasse, upstairs on top of a Spaghetti Factory with a solid black German Shepherd logo.  The reception was open and the shared room price was around 27 Francs per bed, quite a bargain considering that Zürich is an expensive city to visit and live in.  The Youth Hostel in Morgental was asking a similar price.  Breakfast was not included in the overnight price.  At least here there was no "curfew", no lockout time in particular, but quiet time was 10 PM to 6 AM.

I took the tram from Helmhaus to Central, and rode the Polybahn up only, not down.  The Polybahn accepts short trip tickets, and a VBZ day pass would definitely be accepted.  At the top of the Polybahn, was the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, or Confederate Technical University of Zürich.  I remember a year later returning to make a selfie with a different camera, not the Konica that I had at the time.  

I walked to the Universitätsspital Zürich tram stop and took a tram to Seilbahn Rigiblick.  I did not know at the time that there was a secret U Bahn in Zürich, with only lines 7 and 9 between Milchbuck to Schwamendinger Platz, and I was not interested in that at the time, in fact, I did not visit it until September 2000, probably two visits hence.  I boarded the cable car and found that there was no driver.  Instead there was a set of buttons, up to the top station Rigiblick with a bus connection.  I picked the top station.  At Rigiblick, I boarded the bus line 39.  At the time this line was operated with a Renault Trafic minivan, with manual transmission.  The driver announced all the stops from Rigiblick to Klösterli.  I stayed on the bus until I arrived at Klösterli next to the zoo.  We had passed the Zoo tram stop, so I could have returned by tram lines 5 or 6, but I chose to explore Klösterli before taking the bus back.  I looked at the menu for the Klösterli restaurant but found the prices to be too high for my liking.  I took the bus back to Rigiblick and then the cable car back to the bottom.

One bit of trivia for the Fluntern - Zoo district, author James Joyce was buried in the Fluntern cemetery.  He had lived in Zürich for a while, despite having also lived in Dublin where “Ulysses” had taken place.

I took a tram from Seilbahn Rigiblick Talstation through Unterstrass and on to Oerlikon.  I decided to take an S-Bahn to Stettbach, hoping to exit there.  However I boarded a S-5 train to Uster, outside of Zürich.  The train stopped at Hardbrücke, went underground to the tracks 21 to 24, and since the Löwenstrasse station had opened in the 2010s, it is now called tracks 41 to 44, then on to an open cut at Stadelhofen, and did not stop until Uster.  The train went right through Stettbach.  I had heard about Stettbach S Bahn station through the Zürich Marco Polo guide, which I should have bought but felt a bit too frugal to buy it until Summer 1998 when I returned.  I walked around the Uster S Bahn station and boarded the next train to Zürich.  My Eurail pass would have been valid for the entire S-Bahn network in second class, as far as Schaffhausen if I were so bold to want to go there that day.

When I returned to Zürich, I exited at Stadelhofen.  Between Bellevueplatz, the Opernhaus and Bürkliplatz, there was the Züri Fäscht going on.  The majority of the music played there, was New Orleans jazz and some rapping.  I remember even going to one stage where there was a singer singing his own version of "Amazing Grace" which included a rap.  I had recorded his singing and it was pretty good.  For food, some places were selling Cajun cuisine, even jambalaya.  Since I did not go to Switzerland to have Cajun food, I had to take a pass on it, sadly.  

I had walked along the Bahnhofstrasse, hoping to find the Neue Schweizerische Börse, which at the time I did not know, was actually at the southwest end of the Selnau rail station.  I did not find anything at the time, that I wanted to particularly buy, nor did I find anything to eat just yet.  So I went back to the hostel to rest up a bit.  

About 9 PM I left the hostel and took a line 32 trolleybus to Farbhof.  I wanted to just ride along, to see if there was anywhere to eat for cheap.  I was a bit disappointed.  So I went back to Central and the Niederdorferstrasse.  I found one place called the Brasserie Johanniter which was still serving warm meals.  At the time, it was serving Spätzle with ham, cheese and onions.  I ordered a half liter of Hürlimann lager to go with that.  It did not cost too much, maybe under 30 CHF.  I used my debit card to pay.  I turned on my radio and recorded something from Radio Z or some similar FM station.  Some songs I recorded included "Samba de Janeiro", "Firestarter" and "Insomnia".  Those were songs that in 1997 were in the top charts.  

I walked back to the Spaghetti Factory and went upstairs to my room.  I think four others were in the same room.  I went to sleep and made a note to wake up by 6:30 AM to leave the next morning for Milan.

I hope you will join me for tomorrow's adventure crossing the Alps through the Gotthard Pass between Göschenen and Airolo, and going up the Ceneri grade.  Even with the bad weather, it should be an enjoyable journey all the same.