#englschalking

Hi everyone

I hope you have enjoyed the photos and videos of my journeys this past week.

For those driving to work, how was the commute through school zones? Today it was at least a 15 minute ordeal to go just a quarter mile past a middle school, which should have taken no more than three or four minutes. School is open for some districts, so please pay attention to the school zones and slow down as necessary. And avoid the ones that take too long to get through.

I still have remaining stories up to 18th August 1998, last one will appear this Sunday the 19th.

Here's a rundown for 14th and 15th August 1998.

Friday 14 August 1998

- final day of work, work up to lunch time with regular job duties

- filling out paperwork of end-of-project

- leave work at 2:30 PM, shopping at Neuperlach Zentrum

- speaking to roommates to end my lease as I am going home soon

- packing up large bags to take to München Hbf to store for the night

- have dinner and go to sleep

Saturday 15 August 1998

- wake up about 6:30 AM, have shower and eat light breakfast

- take U-Bahn to München Hbf for the last time that summer

- collect luggage from locker and get to the EC Maurice Ravel

- train goes from München Hbf to Ulm, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Kehl, Strasbourg, Nancy and Paris Gare de l'est

- About 3:30 PM take metro line 5 to Bastille, line 8 to Ledru Rollin

- Check into Auberge Internationale des Jeunes in 11e arrondissement, leave luggage

- go to Paris Gare du Lyon to buy round trip reservations for 16 August 1998 TGV to Lyon Part Dieu

- take a RER ride from Gare du Lyon, then to Gare St Lazare and return by metro station Pereire Levallois

- dinner at "Tony's Pizza" at

- sleep because of the early train next morning.

On Friday the 14th August 1998, my contract to work at Widgetmeister International was to expire. The work I did was a good start, and my colleagues would have more time to work on the remainder of my project as more of the colleagues were returning from vacation. I would work on my normal job duties for the morning, but in the afternoon, I had to go over with my supervisor on what needed to be done next so that my colleagues could have a plan of action on how to continue. Also I had to notify HR on where to deposit the final paycheck. At 2:30 PM, I had a time balance of 0 hours, so I could leave the office for the last time and turn in my identification card.

I had to buy a few last minute items at the Neuperlach Zentrum, as the 15th and 16th were legal holidays, not just in Germany but also in France. I bought some food at the Kaufland store, 35 mm film and a couple of CDs at the Saturn Hansa. I went home to pack up, and let my roommates know that I was moving away. I let them have any unopened soft drink cans leftover. They were aware I was going to leave early the next day. After I packed up, I had the rest of my lunchmeat, cheese and bread, as well as whatever out of my soft drinks inventory I could drink, so that I would not have too much to carry around the next day. Then I went to bed.

Saturday 15th August 1998 came around, and at 6:20 AM I woke up. I was concerned that I could not carry all of my soft drinks along, as I had no space left. And is it particularly comfortable to carry around a cotton sack with soft drinks, in addition to a day bag, clothes bag and suitcase? I would have to leave some behind. I took my shower, got dressed, had a light breakfast and drank as many of the soft drinks as I could but not so much that I would upset my stomach. For long-distance travelling, that is not a good feeling. Before leaving, I had to write in 15 on top and 08 on bottom of the Eurail pass, leaving one space blank, hopefully for Sunday the 16th.

I left my key and went downstairs to the bus stop for line 37 to Arabellapark, and U-4 to Hauptbahnhof. At 7:10 AM I collected my suitcase and the clothes bag, then found the car of the Eurocity 67 "Maurice Ravel". I chose the one closest to the station but furthest from the engine, because at Stuttgart Hbf the train would switch direction, and it would be expected, that my car would be close to the front when arriving at Paris Gare de l'est. The train left, for the last time that summer, at 7:40 AM, stopping at

- München Pasing

- Augsburg Hbf

- Ulm Hbf

- Stuttgart Hbf <->

- Pforzheim

- Karlsruhe Hbf

- Baden-Baden

- Kehl Hbf

- Strasbourg

- Nancy

and then nonstop to

- Gare de l'est

While listening to the radio, the top-of-the-hour news mentioned that Saturday 15th August 1998 was a legal holiday for most of Bavaria, except for a few villages in northern Bavaria with a protestant majority that declared 15th August 1998 as a regular workday for businesses usually in operation on Saturdays. This would also be a legal holiday in Austria, France, Italy and some parts of Switzerland.

The train went to Stuttgart and changed direction. Until the train arrived at Strasbourg, I was in the frontmost car with the best window view. When the train was stopped at Strasbourg, removing the Deutsche Bundesbahn locomotive and changing it for an SNCF locomotive, resulted in four cars were added at the front. So I was no longer in the frontmost car.

On the radio, I heard a song that I did not know was in Hebrew until years later (I thought it was Arabic). It was Minister Moshe Montefiore, or "השר משה מונטיפיורי". It was sung by Yehoram Gaon. This was received on an AM radio station, so the reception was not particularly of good quality, more like hearing it from a cell phone call. It was almost 12 PM when I switched stations to hear the last German-language newscast before crossing into France.

After Strasbourg, the train went on to Nancy, and after Nancy, the train went non-stop and very fast, almost 150 mph / 240 km/h on average. The train left about 1 PM from Strasbourg, so it would be reasonable to expect the train to arrive in Paris by 3 PM or so.

Once the train arrived at Paris Gare de l'Est, about 3:15 PM, the walk to the entrance hall seemed longer, mainly because of my luggage, and at the time, I did not have a rolling suitcase. Not only that, but the metro train stations did not have escalators everywhere, particularly downward escalators, even at Gare de l'Est or Gare du Nord. It would make the journey to the hostel at Rue Trousseau in the 11th arrondissement near the Ledru Rollin station, a more difficult journey. I wanted to save money so that I could properly enjoy visiting Lyon the next day, as such, I stuck with the metro, no matter how many stairs I had to climb or descend, and make my Paris Visite ticket worthwhile. Therefore I took the M5 from Gare de l'Est to Bastille, and made the transfer to the M8 which went shortly to Ledru Rollin. I made sure at Bastille to be at the front for the M8, as Ledru Rollin at the east end had an upwards escalator to the fare gate.

It was a five minute walk from Ledru Rollin (usually it's two to three without luggage) to the youth hostel at Rue Trousseau. I checked in, and paid the nights of the 16th and 17th in French Francs, about 91.00 FF each night including breakfast. That's about € 14.00 per night in 1998 money. In order to book a bed, the first night is prepaid and that was already done by fax. I had a bed in the third floor, in a four bed room. The shower and toilet were in rooms in the hallway. I left my luggage in the room and put whatever else would otherwise fit in one of the room lockers. I think it was 5 FF for the deposit.

I had to take care of some business, namely buying two reservations for Paris Gare du Lyon to Lyon Part Dieu, and back, in first class. If for some reason they did not have spaces, I would have to pick other trains or cancel the journey altogether and waste the last day left on the Eurail Pass. The way to Gare du Lyon was not particularly complicated, it just required taking the M8 to Bastille and M1 to Gare du Lyon. When I arrived at Gare du Lyon, I was fortunate to be able to buy the reservations needed for the TGV train. I think they cost around 50 FF each.

I thought after that, I should take a ride on the RER D train. Previously I had only taken it in late May 1998, from Gare du Nord to Chatelet Les Halles, but this time I wanted to go from Gare du Lyon to one stop in the south, and towards St Lazare. The RER D went to Maisons-Alfort, about a zone farther than I expected. Just south of Gare du Lyon, there were many TGV trains parked. When I took the train back to Gare du Lyon, I found that the transfer stations of RER D and RER A, are on top of each other. To get from RER D to RER A, you need only to go downstairs. I have been to those two stations enough times, to notice that different soaps are used to clean the stations. The RER D has a banana soap used, and the RER A has a more floral smell. I don't know if that is the case anymore today. While waiting for an RER line A to Auber, I heard the last minute or so of Pascal Obispo "Où est l'elue" on the PA system.

At Auber, this is a big transfer station with long walkways between stations, in contrast to Düsseldorf Hbf where everything seems to be compacted. Particularly between Opera and St Lazare, it is a free transfer provided that you stay in fare zone 1. Otherwise you would have to buy a separate ticket for zones 1 to X. I took the Line L Banlieu train that went from St Lazare to Pont Cardinet and took the shuttle bus to Pereire Levallois. Then I thought, why not make a loop via Issy val de Seine, to La Défense with T2 and back to the 11th with RER A? I could get home in plenty of time to go to sleep. So I did that. For dinner I had a pizza at Chez Tony - as far as Google maps shows, Chez Tony on Rue Faubourg in the 11th arrondissement still exists 20 years on. He gave me to start, a glass of tomato juice, probably the best tomato juice I ever drank. I had a quattro stagione pizza and glass of Kronenbourg.

After dinner I went to my room, gathered together what I needed, including the tape recorder, blank tapes, camera and film, and whatever soft drinks I had. Then I went to sleep. Tomorrow would be the last day for meaningful travel as I needed to use Monday the 17th for last-minute shopping.

29 - 31 May 1998

Hi everyone, Twenty years ago today was a long holiday weekend, namely Pfingstenmontag and Fronleichnam, both of which are legal holidays in Bavaria.  In 1998, Pfingstenmontag was on 1st June and Fronleichnam was 11th June.  Due to the 1st being a holiday, I had an extra long weekend.  So with that in mind, I think it's time for a cheap S-Bahn, U-Bahn and bus tour of Munich.  This may sort of blend in the events on 30th, 31st May and 1st June.  In reality the journey may take actually three days and not one.

We start at Knapperbuschgasse, take the bus not to Arabellapark, but through Johanniskirchen, through Oberföhring at the north end of Englischer Garten and change to the U-Bahn at Studentenstadt.  To get to the big-box stores, will require riding a complimentary shuttle.  After that, we take the U-2 from Am Hart.  I wanted to go to see where I lived in Summer 1997 at St Quirin Platz, so I had to change at Kolumbusplatz.  In Summer 1997 I could not use the U-1 extension to commute to work as it was not ready for use, but since December 1997, the work was complete and in late May 1998 I can take the U-1 as far south as Mangfallplatz.  St Quirin Platz station looks like a deep hole with a Spanish Conquistator helmet skylight design.

Returning through downtown Munich on the U-1, I then ride as far as Nordwestfriedhof, to change to a Line 21 tram to Leonrodplatz along the Dachauer Straße, and again to a Line 12 to Romanplatz and walk the rest of the way to Schloß Nymphenburg.  Along the way I see some interesting cars, one with a Luxembourg license plate, another a Renault 25 with dozens of music band stickers, you probably already saw a photo of it.  When I get to Schloß Nymphenburg, as a rule, I just remain on the castle grounds but don't go inside as I would be charged a high admission which I wanted to use at the BMW Museum instead.  

To get to the Olympiapark from Schloß Nymphenburg, I need to take the tram 12 to Rotkreuzplatz, take the U-1 and change at Hauptbahnhof to the U-2, and change at Scheidplatz to the U-3 and exit at the then-end.  The U-Bahn was particularly crowded that weekend, standing room only.  At Olympiapark I took about half an hour to look around and see some of the venues from the 1972 Summer Olympics, particularly the swimming pool area that looks like a big tent.  Then I went inside the BMW Museum, the admission was reduced that day.  They had a large assortment of BMW vehicles, particularly the Z1 roadster, the Isetta, and even a partially cut-away of the 1997 7-Series.  I would later get to see the BMW Z-Series M-Coupé on Friday 26 June 1998 at Josefsthal near the Tegernsee south of the Brecherspitz.  But that`s for a later time.   Once I am done with that, I go back to downtown Munich, and walk along the Neuhauser Straße pedestrian walkway that becomes Kaufinger Straße and leads to Marienplatz, the toy museum, the Opera House and even the famous Hofbräuhaus and Planet Hollywood, with the handprints of both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.  And there is also the Viktualienmarkt that I mentioned earlier.  One thing I cannot explain, what I saw in the Kaufinger Straße is, why there were people trying to walk with a six-person plank pair.  It is kind of like being on a tandem bicycle but with no wheels and room for six people.  It was just for that weekend I guess.

After seeing the Hofbräuhaus, I want to visit the Englischer Garten.  After saving money, I think it would be appropriate for a small snack at the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower).  I would take the Tram line 19 from Opernhaus to Maxmonument, transfer to the line 16 and alight at Nationalmuseum / Haus der Kunst.  Englischer Garten was nice and shady so I thought why not walk the rest of the way to Chinesischer Turm?  When I arrive there, the snack bar is open for business, there is a band playing in the tower (Roll out the barrel and similar polka music).  For beer, there is a DM 6 deposit for the 1-Liter Mass glass.  The light beer could not be any better.  I think I had a pretzel along with it, not very much though.  I think i had a second beer, sat and relaxed along to the live music.

It was starting to get late so I headed back home via Arabellapark.  Tuesday the 2nd June I would have to go to work.  But it was a fun weekend in Munich

On checking into my apartment (written 31.05.2023): I only remember going to the HomeExchange company to sign the papers for the apartment that I agreed to rent from 29th May to 15th August 1998.  About 4:30 PM I went to the actual apartment and met the landlady-resident.  I would have a roommate in addition, making the rent just 400 Mark, about the same as what I had paid last year.  It was a three bedroom apartment in Englschalking, on the third (in the USA it's the 4th) floor and no elevator, with kitchen and shower.  I had to worry about "Kalk" or the hard water residue, and had to be sure I rubbed down the walls with a squeegee every day.  There was only a washer in the unit but no dryer.  I was expected to care for my own food.  Most of the time it worked out fine.  I had to be careful about my radio not being too loud but that's for another time.  The closest U Bahn station was Arabellapark and the bus connection was in general good.  There were a couple of grocery stores in the neighborhood.  It was also possible to walk or take the bus to Johanniskirchen, about a half mile north of the apartment.

From 31.05.1998:

Here is the plan for today and tomorrow.  Today I'll describe my apartment and responsibilities for Summer 1998.  Yes it is long, so please bear this in mind before reading.  Tomorrow I will take you on the tour of my frugal walkthroughs of Munich.  From 29th May to 15th August 1998 I lived in a 3-bed apartment in Englschalking, particularly along the Freischützstraße.  It was in the 4th floor where there were no elevators.  It had a kitchen, bath, toilet in a separate room, a living room that I seldom ever used, and the respective three bedrooms.  Mine was facing a pedestrian path westward so it would be quiet at night for the most part.  There was no air conditioning but it was seldom so hot that it was even an issue.  And for just DM 400.00 / a little more than € 200.00 a month back in 1998.

The apartment was near the Knapperbuschstraße bus stop, which I would go to every day to the nearest U-Bahn station at Arabellapark.  To get to the S-Bahn at Englschalking, would take a long time, about half an hour.  Why do that when the bus is just five minutes away?  So, my general route from home to work, would be the Knapperbuschstraße bus stop, to Arabellapark, by U-Bahn to Böhmerwaldplatz, and bus the rest of the way to Karl Preis Platz via Leuchtenbergring along the Ampfingstraße, then walk towards Balanstraße and - there I was.  After work, it's time to go shopping for food for the next few days or so.For the grocery stores, I had to go south of the Robert Heger Straße intersection.  I think there was a Penny Markt, they had fairly good groceries there.  Penny Markt is similar to Aldi.  The Penny Markt has since been turned into a REWE.  There were other places like Grosso, Tengelmann, HL Markt, MiniMal, and Kaufland at the Neuperlach Zentrum, it was so conveniently located so close to work I would often go in the late afternoons.

For laundry, I found someplace at a shopping center on the corner of Freischützstraße and Johanniskirchener Straße, close to the Johanniskirchen S-Bahn station, a twenty minute walk from the apartment.  They had laundry for DM 8.00 including washing and drying, probably would take about an hour and a half per load, every seven to eight days on average.  And interesting reading materials *auf Deutsch*.As for the city bus and rail pass, so what is the complication for buying a bus pass in Munich?  Why is there no single price?  At the time, Munich had a zonal system for week and month and annual fares, not compatible with the simpler tourist passes.  There are people in Munich who might not make full use of public transit, maybe they will go mainly to one side of the city, and hardly see anything else, that way they can save money.  Those who want full access to Munich, would have to pay for eight ring zones.  The MVV München website has details on this, as I am already going off one tangent after another.  For my part, I had to buy a one-time photo booth color photo about 2x2, and then MVV München at the Ostbahnhof pass center, would issue a ticket in a holder, valid for the entire month.  Both the ticket and the holder, with photo, was mandatory for validity.  And if you wanted to buy a ticket, you would have to be in line by 6:30 PM nightly Monday to Friday, once a month luckily.  As you might guess, even the eight-zone month ticket was cheaper than a four-zone day pass times thirty.  And with that, I was ready to go to work and explore Munich in the evenings.

What responsibilities did I have in June 1998, moreso than July 1998 and August 1998?  They were mainly financial.   I had an allowance for the basic things, maybe a little extra for travel and snacks if I managed to save money.  Otherwise I could not buy frivolous things, go fancy places.  I like buying music CDs but until I received my first paycheck on 26 June, I could only record onto a blank C-90 whatever I could receive off the AM/FM airwaves, provided I did not run out of C-90s beforehand.  Even the Hofbräuhaus was out of the question unless I just stood outside.  If it cannot be bought at the grocery store, it is not worth buying anyway.  I had to pretend that I had a budget of around $ 1,200 for the entire month, it is tough.  I managed to save money for Prague and Salzburg, even then it was rough going - I found bargains, you will likely find out about them in the next few weeks or so.  I had to take the stopping trains and stay in multibed hostel rooms, not particularly fun.  Oh, I could not wait until Friday 26 June 1998!  And of course - clean your room, do the dishes if they are used, always make sure that cans and bottles are separated from trash - know what a "Mehrwegflasche" and "Pfand" are, keep the fridge free of moldy food, do not use the shower after 8 PM, the main renter (not I) gets first pick of when to shower in the morning, and very important, wipe the nasty chalky stuff off the shower tiles - it was so gritty!   Ah, such is life with two other strangers....So anyway thats how May 1998 ended and June 1998 began.  Tomorrow I will take you on the "long weekend" tour of Munich, trust me you will enjoy.  Have a nice night, and happy rest of the week.