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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Day 5 - 13 November 2003 - Hong Kong to Tokyo Narita, and again to San Francisco on the same day

Thursday 13 November 2003

こんにちわ! Konnichiwa, 你好 Ni Hao, Bom Dia and Good Morning!

I had packed most of my things the night before.leaving for breakfast. I used my coupon for hotel breakfast, ate and then went down to the street level to wait for the shuttle bus to the airport. After I boarded with all my luggage, the bus went to Nathan Road under the tunnel to Kowloon to make another pickup. It took about twenty minutes. Shortly the bus went along route 28 past Tsing Yi and further along northern Lantau Island. Past Tung Chung that I had visited the day before, the bus arrived at the departures area at the airport. After getting off the bus, and checking in baggage, I had to declare once again that I was not infected with SARS. Then I received my Hong Kong exit stamp. I bought a few more souvenirs before leaving Hong Kong, one of which was a red Chinese New Year lantern. Changing Macau Pataca to Hong Kong Dollar was not a very worthwhile effort, as the Macau Pataca is worth 97 percent the Hong Kong Dollar. I had maybe some Japanese Yen but not much.

The plane I boarded from Hong Kong to Tokyo, was a Boeing 767, a little smaller than the 747 I had flown over with. The flight was about from 9:30 AM to 2:50 PM with a time zone change. I did not remember much of it, I think I had chinese noodles with chicken for an early lunch. Landing at Narita, I did not have to declare being free of SARS, unless I wanted to exit the airport and have my passport stamped. I never received any stamp.

Changing money at Narita is a unique experience. You have to fill out a form before going to the counter. You have to write in the amount of Yen that you want to change . At the airport, having 50,000 Yen may be adequate, at least that was the case in 2003. You have to take special care for coin operated machines, for example pay phones and internet booths. Internet booths needed at the time, 100 Yen coins. Credit card use in 2003 was not common, at least not at the airport.

On the loudspeakers for flights to Seoul, the Korean pronunciation for 서울 Seoul was interesting. It had the "eou" diphthong as pure and clear as possible.

About 4:30 PM the sun set and the sky started to get dark. Since visiting Maine in November 2013 and 2017, I remember the "early" sundown times just like that day in November 2003 in Tokyo Narita.

This concludes my short journey to East Asia. I wish I had time to go back and see more.

谢谢 Xie xie, ありがとうございました domo arrigtato, muito obrigado and thank you for reading.

#Hong Kong #Tokyo #Narita #Japan #767 #beef bowl #yen #747 #San Francisco #California #CA #USA

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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Day 12 - 12 November 2003 - Hong Kong Repulse Bay, Stanley, Aberdeen, Tseung Kwan O, Kowloon, and Tung Chung

Wednesday 12 November 2003

On Wednesday 12th November 2003, I decided not to have breakfast at the hotel. I wanted to try something local, but the menus were in Chinese and I could not find anywhere suitable, other than either McDonalds or 7-Eleven. I settled on McDonald's, and the breakfast was not much different than in the USA. Also I added more value to the Octopus card at 7-Eleven, I think around US$ 30.00, plenty of money for a full day's fares on the bus.

After breakfast, I walked to Des Voeux Road to take the trolley to the Sheung Wan MTR subway station to go one stop to Central. At Central there is a bus terminal for the city busses. I had to wait fifteen minutes for a direct bus to Repulse Bay which cost about $0.75 with the Octopus card. The bus went along Des Voeux Road past Admiralty subway station, on to Queensway, Stubbs Road where it became Wong Nai Chung Gap Road and Repulse Bay Road. Coming down the hill to Repulse Bay beach, the bus passed by the Hong Kong Tennis Centre.

At the Repulse Bay beach, the main attraction is 109 Repulse Bay Road, where there is a building that has a large gap, eliminating six floors for part of the building. After that, there is a stairway to the beach, where hardly anyone was there. I stayed there for about five minutes. I think the beach was two square miles. There was a large digital clock that would sometimes show the temperature, and at the time, it showed 22 C which is about 71 F. Too cold for any serious swimming.

I took another bus to the Stanley Market. Stanley Market is a single-level mall, with probably two hundred independent vendors, selling clothes, electronics, jewelry, and so much more. If you look on Google Maps, and look up Stanley Market, you can use the Street View mode, to look inside the market (faces are blocked). I bought a silk handkerchief with a chain-link pattern. Most of the staff spoke English well enough. After Stanley Market, I went to the Wellcome [sic] grocery store at 88 Stanley Village Road to buy some lunch items. I remember buying a jar of vegemite, that yeasty and salty spread. And a box of bag tea. One thing that caught my eye, the Hong Kong authorities made a poster against SARS, with a warning in traditional Chinese and English, to people not to spit in public, but rather expectorate into some tissue, or face a HK$ 5,000 fine, approx US $ 600.00. SARS is no joke.

I found a bus line that went directly from Stanley Market to Aberdeen, passing by the Repulse Bay tower that had the gap. The ride took about twenty minutes and cost maybe $ 1.50 on the Octopus card. The bus went past Sham Wan. Aberdeen has many high-rise apartments, is more built up than Stanley Village. I walked along the Aberdeen Promenade, and when walking back to the bus stop for Kennedy Town, I saw a bird in a cage but no human was around to attend to it. Since my visit in 2003, there was a subway line opened in 2016 called the South Island line, that connects Admiralty to Aberdeen via Wong Chuk Hang and Ocean Park.

After Aberdeen, I took a bus to Ngau Tao Kok northeast of Kowloon, I think the bus fare was $ 2.50 including the fee for using an underground tunnel. Then I would start my subway adventure as far as Tseung Kwan O at Junk Bay. I boarded the Kwun Tong Line at Ngau Tao Kok for Tiu Keng Leng and further along to Tseung Kwan O with its eponymous line. At Tseung Kwan O I explored around for a few minutes, it was about as built up as Aberdeen but did not have any farther MRT extension to Po Lam or LOHAS park until about 2009. At Tseung Kwan O, I called back to the USA on a payphone. I had to ask for change as the phones accepted only HK$1 coins and I was out at the time. I took then the Tseung Kwan O line to North Point to connect to the Island Line for Central/Hong Kong. I wanted then to go to Tung Chung on Lantau Island. MTR stations on the Island Line at the time, did not have protective doors. Also on some of the Tsuen Wan line stations between Sham Shui Po to Lai King, there were also no such doors. Some stations however did, but only those that were underground.

Although Central and Hong Kong were physically in the same location on Hong Kong Island, they were classified as two separate subway stations, mainly for the distance that one has to walk between the two. There are two entry points for Hong Kong station, one for the Tung Chung line, and one for the Airport Express line that does not stop except at Tsing Yi. My Octopus card did not include the ride for the airport except a one-way ride, and I did not want to use it that day. My only other option was to use the slightly slower Tung Chung line. The train did not stop at the time, at Sunny Bay or Nam Cheong. It stopped at Kowloon, Olympic, Lai King, Tsing Yi and Tung Chung. Between Tsing Yi and Tung Chung, the train went very fast, right next to the Airport Express tracks. I exited the train at Tung Chung, and was hungry. I found some sandwich store at Skyline Gateway. After eating, I went to the Citygate outlets to buy more bag tea. The Wellcome store that I visited, had a "wet market" in the basement, where you could buy fresh fish and seafood. I was tempted to buy some but didn't. I bought a few magazines in traditional Chinese and I have some of them still today. After shopping, I took the Tung Chung subway line to Tsing Yi, where I wanted to try to take the Airport Express back to Hong Kong station but there was only an exit for Hong Kong and entry to the airport but no entry to the Hong Kong station. I strolled the mall for a half hour before taking the Tung Chung line to Lai King, and I took the Tsuen Wan line to Mong Kok, right in the middle of Kowloon. Kowloon, particularly along Nathan Road, is where the most lighted signs can be seen. I think the time was 7 PM and the sun had set. Nathan Road was very busy with people.

After Kowloon, I wanted to see how close to Sheung Shui I could get. You can't go to Lo Wu without a visa for the PRC, so Sheung Shui is the closest. I took the Kwun Tong line from Mong Kok to Kowloon Tong to board the East Rail line. In 2003, the East Rail line was not part of the MTR subway and thus the fare was not included and had to be deducted from the Octopus card. If you travel in first class, the fare is about US $10. On the East Rail line, I decided not to go any farther than the University station. It was about five stations prior to arriving at the PRC border. I spent about fifteen minutes around the University station before taking the East Rail line back to Hong Kong Island with the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan and Island lines.

After the Island line train reached Sheung Wan, that was the last of the subway rides. I took the trolley along Des Voeux road to Hill Road and bought some curry buns and Sprite and ate them at the hotel. I had to pack up for the next leg of the journey. It was short and I wished I could stay longer.

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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Day 3 - 11 November 2003 - ferry to Macau and bus to Coloane to see into China's Guangdong

Tuesday 11 November 2003

早上好 (Zhou sen)! おはようございます/ Ohayogozaimasu! Bom dia! Good morning!

It is the second (or third day if you count crossing the international date line from 9th to 10th November 2003, making 10th November 2003 possibly the shortest day of my life that I remember as an adult).

On the 11th November 2003, I went somewhere where I had no prior intention of going, prior to my arrival in Hong Kong the previous evening. That same morning I took a hydrofoil ferry to the Macau S.A.R. Access from the Novotel (today's Hotel Jen) was possible either by trolley which was accessible at Des Voeux Road, or with the hotel's shuttle bus, to the Hong Kong Macau Ferry terminal at the Sheung Wan subway station. The HKU subway station that is now close to the hotel, was not built in 2003.

The morning of the 11th, I wanted to get a good view of Hong Kong and Kowloon. This was possible by going to the pool level, I think 25th or 26th floor. It seemed a bit chilly to go swimming, as it was about 55 F / 12 C, and also it was cloudy. I did not stay more than fifteen minutes. But the view was very interesting, I could see as far as Tsing Yi and maybe Nathan Road in Kowloon.

It was not yet time for the hotel to serve breakfast. I walked along Queen's Road, and the morning commute was already underway. The local McDonalds and 7 Eleven were busy at the time. I bought a few provisions for the day, a bottle of lucozade and Sprite and curry buns that I enjoyed the night before.

About 7:30 AM breakfast was ready. I was one of maybe three or four people in the entire breakfast room. Breakfast was a buffet of cheeses, bread, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, and even freshly baked curry buns, that the server highly recommended. It was very delicious, and a good deal for a surcharge of US $ 9.00.

After breakfast, I let the front desk know that I wanted to go to the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal, so they put my name down for a space. The shuttle was a Toyota Coaster 15-seater with manual transmission. The ride was about ten minutes along Des Voeux Road to Sheung Wan. Once I entered the ferry terminal, I bought my ticket for about US $ 15.00 round trip. I was assigned a second-class seat for the outbound trip and had a first-class seat for the inbound trip later that evening. Before boarding the ferry, I had to get an exit stamp in my passport, and when I boarded, I had to get to my seat and buckle up. Hydrofoil boats can travel fast and is susceptible to winds along the Zhujiang River Estuary. The ferry boat announcements were in Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Portuguese.

When the ferry left Hong Kong, it went nonstop on the south side of Lantau Island where the Chek Lap Kok airport is located. For those who never visited Hong Kong or Macau, it is difficult to tell the land mass, where Macau begins or the PRC begins. Back then (year 2003), the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge did not exist and it was not even an idea until years later.

The ferry arrived about 11 AM at the Terminal Marítimo do Porto Exterior de Macau, or the external ferry port. This would be the entry and exit point for my travels that day. I had to get an entry stamp into Macau. For US citizens, no entry visa for the PRC was necessary, so all I received was a 30-day leave to enter stamp in Chinese and Portuguese.

The ferry terminal is located in the St. Lazarus Parish, and is also in some ways like "The Strip" that you might remember from Las Vegas, as gambling is legal in Macau but not Hong Kong. I walked along Avenida da Amizade and noticed that there were chain-kinked fences around some of the streets. This was because the 2003 Macau Grand Prix was about to happen in a few day's time.

Trying to change Hong Kong dollars to Macau patacas is a waste of time, and the money changers will simply refuse to change HK dollars for the pataca. Macau accepts Hong Kong Dollar notes at par, not necessarily the coins. There is a slight advantage for the US dollar, you may receive 3% more in Macau than Hong Kong. Coins between Hong Kong and Macau have different shapes, some have odd shapes, and with the Hong Kong $10 coin, there is a single longitudal groove.

I was getting hungry about 11:45 AM, so I tried to find a bus to Coloane, namely Fernando's, located at Hac Sa, but I ended up instead at Parque Eanes on the opposite side of Coloane, and eating at Restaurante Espaco Lisboa - which I think was a better deal. The bus traversed first through Macau, past the Hotel Wynn Macau, then on the Ponte da Amizade (Friendship bridge) past the airport on Taipa. The bus went further south on Taipa along Estrada do Istmo, past Estrada Flor de Lótus. Along the way there were many white statues of the Chinese zodiac, including the tiger, monkey, rabbit, pig, rat, and horse. There was a bridge to Zhuhai in Taipa, which on the Macau side was left-hand running, until Zhuhai when it switched to right-hand running.

Once the bus started after Estrada Flor de Lótus, the bus drove onto Estrada de Seac Pai Van and then Rua de Entre-Campos, and it was in the Coloane district, the furthest south in the Macau S.A.R. The bus stopped at the southeast side of Parque Eanes, corner of Estrade de Cheoc Van. The bus driver said in English "Last stop". I tried to find the bus line to Hac Sa, but I changed my mind when I saw the sign for Restaurant Espaco - Lisboa, and thought maybe this might be a better experience. I could not find the alley way, and not knowing I needed to go along Rua das Gaivotas, in 2003 there were no smartphones and consequently no Google-Maps available, so I used my in 2001 purchased cellphone to call the restaurant, a ++853 number. The owner answered and was helpful. She was very nice enough to come to Parque Eanes and show me the way to the restaurant. I had a table facing Zhuhai. I was served a bottle of Sintra beer. I think at the time, it was already 1 PM Beijing/HK time. I ordered a steak with fried egg and two strips of bacon. I think also it was served with potatoes. I had my radio with me, I was listening to Radio Macao 98.0 FM, the Portuguese-language station. Three songs I distinctly remember being played between 12:55 PM and 1:15 PM that day, "Pandajero" by Cantoma, "Two Fingers" by J J Johanssen and "Island" by Heather Nova, including a top-of-the-hour-em-português news report. Eventually I needed to use the bathroom. The bathroom was not the Chinese kind I had expected, it was a proper European bathroom with sit-down toilet, and the electric outlet was the same as in Hong Kong and the UK, namely the "G" type rectangular pins, bottom two flat and middle one vertical. After lunch, I let the owner know that I enjoyed having lunch there. About 1:40 PM or so, I walked down Rua das Gaivotas and Rua do Tassara, then south on Avenida de Cinco de Outubro, so that I could get a good view of Zhuhai, and that would be pretty much all of the PRC that I would be able to see at the time.

Along my walk, I passed by the Escola Primária Luso-Chinesa de Coloane and turned back to Parque Eanes at the Tam Kong Buddhist temple and along Rua do Estaleiro. The Chinese and Portuguese cultures seemed to jump out at that particular section. For example, there was a painting of a panda eating bamboo, and a block away, was a portuguese Quinta house painted in pink. I walked the rest of the way to Parque Eanes by Rua do Meio. The fare back to Macau was a little more than from Macau, I think somewhere around $ 0.90.

I am not exactly sure anymore where the bus from Coloane to Macau took me, but I think I exited around the Jardim de Sao Francisco, in the Cathedral Parish. I remember a distinct building, painted in pink and white, called the Clube Militar. I took photos of its northwest side along the Avenida da Praia Grande. While walking towards the Ruins of St. Paul's, I saw a display for the Macau Grand Prix, and a 1970's performance edition of the Ford Escort. It is a 3/4 mile walk from Clube Militar to the Ruins, so you would walk along Avenida da Praia Grande, Calcada de Sao Joao, pass by St. Dominic's church, Rua da Palha and on the hill, are the ruins. There exists only the facade of the cathedral, maybe two feet thick at most. When you walk through those streets I have named, those are basically pedestrian alleys and most of the old colonial Portuguese buildings remain. Behind the ruins, is a Buddhist temple, and anyone can enter the grounds on condition that they keep a quiet and calm demeanor.

After seeing the ruins, I think it was 4:30 PM or so. I took a bus to Portas de Cerco, which is physically the closest I have ever been in my life to the PRC. There is not much to see, and the wall that separates the PRC from Macau is so high, that it kind of gives a feeling of being in Cold-War era West Berlin. 5 PM came around and it was time to do some shopping. I walked along Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral, and found some place to buy crispy egg roll cookies. They were half an inch in diameter, about six inches long, and for about 30 of them, in a tin box. I was thirsty and went to a grocery store located along Avenida de Artur Namagnini Barbosa. I bought a few cans of lemon soda.

It was getting around 6 PM and the sun went down. I had to get back to Hong Kong. I took the bus back to the ferry terminal. Buying postcards was a challenge. No one spoke either enough English or Portuguese, so I had to resort to hand gestures. Eventually I was able to buy postcards and Macau postage. Leaving Macau, I had a "saida" exit stamp in my passport. The ferry ride back was a little choppy as it was high tide. I was buckled well into my seat. I was served a light snack as I was in first class going back to Hong Kong.

When I arrived in Hong Kong, I had to declare that I did not have SARS, stand for a few seconds under a temperature sensor, and then had my passport stamped. Due to the proximity of the Hong Kong Macau Ferry terminal to the Sheung Wan subway station, I thought it would be a good opportunity to ride the subway for a little bit. My Octopus card was valid for the journey, unlimited rides up to the 13th. I did not go very far, maybe just to Lai King in the northwest of Kowloon. I would ride more of the subway on Wednesday the 12th. After exiting at Sheung Wan, I took the trolley to Hill Street and walked to the hotel on Queen's Road. The ride cost around US $ 0.30, actually HK$ 2.00. You enter at the back, and at your stop you exit at the front paying the 2 HK dollars. The trolleys are generally slow, going about 20 mph / 30 km/h.

I ate a curry bun and drank Sprite, and then went to bed. I had to make the most of the next day before flying home.

Next chapter, the great Far-East subway adventure, dragon-hole building sighting, buying tea at the Tung Chung Wellcome store and even a train trip towards Sheung Wan, lastly with an evening in Kowloon Nathan Road.

Xie xie, domo arrigato, obrigado and thank you!

Music seen years later on a tape I recorded while in Macau

- "Sounds of the samba" by Victor Davies

- "Happy Here" by Danmass

- "Pandajero" by Cantoma

After the news came

- "Two fingers" by J J Johannsson

- "I am an island" by Heather Nova

and I ran out of tape and had to replace it with a fresh one.

Nice memories of Macau from so long ago.

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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Day 1 - 9 November 2003 - Flight to Hong Kong from SFO terminal "A"

Sunday 9 November 2003

Konnichiwa, Ni Hao and Ola!

Today marks fifteen years since my visit to East Asia, particularly the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions of China, plus a partial day at Tokyo Narita airport. Actually I would not stop at Narita until Thursday 13th November 2003. This would be the first time in my adult life, and so far it is the only time, that I would cross the international date line. You may have heard in the news about the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge that was opened recently. When I visited in November 2003, this was not even an idea (at least to most US citizens) that this could be built. Without crossing into the PRC, the only way to go between Hong Kong and Macau, was by boat.

I would like to break up my visit into four parts as there is so much to tell.

- 9th to 10th SFO to HKG nonstop, coach from Chek Lap Kok airport to hotel via Kowloon, 7 Eleven at Queen's Road West near Hill Road (Shek Tong Tsui district).

- 11th Breakfast at hotel, Hong Kong to Macau ferry, lunch on Coloane, St Paul cathedral, and ferry back to Hong Kong, with a journey on the MTR subway and tramway back to the hotel.

- 12th Breakfast at McDonald's, bus to Central, Repulse Bay, Stanley Market and Aberdeen, MTR to Sheung Kwan O, Tung Chung and Kowloon

- 13th Minibus to HKG airport, flight to Narita, afternoon and "beef bowl udon", flight to SFO, arrival the "same day"

Let's start with why I went to Hong Kong and Macau and back via Narita. Instead of my usual journey to Europe as I did in August of that year, I was suggested to give Hong Kong a try, and not worry that I speak very little Mandarin or Cantonese. United Airlines at the time, had a special package of roundtrip airfare to Hong Kong, three day's accommodations and offers of touristic interest for a good price. I had to renew my passport from 1994 as it would expire in any case.

Sunday 9th November was my flight, nonstop from San Francisco Terminal A to Hong Kong. It was in a Boeing 747 and in the economy class when economy class at least had decent legroom. Before the flight, I wanted to try some "congee" with shrimp. Congee is a savory rice porridge, about the same consistency as an average bowl of Quaker Oats. A little soy sauce can give it a nice flavor.

I think the flight departed around 1:10 PM Pacific. It would not arrive in Hong Kong until at least 8 PM the next day (Monday 10th November), so that makes the flight about 15 hours long, not quite as long as a flight from the US west coast to Auckland, New Zealand. On the plane, you cannot automatically perceive crossing the international date line. At the time, the 747 did not have individually controlled entertainment in economy class as a 777 would, it was all centralized, I have no idea about the situation in business or the still-existent first class. I remember watching four films in total, including "Whale Rider" from New Zealand, I remember distinctly that traditional Chinese subtitles were on-screen for that film. During the flight there was a snack and then supper. At some times, the flight attendants would serve Chinese tea, where you would not add sugar or anything else, just tea leaves and hot water.

It seemed like for the most part, the day went on "forever", until the plane approached Japanese airspace - and then the 9th turned into the 10th, kind of like it's 4:30 PM on the 9th, and then suddenly it's 4:31 PM on the 10th, that's what crossing the international date line westward sort of feels like. The sun was getting low, and the plane made a southwest turn, to just touch the eastern Chinese coastline for the next two hours. As the plane approached Hong Kong, the sun set and the sky was getting dimmer. The plane touched down about 7:30 PM. Everyone alighted the plane to be processed by Hong Kong SAR customs.

If you remember Autumn 2003, you might remember the SARS epidemic. SARS was defined as "severe acute respiratory syndrome". The epicenter was Hong Kong, and Macau also was taking precautions to minize the effects. At passport control, you had to make a declaration that you had to state your health condition, namely stating any health symptoms if any, in addition, there were body temperature sensors, to make sure that travellers did not have a fever. The Hong Kong entry passport stamp allowed US Citizens a visa-free stay of 90 days, I think Macau it was down to 30 days. After passport control, I had to go to the baggage claim and meet the tour bus that was booked in addition to my hotel stay. While the tour bus had not yet arrived, I went to the MTR sales booth to buy a subway pass. It was called the "Octopus Card", and allowed three days of unlimited subway travel, plus a HK $200 stored value for bus and trolley rides. It even could be recharged at the local 7 Eleven stores for cash. I withdrew about US $ 100.00 to start, and I think the rate was around US 1= 8.20 HK. The Macau Pataca, I would find out, would be at par with the Hong Kong dollar, and local banks would be reluctant to exchange Hong Kong dollars for Patacas. More on that in the following chapter.

The bus came around 8:30 PM and the bus dispatcher had to tally up who was staying in Kowloon and who was staying in Hong Kong Island. The bus drove along Route 8 which passed through Tsing Yi, Disneyland Hong Kong, Tsing Yi and ended up in Kowloon. The bus dropped a few people off somewhere along Nathan Road or some side street closeby. Then the bus went under Kowloon Bay in tunnel to Queen's Road West, though the bus made a stop after leaving the tunnel. I did not arrive at my hotel until at least 9:30 PM. I was staying at the Novotel in the Sai Wan district, which currently now is the Hotel Jen. There was a McDonald's and a 7 Eleven store close by. For maybe $ 6 US, I bought a couple of curry buns (pulled chicken or pork) and a can of Sprite and a bottle of Lucozade. And I topped up my Octopus Card for bus fare if needed later.

My room was on the 22nd floor, and I think the outdoor pool was on the 25th floor. My room did not have the best view but it was okay. I had a room looking at the ramp of Hill Road, leading to Connaught Road. The room had a remote control to control the radio, TV, alarm clock, and many things imaginable. The bathroom was pretty much similar to those I knew in the US, Canada and Europe. Electricity was the same as in the UK, namely the "G" type plug. I found the next day that Macau also uses the "G" plug. I did not watch TV but I had my Aiwa HS JS 479 and could listen to and record the local stations, most of them were in Cantonese, there was also the BBC World Service in English.

I think I went to bed about 11 PM after enjoying my curry bun and Sprite. The bed was firmer than most that I remembered, was not too bad. Somehow or other, I thought, if the hotel has a free shuttle to the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal, why not go? I did not plan to visit Macau but thought, as long as I am in that part of the world, there was no better time to go. Looking back 15 years on, I am glad I did.

So that was all for the 9th and the 10th November 2003. Next chapter, ferry ride to Macau, and views of its Portuguese past.

Thank you and good night!

謝謝，晚安！! (Xièxiè, wan'an!)

Obrigado e boa noite!

ありがとう、おやすみなさい! (Arigato, oyasuminasai!)

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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Days 2 to 4 - The Chico Halloween 2003 and drive up to Medford, Oregon with Grants Pass and Ashland

Hi everyone

I wanted to let you know about fifteen years ago today, when it was the last time I visited Chico, CA and Oregon. It was the weekend of 31st October to 2nd November 2003. During that time I visited

- Chico

- Orland

- Redding

- drive on I-5 past Mt. Shasta

- Hilt CA and Oregon state line

- descent into Ashland and Medford

- drive to Grants Pass before returning and having supper

- fuelling up at Medford Safeway

- long drive back to Foster City CA via Willows, lunch at Black Bear diner

- arrive home in Foster City by 9:30 PM

On 31st October 2003 I arrived at Chico about 7 PM at the Super 8 motel, after having left work about 3 PM by prior permission - it was a 4 hour journey from Redwood City via San Mateo-Hayward bridge and I-880 to I-80 then I-505 and on to I-5 to Orland, and then on local roads thereafter. The Super 8 is near Cohasset and CA-99, and at the time it was next door to a Denny's that I remember previously eating at on Sunday 7th January 2001. I dropped off the luggage and found a place to park in the downtown 4th Street parking structure before traffic got worse. I went to a couple of places I remember from my university days, particularly Duffy's, watch some live concert, but I don't know if I went into the Madison Bear Garden, there is always a line outside on Halloween night. Since my university days at CSU Chico, nothing much seemed to have changed. After eating a "Sleepy Dan Special" meal at Jack's Diner, I went back to the hotel.

I think I woke up the next morning about 7:30 AM. Super 8 was serving breakfast. Some guests had slept in their costumes when they came down to the breakfast room. I had to check out by 8:30 AM so I could get a good start to driving to Medford. Why Medford? I had been wanting to go to Medford for probably since 1998, just to have a leisurely tour around it, and also Ashland. Leaving Chico, I drove north and west on CA-32 to Orland, so I could get a good photo of the big catfish. I have no idea how long the catfish has been standing or why it was even placed there. After Orland I went north on I-5. I-5 is not particularly hilly between Arbuckle and Red Bluff, and then from Anderson to just north of Redding it is fairly flat. Somewhere around Mountain Gate up to Weed, I-5 has many curves and speed limits are down to 55 mph or 90 km/h. The scenery is interesting, especially if you get close enough to see Mt. Shasta.

Hilt is the last town in California on I-5, before the Oregon state line. From Yreka to Hilt, I-5 has a gradual incline, and after crossing into Oregon, there is a gradual decline towards Ashland. Downtown Ashland has a Shakespeare program, and I would find out later that evening that I arrived on the last day of the season. In Medford, one town away, I had booked a night at the Red Carpet Inn, basically a typical motel with outside access, and they served complimentary breakfast. I drove around downtown, parked my car around Main Street, and walked around, trying to find the Russian restaurant that I remember going to in a previous visit in June 1996, but never found it. Back then, smartphones were nonexistent and to google anything you would need a computer with 56k or broadband. I did find a Hawaiian restaurant, called the Hawaiian Hut, which would give me 10 miles credit on United Airlines for every dollar I spent. I had some nice spare ribs and white rice and it also had macaroni salad. I could not eat it all so they gave me a takeout box. I drove also to Grants Pass, because I wanted to see how far north away from home (at the time, Foster City, CA) I could drive, but in August 2013 I beat that, but that's a story for another time.

After Grants Pass, I drove past Medford on to Ashland. It was the last day of the season for Shakespeare. I did not know of any performances I wanted to see, so I just strolled around downtown for an hour or so. Then I drove back to Medford to sleep.

The next morning, Sunday 2nd November, I slept in a bit more than I thought but not too long before they stopped serving breakfast, I was lucky to have some toast and coffee. I also had the leftover Hawaiian food from the previous night that I would eat later. I think I started back home at 10 AM. Before that, I had to fill up the tank, it was getting close to the 1/4 mark. Oregon diesel prices in 2003 were close to those in California, maybe a few cents cheaper. But you could not fill the tank yourself due to the Oregon state law forbidding self-service. I filled up, bought some soda for later, and then headed south on I-5, up that long incline past Ashland to Hilt at 55 mph, and then after Hilt downhill. Somewhere after Hilt there is supposed to be an agricultural checkpoint. That does not include leftover prepared food, just fresh fruits and such. I think it was about 11:30 AM when I arrived at the first rest stop in California from Oregon, so I ate up the leftovers. From Yreka to Weed the drive was fairly flat, then there came the curvy road down to Redding, and then flat from Red Bluff to Willows. At Willows I was getting hungry and I think it would have been around 4 PM when I arrived. I knew at the time, the Black Bear was also offering the 10 miles per dollar deal with United Airlines. I think I had just a sandwich and Coke. I stayed enough to rest up before the 200 mile journey back to Foster City. The car's fuel gauge had yet to break the 5/8 mark as it was getting around 51.0 mpg.

The drive home went fairly uneventful, other than a short stop close to Nut Tree in Vacaville. I think the rest of the way I went on I-80, I-880 to the San Mateo-Hayward bridge and my exit was at Mariner's Island Blvd in Foster City, which lead to my street. It would have been a little after 9 PM when I arrived at home. Luckily I did not have to be at work until 8 AM on Monday the 3rd November. I would have one week until my next international adventure to somewhere new. On my longest nonstop flight on United that I can remember.

So that was the last time I drove on I-5 to Oregon. Hope you enjoyed this Halloween story from so long ago.

Next week, I should have the story of my fifteen year anniversary of my visit to Hong Kong, Macau and Tokyo Narita, but not Zhuhai in the PRC (though I was a quarter mile away from it, on the Macau side).

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greenbagjosh · 5 months

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Day 1 - 30 October 2003 - Chico CA and Medford Oregon weekend

Hi everyone, and Happy Halloween! I am working on a story from Halloween 2003, one of my fond memories of a road trip including Chico CA and Medford Oregon. I hope it will be interesting. Next week I should also have another story but somewhere I don't usually go on vacation, but was recently in the news. I guess you will have to wait a little longer to find out......

#Chico #CA #Medford #Oregon #OR #Halloween #2003 #Volkswagen #Jetta #TDI #Super 8 #downtown #parade #Ashland #Grants Pass

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Saturday 11 July 1998 - First time across the Oberbaumbrücke into East Berlin - Alexanderplatz and the world clock - Love Parade from 2 PM to 9 PM - supper at Escados and a long S-Bahn ride home to Nikolassee

11 July 1998 Love Parade in Berlin

Hi everybody,

Today 20 years ago, is part two of three, of the weekend in Berlin. It was also the day of the Love Parade 1998 - hence the hearts from my last post. It would not start until about 2 PM on Straße des 17 Juni, so I could get some sightseeing done before that and still take the U-Bahn.

The night was not too bad. My other roommates were not particularly noisy. The temperature was fair, about the low 50s by 7 AM. The showers were located in the hall.

My hostel had a breakfast room and breakfast was complimentary. It was the usual kind of breakfast at a typical Deutsches Jugendgästehaus, breads, cheese, butter, jam, hazelnut spread, sliced deli meats, orange juice, coffee and tea. I spent about half an hour. Then I went back to my room to get enough film for sightseeing. What I did not know was, I should have packed an extra camera battery. With the Samsung Evoca 115, it does not use conventional batteries. It uses a special U-Shaped battery about 5 volts called a "CR123". Will talk more about that for Sunday the 12th July. Then I walked the half mile to the Nikolassee train station but did not board a train, but a bus. This was because I wanted to go to Krumme Lanke along the U-1 into downtown and then take the S-Bahn from Heidelberger Platz to Innsbrucker Platz and take the U-4 to Nollendorfplatz. As for the Berlin U-Bahn map, please bear with me, as the lines have been reconfigured in the past twenty years that I last visited on my own, so I will likely mention the lines I remember from back then, rather than refer to the current line structure. As long as I still had the 72 hour pass, I did not need to worry about any "Fahrscheinkontrolle" that charged 80 D-Mark for not having a valid ticket.

I took a double decker bus from Nikolassee to the Krumme Lanke U-Bahn station and took the U-1 to Heidelberger Platz. The line ran at-grade up to Podbielskialle and went underground for two more stops. I had to come out of the tunnel for the S-41 that went to Innsbrucker Platz. The entire U-4 is still underground as it was in 1998. When the train arrived in Nollendorfplatz, there were two underground levels and one elevated one. That is what makes Nolledorfplatz unique. I went farther on the U-1 to Warschauer Straße, across the Spree by the Oberbaumbrücke. I believe I already mentioned, that up to 1995, the U-1 terminated only at Schlesisches Tor on the east, as that was where the wall was, and Warschauer Straße happened to be in the Soviet-controlled "East Zone". Many of the stations in the East Zone in 1998 appeared to be preserved as they existed in the Cold War, but have in the last twenty years been renovated, so if you happened to be born after 1989, you might not be able to recognize which stations were in the East Zone and which were in the Allied sectors. Allied being the USA, UK and France. It was a profound feeling to see the Warschauer Straße station, as it was cut off from the rest of the U-Bahn network for decades.

I had to walk across a pedestrian bridge at Warschauer Straße to be able to access the S-Bahn line. I wanted to see Alexanderplatz, the tower and the interesting world clock that must have 24 faces. The clock for many years did not have Tel Aviv or Jerusalem mentioned until that was changed in 1997, as it was GDR policy to not recognize the existence of Israel. I think The Bourne Supremacy had a scene in that particular square years later. I found a place where I might want to eat dinner, the Escados steak restaurant. They would be open until very late, I guess just before midnight, so I made a point to come back later that evening.

After seeing Alexanderplatz, I wanted to go back to West Berlin, and the Checkpoint Charlie museum. To get there from Alexanderplatz, I needed to take the U-2 to Stadtmitte and then south to Kochstraße by U-6. In the Cold War, the U-2 was an operating line on both sides of the wall. However the U-6 had several "ghost stations" that had just the lights dimly lit while the trains just passed through and did not reopen until after Reunification.

What luck, when I arrived at Kochstraße, the location of the iconic Checkpoint Charlie border crossing, the eponymous museum was open that day, so I decided to go inside for an hour or so. It was very interesting inside, with so much Cold War memorabilia. There was a Trabant that had a secret compartment to smuggle out people from East Germany to the West. And yes there was a controversial painting of Erich Honecker and Mikhail Gorbatchev, I will not go into any detail, you might look it up for yourself. As I had my passport with me, I paid 2.50 D-Mark to get a historical East Berlin border crossing stamp.

I think at Alexanderplatz, during the Cold War, that was one of the official border crossings for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. One of the rules for entering East Berlin from West Berlin, was that you would have to change 25.00 D-Mark into 25 Ostmark. More information about the Ostmark at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_mark. And all the Ostmark was required to be spent before returning to the West. Because the cost of living in East Berlin as compared to West Berlin was so cheap, it made spending money difficult. One way to tell the Ostmark from the D-Mark, is that the Ostmark coins were made out of lighter metal than the D-Mark coins. There were also Intershops that accepted only hard currency and sold western wares. All I am aware of, is what my high school German teacher taught in class, and also other peoples' experiences.

After visiting the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, it was getting close to 1 PM. I stopped at a Kaiser Tengelmann store to buy food to make sandwiches, as I wanted to save money for a nice steak at Escados later. I love my Lyoner and Blutwurst so I bought some of that with slices of good looking white cheese, and some more soda cans. After that, I went on to Alexanderplatz, and then walked along Unter den Linden past the Berliner Dom and the then-standing Palast der Republik. The Palast der Republik was up to 1990, the parliament building for the East German government. Appearancewise, the Palast der Republik was made out of brownish copper and similarly tinted glass. It was a postwar brutalist style. People were gathering east of the Brandenburger Tor, as the Lovemobiles with the loud music were along Straße des 17 Juni.

So what is the Love Parade supposed to be? It was started in 1989 by DJ Dr Motte as a non-partisan political demonstration for peace and international understanding. And a great deal of electronic music which evolved from that of Kraftwerk. The Love Parade drew in later years up to 2003, about a million participants. To have a successful Love Parade, it is necessary to obtain funding and sponsors. In 2004 it was starting to be difficult to find sponsors and also the required permits in a timely manner. As for the music variety, I think there were 20 Lovemobiles in total, DJ Motte was at the head, there were others like DJ Marusha, Paul Van Dyk, Sven Väth, and Da Hool

Two of the drawbacks are, one of which, getting inadvertently dirty as a result of others drinking on the streets - glass was allowed as was aluminum and plastic, so it was necessary to watch one's step around areas where glass bottles were broken. There must have been an inch of garbage along the Straße des 17 Juni on average. I would not want to be part of the sanitation crew the next morning. Also, 11th July 1998 was one of the days that Germany had forgotten about its Mehrwegflasche recycling scheme - sad. The other drawback is if you do not have proper ear protection, you might have a horrible ringing of the ears. Foam earplugs were given out for free (someone donated for a bulk of them). Also during the Street Parade, the weather did not cooperate very well. Though it was in the upper 60s to lower 70s, there were periods of drizzle, alternating with periods of sunshine, and the DJs took special care to protect their equipment, so the music would last well into the late hours of about 10:30 or 11 PM.

The Love Parade was very large, in comparison to the little Marlboro cigarette garden parties from 1997 that I attended July 1997 in Hamburg and Munich, similar attire as the Love Parade, turnout of a thousand people each at most. Statistics show that there were 800,000 participants for 1998, so good turnout.

Recommended videos Da Hool - Meet her at the Love Parade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO4y3nkJXDA Dr Motte & Westbam - One world, one future (the theme for the 1998 Love Parade in Berlin) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJ20spGymE

There have to be about a dozen Love Parade 1998 videos online, some lasting as long as six whole hours. I leave it to you to decide whether to watch those, especially if you are on a mobile data plan – be careful of how much bandwidth you use unless you’re on Wifi or ethernet.

I have to give the cleanup crew, security and first responders compliments on their professionalism. There was a little bit of humor when an ambulance was driving through the Straße des 17 Juni, and he said "Please clear the street. You know how to do that, right? We all went to school didn't we?". Then some silly person shouted "Not I! Not I!". Both exchanges were in German.

The next such parade I would attend would be the Street Parade, on 8th August 1998 in Zürich. That had a good turnout. I will tell more about it early next month.

I got tired about 10 PM and thought it was time for dinner. I had to walk past the Brandenburger Tor, along Unter den Linden to Alexanderplatz. Escados was still open for late dinner. I ordered a 5 ounce steak with chili and summer vegetables, and had a Berliner Kindl beer with it. It was a fairly relaxing dinnertime after a long afternoon and evening with loud electronic music. But it was fun nonetheless.

To return to the hostel, I should have taken the direct S-Bahn to Nikolassee, but I chose a different route. I took a line 100 bus to Rosenthaler Platz to catch the U-8. This was part of the U-8 Ghost Station line in East Berlin, up to Gesundbrunnen which was considered to be in West Berlin. Then I took the S-1 "the long way" back to Nikolassee. Somehow Ingo Ruff's voice put me to sleep until about Mexikoplatz. I made it back to the hostel about 11:45 PM and I went to sleep.

The next day I would have to check out and make my way home to Munich. I did not know about the Third Place match for FIFA 1998, but I later found out Croatia beat the Netherlands 2 to 1.

Tomorrow, Part 3, including Spandau and my impressions of Cold War Berlin’s U-Bahn line U-5.

Gute Nacht, bis morgen.

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Friday 10 July 1998 - ICE monoblock once again, after the Eschede disaster - ruins of the GDR in Potsdamer Platz - new cities on the world clock in Alexanderplatz - early evening in Frankfurt an der Oder and Slubice, Poland

Friday 10 July 1998

Hi everyone, Grüß Gott, Guten Tag and dzien dobry

Today twenty years ago, I went on a three day weekend to Berlin, Frankfurt an der Oder, Slubice in Poland and back via Leipzig and Nürnberg Hbf. This would be my second visit to Berlin overall, as my previous visit was in January 1997, not exactly the best time to visit. This time I planned to see more than I did then. Before you read any further, I plan to break the journey into three parts, Friday the 10th, Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th. Berlin is a big city, with so much history in the last 60 years at least, and proper time spent to enjoy it is necessary.

I was able to take a day off work, as I had accumulated more than seven hours of overtime. I was not paid overtime but was allowed compensation days if certain conditions were met. I had to validate my Eurail Pass and use one day for the 10th going over to Berlin, and I paid 89 D-Mark for the return trip for Sunday the 12th (1998 FIFA World Cup Final, Brazil vs France). Already in May 1998 I had booked two nights at the Berlin youth hostel located near Wannsee in the former "American Sector". I took the early ICE high speed train called the "Justus Freiherr von Liebig" (1803 - 1873, bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justus_von_Liebig), the replacement for the "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen", damaged about 11:10 AM on 3rd June 1998 in Eschede. Because the von Liebig train did not go to Berlin, but rather to Hamburg, I had to make a transfer at Fulda, to connect to the train for Berlin Zoologischer Garten, which in 1998 was the main terminus for eastbound trains as the current Hauptbahnhof was not yet built. The train left Munich about 5:35 AM. In 1998 the section between Munich, Augsburg and Nuremberg, were not high speed, neither was the existing section between Munich, Ingolstadt and Nuremberg, so it would not arrive in Nuremberg until about 6:55 AM. The morning was generally cloudy. I had my trusty "coffee bottle" with freshly brewed coffee in my backpack and about eight cans of soda at 330 mL each. The train stopped at Würzburg at 8:15 AM (Würzburg is the birthplace of Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki). It went not west to Aschaffenburg or Frankfurt, but rather north to Fulda, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe and Göttingen before going further north to Hannover and Hamburg. The train arrived at Fulda about 9:10 AM. I listened to the Hessischer Rundfunk top of the hour news and heard All Saints' cover version of Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the bridge" after that. At Fulda I alighted and had to wait for the Intercity train to Berlin. I would have been able to continue with an ICE train but due to the disaster at Eschede, lines operated with the ICE-1 series had many taken out of service. So I made do with the IC, and it arrived on time at 9:12 AM. The train went through Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Göttingen, Braunschweig, Wolfsburg, Potsdam and Berlin-Wannsee station. The train arrived about 12:28 PM at Berlin Zoologischer Garten. Before exploring Berlin, there was some business to take care of at the station.

In Berlin, you can buy a single day pass at a reasonable price. I am not sure what it was in 1998 but in 1997 it was 10 D-Mark. For a three-day pass, namely a 72 hour pass, you can also get discounts on tours and various products. The cost was 29 D-Mark. There was a ticket in the booklet that BVG sold, and it had to be stamped before use. Stamped only once, otherwise it would be considered invalid by the ticket inspectors and I would have been subject to a fine of 80 D-Mark. I stamped the pass, and then headed on the S-7 to Nikolassee via Westkreuz. The trains were of the BR-481 series, and stations announced by the voice of Ingo Ruff, as I remembered from January 1997. My hostel was, despite being located near Wannsee, was actually closer to the Nikolassee station. And about a half mile walk from Nikolassee. I checked in and left my luggage on the free bunk bed in the room. As it was the Love Parade weekend, the hostel would be very full. I rested for a few minutes, and before I left, I took my Eurail Pass with me and my remaining cans of soda in case I were to get thirsty on the way. The coffee bottle was empty.

After a short rest, I left the hostel about 2 PM, with only my small bag with sodas, my Eurail pass, and passport. It was time to explore Berlin. I walked back to Nikolassee to take the S-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz. I wanted to not take the S-7 but the S-1, which was possible. The difference is going through Anhalter Bahnhof, Potsdamer Platz and Friedrichstraße underground, where S-7 is either elevated or at-grade only. At Yorckstraße I was listening on my radio to RTL 105.6 FM. Then when the train went underground for Anhalter Bahnhof and I lost the signal. Oh well.

During the Cold War, Anhalter Bahnhof was the last station in the West Berlin S-Bahn, before approaching the Berlin Wall, as the next station would be Potsdamer Platz which was closed then. Both stations in 1998 looked like they were nicely refurbished after Reunification. I exited Potsdamer Platz to have a look around to see how much of the wall I could still see. Most of it had been torn down, and in 1998 there was only the empty space remaining. If you were to look at an aerial photo of it today, you would not be able to really tell that there was once a wall. The area has long since been built up. I did find a wall to take a selfie from, and I managed to find a wooden wall. If I could not find a cement wall, I thought, well, the wooden one will do, it is close to the original site anyway. So, there you have it, the story of the selfie of me trying to climb a wall.

Between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate, there was a small memorial to the victims of the Third Reich. Honestly I do not know if that was erected either during the Cold War or after Reunification. I have only a few photos of that.

Because the Brandenburger Gate was not too far, I decided to walk on over. Brandenburger Tor was probably the most famous landmark of Berlin, that showed the division of West and East Berlin. On the west side there was the wall blocking access to it. It was accessible during the Cold War only from the East, namely, USSR controlled, side. Even when the Soviet troops had withdrawn, many former Soviets, in 1998, Russian citizens, remained behind and sold USSR memorabilia, such as military caps, belt buckles, insignias of the USSR, Matryushka nesting dolls. On Saturday the 11th July 1998, Brandenburger Tor would be quite busy and so would Unter den Linden up to Alexanderplatz. For that reason, Potsdamer Platz and Unter den Linden stations would be shut for the day. More about that tomorrow.

I wanted to see the Reichtstag building. It would be a short walk to Scheidemannstraße to see the Reichstag. The rebuilding of the Reichstag into the new Bundestag, would not be complete for several years. On the front it had "Dem Deutschen Volke" (to the German People). During the Cold War, the Reichstag building was located in the West. The government in 1998 was still in Bonn but would transfer to Berlin during the Gerhard Schröder (SPD, 1998 - 2005) government.

After that I thought it appropriate to explore into the former East Berlin, where there were no significant attractions. I took the bus to Französische Straße, the U-6 to Oranienburger Tor, then a tram to Brunnenstraße/Invalidenstraße. Note, on the U-6 from Stadtmitte to Reinickendorfer Straße, were "ghost stations" that the U-8 went through but did not stop. The tram went through an interesting part of the former East Berlin, looked like what I had seen in high school German class. The stop "Monbijouplatz" did not exist in 1998 so after Oranienburger Straße, was Hackescher Markt. For some strange reason or whatever, I got the idea to take the train further east to Frankfurt an der Oder and cross into Poland, before it got too dark. So I did that, taking the U-8 from Rosa Luxemburg Platz to Alexanderplatz, taking the S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof, and taking the Berlin-Warszawa-Express to Frankfurt an der Oder. I had my Eurail Pass and unless I was going further to Warsaw Centralna, I did not need any reservation. The PKP train was as nice as the Intercity train. The train passed by Ernkner which is the farthest east on the Berlin S-Bahn system.

I think I arrived at Frankfurt an der Oder about 6:30 PM. The train station looked like time stood still from the Cold War. Station signs looked similar to the ones I saw in Prague. The trams ran from the station to Magistrale, where the car and footbridge was located to cross the Oder into Slubice, Poland. Back then all Frankfurt an der Oder trams were from the Tatra factory in the Czech Republic as a legacy of the Cold War. There was a McDonalds at the intersection of Karl Marx Straße and Rosa Luxemburg Straße, for some reason it had a more profound effect on me that I would have preferred. At the time McDonalds was featuring Greek-style hamburgers with feta cheese, called "McKronos". I could not resist, so I had a simple McKronos burger and small drink. After eating and going to the bathroom, I made my way across the "Most Graniczny". At the time I did not know the Polish phrases "nie mówie po Polsku" (I do not speak Polish) or "nierozumiem" (I do not understand). After passing the German customs booth, I had my passport stamped on the Polish side. The first thing I saw was Rondo Solidarnosci (solidarity roundabout) and I walked along to the DK 31 road, otherwise known as aleja Mlodziezy Polskiej.

I withdrew some Polish Zloty at an ATM since the D-Mark was not accepted. Just enough to get by in town. The only thing I bought was a Döner Kebap and some soft drink. Most of the rest of the time I wandered around for half an hour. Some things I noted, were a Zywiec beer sign at what is today's King Nazar Kebap, the post office sign "POCZTA", a cigarette shop, a movie poster for "Seven Years in Tibet" with the title in Polish, a few FSO Polonez sedans and Fiat 126p, the Polish version of the Fiat 500 or Yugo. There were some kids playing soccer and one had a big net over him and I did not know enough Polish to ask why. If you see the photo and ask me why that boy has a net on him, I don't think I can explain the circumstance even twenty years on. I had the radio with me, and I recorded some Polish broadcast, including the song "Siedze i mysle" by Beata Kozidrak off the airwaves. I do not know the radio station anymore. I walked back over the Most Graniczny to Germany, had my passport stamped both by Poland for exiting, and Germany for entering. Then I took the tram back to the rail station, and took a RegionalExpress back to Berlin Ostbahnhof. I heard "Music was my first love" by John Miles, prior to accidentally changing the station to one that was playing "Achy breaky heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus. From there I took the S-7 back to Nikolassee, and made it back to the hostel before 11 PM.

I felt I accomplished much on Friday 10 July 1998, but for Berlin there was still more to see. There is still Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th. And the final games of that year's FIFA World Cup to be played.

Until next time.

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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16 August 2003 - nebula at the Foothill College observatory

Some weekend in August 2003, circa 16 / 17 August 2003

Hi everyone Since returning to the USA on 13th August 2003, I have found it no longer necessary to make multilingual summaries of my stories, at least not for now. At some stage they will return.

I wanted to let you know about a time that I drove my mother to Foothill College on a Saturday night, possibly 16th August 2003. My mother wanted in particular to see the new star as part of Nebula NGC 3603 and the new star called Chandra. There was a public viewing at the observatory in the northwestern part of the campus. It is closer to the softball field than it is to the football stadium, practically on the opposite side of campus. Foothill College is a community college located in Los Altos Hills, off El Monte Road, Moody Road and I-280.

I came over on the Saturday evening from my then-apartment in Foster City, with a hamper full of dirty laundry. My parents allowed me to wash my laundry for free, and they also donated the detergent. At the time, only my mother was at the house, as well as our pet cat Eric. Other family members were away on their own personal business. I think that night, my mother asked me to stop by the Pollo Loco Mexican restaurant, on Grant Road just a little south of El Camino Real, in Mountain View, CA, to pick up a couple of burritos, beans, rice, guacamole, sauce and sour cream. I brought those home. This was a time, when I liked to have the hot sauce, so I had to bring mild sauce for my mother. I washed my laundry, we ate our burritos and after I put the washed laundry into the dryer, we had left in my Jetta, the car I had at the time, for Foothill College.

The way to the college was fairly straightforward. We would drive along Foothill Expressway to El Monte Road and turn towards I-280. I drove under the I-280 interchange, and went into the first entrance past the stadium. The campus has a one way roundabout ring. The best parking lots would be the ones in the northwesternmost section, namely 3 and 4. Foothill College is hilly, and some places may have an incline/decline. I found a good spot in lot 3.

We walked up to the observatory next to Lot 3. I think there were about 50, 60, 70 people in front of us. The line went a bit slowly, and it probably took an hour before we had our turn. At least it was not quite as long as it is to cross from Tijuana, BC, Mexico, into San Ysidro, California, USA. When it was our turn to see, we took about a minute to notice the supernova in Nebula NGC 3603. I was able to spot Chandra. It was really neat.

When we left, there had to be about 100 people waiting their turn. We went back to the car, drove home, I picked up my newly dried laundry, and drove home along CA-85 and US-101. Traffic was light at the time, so the drive to Foster City did not take too long, average speed was about 65 mph or 104 km/h.

Anyway, this more or less concludes the Summer 2003 vacation. Hope you have enjoyed it.

The next adventure will be in the Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., as well as a layover in Tokyo Narita. Hope you will join me then.

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Wednesday 19 August 1998 - end of Summer 1998 - good to be back home - welcome home dinner with "Chicken 65" - Scirocco rear axle good as new - back to university for the last two semesters

Wednesday 19 August 1998 (originally written 23 August 1998)

Hi everyone Hope your summer is still going on fine. It will soon be Labor Day and autumn will be near. I promised an afterword to my summer of 1998, where I thought that was the most interesting time.

I learned much valuable information and was able to hold a job in a software development role.

To give a summary for the purpose of the job assignment, it was to gain experience in software development. I did not have the full access to databases and file servers, but it was a good start. As mentioned before, the Unix file transfer system was very primitive, in comparison with the file transfer and publication software options of today. I also got along well with my colleagues, and we had some fun events. And I donated a pound or two of filter coffee in its original packaging, here and there, to help out, as the office cannot function without coffee. Tuesday the 18th August 1998 I made it home safe and sound through St. Louis and SFO.

So what happened between the 19th and 23rd August 1998? I had enrolled in my Autumn 1998 courses, mainly requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree and one fun course.

Theory of Computing (no programming)

Compiler processing (some programming)

Macroeconomics *

Critical Thinking * (Philosophy)

First Semester Italiano 🇮🇹🏛⛲🇻🇦 (What, no emoji for the Bocca della Verità?)

I prefer to speak, maybe around late May 2019, about why I took Macroeconomics and Critical Thinking, as those are considered to be more geared towards freshmen, and in previous years, I had taken equivalent courses eliminating the need for those. Long story for now. So this leaves just two more courses for the Spring 1999 semester, required for graduation.

We had a family dinner at an Indian buffet restaurant, I think somewhere close to my first residence around the El Camino Real and San Antonio Road in Mountain View. I particularly liked the Chicken 65, tandoori lamb, idlee and sambar, and saag paneer (spinach and cheese curds). And also lots of chai to drink. It was a fitting celebration to mark the end of a successful job assignment.

At some point in May 1998, my car had some issues with the rear axle, so that was repaired during my absence. I would not have to worry about that axle the rest of the year. Tires were fine. Just one thing, the tape player in the stock radio (original from September 1983) did not work since I guess May 1997, so I had to rely on the radio, or a makeshift mini speaker and Aiwa HS JS 475 setup. I probably will not make any long posts between now and 23 May 2019, but that remains to be seen.

I hope you enjoyed my stories on Summer 1998, and I also hope you will have some times in your life, where decades later, you might be able to recall, with or without visual/auditory aids, most of the details of the events. Here's to a great final year and hope to have a word on it on 23rd May 2019, the "20th Jubilee". Auf wiedersehen, au revoir, arrivederci!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Monday 17 August 1998 and Tuesday 18 August 1998 - 🐰🐇 Milles Amis at Bercy 2 - shopping at Carrefour -

Monday 17 August 1998 and Tuesday 18 August 1998

(originally written 18 August 2018)

Not much to say for my 17th and 18th August 1998 story but here goes: Hi everyone I hope you enjoyed the last significant travel segment for Europe in summer 1998. Soon I will need to go home, and I have some shopping to do.

Summary of Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th. I don’t have many photos to refer to, so those days may have many things missing, so I will tell you what I can.

17.08.1998 Wake up about 7 AM, take shower, have breakfast about 8 AM

Take M8 from Ledru Rollin to Porte Dorée, and peripherique bus to Bercy 2 mall.

Note the rabbits 🐰🐇 for sale at Milles Amis

Enter the Carrefour megastore, buy some music and food for the day

Ride peripherique bus to M7bis Pre St Gervais, then at Jaurès take M5 to Bobigny Pablo Picasso

Ride T1 west to La Courneuve 8 Mai 1945 and M7 back to central Paris

Take a ride on RER C within Paris, Bibliotheque François Mitterand to Issy Val de Seine and back

Not sure what else but contemplated how to get to Opera and went to bed at a sensible time

18.08.1998 Woke up about 6:30 am, showered and ate breakfast, had full suit and tie on to save luggage space

About 7:15 am took taxi to Opera and the Roissybus stop

Took Roissybus to CDG airport, stopped at T2, RER station and T1.

Bought some more music, then boarded flight to STL

About 9 hour flight to STL, had passport checked, nothing significant to declare

Explore secure area of STL before connecting flight to SFO

Flight to SFO, land about 8 pm.

Back home

And this ends the long summer 1998, or does it?

I don’t have much time to explain all the summary points but I think it should show that it was an excellent end to a summer work assignment.

For tomorrow, I will give a final summary of the summer in general and what is planned after that.

Hope you enjoyed the journey!! Auf wiedersehen! Au revoir! Arrivederci!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Sunday 16 August 1998 - stamping the wrong TGV reservation (return vs away) - the underground cograil line - automatic train without screen doors, doesn't Nürnberg have something similar? - Roman Theater and Vieux Lyon - walk across the Sâone and Rhône to Part Dieu - Paris, one rail journey in the north before going to bed

Sunday 16 August 1998 (originally written August 2018)

Bonjour à tous! Summer is coming soon to a close, at least in 1998, and I will have to return to university for one final year. Sunday the 16th August 1998 is the last day I can do any meaningful travel, and stores are closed until Monday the 17th August. And there is one last free space in my Eurail Pass for taking the train.

The summary of what I did 16th August 1998 - pretty much a day of riding the Lyon metro

woke up around 6:20 AM, took shower and had breakfast at 7 AM sharp

Took M8 from Ledru Rollin to Bastille and M1 to Gare du Lyon

found my assigned car and seat in 1st class TGV to Lyon Part Dieu but validated the wrong reservation

arrived Lyon Part Dieu about 9:45 AM

had snack at Quick burger in the shopping mall and bought day pass for metro

took Metro B to Charpennes and went up and down Cours Emile Zola

took Metro A to Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel, then Metro C to Cuire

walked down from Cuire to Rue de Margnolles and caught bus to Croix Rouge (metro C)

took metro C to Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel, Metro A to Bellecour, then Metro D to Gorge du Loup

Metro D to Vieux Lyon, and funicular to St Just via the Minimes Roman amphitheater

funicular to St Just to have a look around

funicular to Vieux Lyon and Fourvière, saw tower smaller in scale from the Eiffel in Paris, and return

walk along Rue St Jean in old Lyon, saw tourbus with Guignol painted on it

crossed the Sâone by the Passerelle du Palais de Justice (made a double exposure with my camera somehow, on that particular bridge)

walked along Rue Childebert and crossed the Rhône by the Pont Wilson

walked to the metro D station Guilliotière and rode to Gare de Vénnisieux

rode metro D to Saxe Gambetta and Metro B to Part Dieu

go to Quick, order two takeaway burgers and coke

at Lyon Part Dieu, boarded return train at 6 PM, ate hamburger at a free seat not next to anyone, after my ticket and reservation were checked

about 8 PM, at Gare du Lyon, took RER A to La Défense, then went on a clockwise loop towards Gare St Lazare

went back to hostel to sleep

That was the summary of Sunday 16 August 1998. So here is most of what happened, based on my photo album called "Lyon and Paris in August 1998". Unfortunately it is near impossible to properly reorder the photos in chronological order but you likely will have a good picture of what I saw and did that day. I need to let you know that this day I had made extensive use of Lyon's metro, so to eliminate references to the Lyon Metro, will make this day's story meaningless. Hope you will understand.

In France, the sun rises late and sets late, similar to Spain, but not Portugal which is in the same time zone as the UK and Ireland. I therefore had to set my watch to 6:15 AM (and all this time I never mentioned it was a replica of that similar to Marty McFly from "Back to the Future"). Breakfast would not likely be served until at least 7 AM, so I had to take a shower and get my things together, particularly my radio/tape recorder, camera, AA batteries and 35 mm film, couple of 0.33 L Orangina bottles, and the all-important Eurail Pass with accompanying reservations. I wrote in 16 on top and 08 on the bottom, in the last remaining space for the dates used, and there would be no further point to use it on the 17th as I needed to stay within Paris. In any case, I had my Paris Visite ticket that would allow me to go as far as zone 3 (La Défense) valid up to 11:59 PM on the 17th.

Going down the spiral staircase, I ended up on the ground floor. I had the usual Auberge Internationale des Jeunes breakfast, namely coffee in cups some with the handles broken off by past guests (to give them character), six inch sourdough breadrolls, butter and seasonal jam. I think it was apricot. I was the only guest in the room up to 7:10 AM when someone else entered. About 7:15 AM I finished and left for the Ledru Rollin station westward down Rue Trousseau to catch the M8 to Bastille. As I did not have much more than my day bag, the transfer was fairly easy, despite the steps required to climb. It was only a few stops on the M1 to Gare du Lyon. Coming out of the station, I found the track and the car in the upper level of the first class of the TGV that I was reserved for. Well, you think that I might choose the Paris to Lyon reservation to validate. Did not work out that way. I validated the Lyon to Paris reservation. How embarrasing. The train left about 8 AM. It was about half an hour until the conductor came to check tickets. I flagged down the conductor to tell him that I meant to validate the Paris to Lyon reservation and not the other one. He said no problem, then wrote on the reservation, en francais, "composté par erreur" (validated in error) so that the return trip conductor would accept the correct reservation. Everything from then was fine for the rest of the journey to Lyon Part Dieu. Even the seats were nice, you could use the rocker switch to recline the seats

About 9:55 AM, the train arrived at Lyon Part Dieu. The approach to Part Dieu is almost directly north-south. To the southwest is a shopping mall with access to the Metro line B. At the time, the ticket machines did not accept paper bills so I had to change a 50 FF note at the Part Dieu location of Quick to get a day pass. I bought a small Sprite and received about 46 FF change, enough for me to get a day pass. Day passes on TCL (Transport en Commun Lyonnais) are valid for 24 hours, and there were no fare gates at the time as the system was proof-of-payment.

As soon as I bought my ticket, I validated it for 10:10 AM, and went to the Metro B Charpennes platform. In Lyon, the metro runs on the left, similar to Rome, Madrid, Lisbon and London. At Charpennes, there is a direct pedestrian link from the Metro B platform to the Perrache-bound Metro A platform. Per http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/fr/lyon/lyon-metro-b.htm, "The northern terminus at Charpennes is single-track, with line B trains being able to switch to the line A tracks to reach the depot at La Soie. Passengers changing between line B and the inbound line A can do so without climbing any stairs."

I climbed up the stairs to see what was at Charpennes, and it was the Hotel Mercure on Cours Emile Zola. I just stood there for a couple of minutes before moving on to Hôtel de Ville-Louis Pradel to get the Metro C. Metro A is similar to Metro B, but the Metro C has two main differences. One, the Metro C uses overhead wire for its electric feed, and two, between Hôtel de Ville-Louis Pradel and Hénon, a cog rail is used due to the incline. In fact, Croix-Paquet is said to be the steepest metro station in the world. At Hôtel de Ville-Louis Pradel, there is a slight rise at the platform to help the train come to a safe stop. Going up to Hénon was quite interesting, and Croix-Paquet was indeed quite steep. Between Croix-Rousse and Hénon it was fairly flat at the stations. Between Hénon and Cuire there is no need for the cog rail as that section is essentially on a plateau.

I thought I could take a bus from Cuire to Croix Rouge, but realized it was a Sunday and headways with TCL are a bit longer. I managed to get four photos of the passing Metro C cars with their pantographs. They kind of look like the Glasgow Subway cars in a way. I ended up walking along the Rue de Margnolles to a bus stop that had a line going to Croix Rouge so I could take Metro C back to Hôtel de Ville. After getting back on the Metro A, I went to the Bellecour station to make a transfer to Metro D. The Lyon Metro has few if any stations with central platforms, but Bellecour has the central platform for line D. Another thing about Metro D, although it is similar to lines A and B, it is billed as one of the first large-profile driverless metro line. In general, passengers on Metro D can be in the front and get a driver's view, and there is also a panel locked away in case it becomes necessary to manually operate the unit. I went on Metro D as far north as Gorge du Loup. Between Vieux Lyon and Gorge du Loup, it is a long underground section under Fourvière and the Cimitière de Loyasse. And at Gorge du Loup, there were a couple of things I noticed, one being a green Mehari, about as green as the average watermelon, and two, some musician I thought I recognized but wasn't. He was just some random person playing his guitar. I let him be and went back to the metro station.

At Vieux Lyon, there are not one but two cable car systems. One goes to St Just by way of the Minimes - Roman theater station. The amphitheater is close to the station and is open-air just like in ancient Greek and Roman times. From there you can also see down to the St Jean cathedral in Vieux Lyon. The station itself, in 1998 did not have any fare gates, and it has side platforms. It had an overpass for the far platform. Since the trains cannot operate in a single direction due to the mechanics of a conventional two-car funicular system, there are two signs to indicate which platform will serve which station, either St Jean at the bottom or St Just at the top. The signs switch each time so sometimes the close platform will serve St Jean, and the other St Just, then vice versa. St Just is only a residential area, but I found a classic 1970s Peugeot 304, that was pretty much the highlight of me visiting Lyon St Just.

It was time to visit the other part of Vieux Lyon, namely Fourvière. It required going down to Vieux Lyon St Jean and taking the Fourvière funicular. The Fourvière church reminded me much of Notre Dame de Paris. There was even a small-scale tower reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower. Probably it was twice the size of the replica in Paris, TX, not much more. I took the funicular back to St Jean cathedral, and walked along the Rue St Jean. I guess most people may not know Guignol, but I noticed a tourbus with his image on it.

To take a break from the rails, I wanted to cross the Sâone and Rhône rivers on foot. There was the Passerelle du Palais de Justice foot bridge. Somehow I made a double-exposure with my camera, if you see it in the photo album, you may know which one I am referring to. Then along Rue Childebert, I crossed the Rhône by Pont Wilson. The Metro D station Guilliotière was not far, so I boarded the train to Gare de Vénnisieux. At that station, it was not so deep underground and there was some natural light so I could get a good photo of the train leaving to turn around and coming back. Once it returned to the westbound platform, I boarded it and stayed on until Saxe Gambetta to go north on Metro B, to Part Dieu. It was about 5:30 PM and close to time when I needed to take the train back to Paris. At Quick, I ordered two hamburgers and a coke. There was not much time to eat, so I went to the train platform to find my seat. It was in the lower deck of the first class in the TGV train. The train left around 6 PM. I was sitting next to someone and I did not want to eat in front of her. I waited out of respect, for the conductor to arrive and let me choose vacant seats a few rows down. I also mentioned, en francais, that my previous reservation was validated incorrectly and he noticed the correct time. It was all good up to Paris Gare du Lyon.

The TGV arrived at Gare du Lyon about 8 PM and the sun was still up. Because the RER Line A stops at Gare du Lyon, I thought, let's do a clockwise loop at La Défense and come back through St Lazare and Auber, and end up back at the hostel. So I did that for the next hour, making good use of the Paris Visite card. While on the Banlieu train from La Défense to St Lazare, I heard "Les Portes du souvenir" by Les Nubians on the radio.

I was not particularly hungry after eating the two Quick burgers, so I went back to the hostel to sleep. I was fortunate to have quiet roommates. Monday the 17th would be a big day mainly of chores and such, maybe an adventure or two but not much more.

Thanks for reading, and bonne nuit, à demain!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Friday 14 August 1998 - Saturday 15 August 1998 - The Mariä Himmelfahrt ride to Paris - Banlieu loop around Neuilly / La Défense - lovely pizza at Tony's along Rue Faubourg (Ledru Rollin) in the 11th district

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.

Just three or four more days for travel, hope you enjoyed as much as this last week's travel in 2018.

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Wednesday 13 August 2003 - stopover in Frankfurt for a bottle of Äppler - long direct flight to SFO - bless the new BART extension to Caltrain in Millbrae - the last SamTrans bus 251 back home - everything's fine at the apartment

Wednesday 13 August 2003

Good morning! Today we will fly home, kind of in an irregular way. I would usually fly from SFO to Washington Dulles and Munich, and Munich to Washington Dulles and San Francisco, but somehow I could not book that flight, so I did the next best thing, to manage a return flight through Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport. I left the secure area to buy a bottle of Äppler to take home, and nearly missed my flight home as a result. That would not have been good. I made my flight and ended up back home, and the BART, Caltrain and Samtrans got me home in good time. It is not quite the last story for this vacation, I have a small family affair to write about for the coming weekend. Hope you will enjoy this story.

Guten Morgen! Heute fliegen wir, etwas unregelmäßig, nach Hause. Normalerweise flog ich von SFO nach Washington Dulles und München und von München nach Washington Dulles und San Francisco, aber irgendwie konnte ich diesen Flug nicht buchen, also tat ich das Nächstbeste, einen Rückflug über den Frankfurter Rhein-Main-Flughafen zu buchen. Ich verließ den Sicherheitsbereich, um eine Flasche Äppler für die Heimreise zu kaufen, und hätte dadurch beinahe meinen Heimflug verpasst. Das wäre nicht gut gewesen. Ich flog und landete wieder zu Hause, und BART, Caltrain and Samtrans brachten mich rechtzeitig nach Hause. Es ist nicht ganz die letzte Geschichte für diesen Urlaub, ich habe für das kommende Wochenende eine kleine Familienangelegenheit zu schreiben. Ich hoffe, Ihnen wird diese Geschichte gefallen.

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui, nous rentrerons chez nous, de manière irrégulière. Je volais habituellement de SFO à Washington Dulles et Munich, et de Munich à Washington Dulles et San Francisco, mais je ne pouvais pas réserver ce vol, alors j'ai fait la meilleure chose à faire, pour gérer un vol de retour via l'aéroport de Francfort Rhein-Main. J'ai quitté la zone sécurisée pour acheter une bouteille d'Äppler à ramener à la maison et j'ai failli rater mon vol de retour. Cela n'aurait pas été bon. J'ai pris mon vol et je suis rentré chez moi, et BART, Caltrain et Samtrans m'a ramenaient à la maison à temps. Ce n'est pas tout à fait la dernière histoire de ces vacances, j'ai une petite affaire de famille à écrire pour le week-end à venir. J'espère que vous apprécierez cette histoire.

Dobro jutro! Danes bomo leteli domov, nekako neredno. Običajno sem letel iz SFO v Washington Dulles in München ter iz Münchna v Washington Dulles in San Francisco, vendar tega leta nekako nisem mogel rezervirati, zato sem naredil naslednje najboljše, da sem uredil povratni let prek letališča Frankfurt Rhein-Main. Zapustil sem varovano območje, da bi kupil steklenico Äpplerja za domov, in zaradi tega skoraj zamudil let domov. To ne bi bilo dobro. Opravil sem svoj let in se vrnil domov, BART, Caltrain in SamTrans pa me je pravočasno pripeljal domov. To ni čisto zadnja zgodba za te počitnice, imam majhno družinsko zadevo, o kateri moram pisati za prihajajoči vikend. Upam, da vam bo ta zgodba všeč.

Dobro jutro! Danas ćemo letjeti kući, nekako neregularnim putem. Obično bih letio iz SFO-a za Washington Dulles i München, i iz Münchena za Washington Dulles i San Francisco, ali nekako nisam mogao rezervirati taj let, pa sam učinio sljedeću najbolju stvar, organizirao povratni let preko zračne luke Frankfurt Rhein-Main. Napustio sam sigurno područje kako bih kupio bocu Äpplera za ponijeti kući i zbog toga zamalo propustio let kući. To ne bi bilo dobro. Otišla sam na let i vratila se kući, a BART, Caltrain i SamTrans me vratio kući na vrijeme. Nije to posljednja priča za ovaj odmor, imam malu obiteljsku aferu o kojoj ću pisati za nadolazeći vikend. Nadam se da ćete uživati u ovoj priči.

Buongiorno! Oggi voleremo a casa, un po' in modo irregolare. Di solito volavo da SFO a Washington Dulles e Monaco, e da Monaco a Washington Dulles e San Francisco, ma in qualche modo non potevo prenotare quel volo, quindi ho fatto la cosa migliore, gestire un volo di ritorno attraverso l'aeroporto di Francoforte sul Meno. Ho lasciato l'area protetta per comprare una bottiglia di Äppler da portare a casa e, di conseguenza, ho quasi perso il volo di ritorno. Non sarebbe stato bello. Ho fatto il mio volo e sono tornato a casa, e i BART, Caltrain e SamTrans mi hanno riportato a casa in tempo utile. Non è proprio l'ultima storia di questa vacanza, ho un piccolo affare di famiglia di cui scrivere per il prossimo fine settimana. Spero che ti piacerà questa storia.

It must have been 6:30 AM when I woke up, to take a shower, get dressed, and reorganize my luggage. I had to store the Keglevich bottle in a way that would allow my other clothes to be safely transported. In 2003, there was no restriction on carrying liquids in carry-on luggage. As long as I could carry everything in my two bags, that was the important thing. I went down to breakfast with my luggage. I put them in a safe spot next to my table. After breakfast, I checked out of the hotel, walked to the Hauptbahnhof S Bahn station, and boarded an S Bahn for the airport. It was one of the newer ET 423 series. It had air conditioning, so opening the window would have no benefit. The train passed through Karlsplatz/Stachus, Marienplatz, Isartor, Rosenheimer Platz, Ostbahnhof and then up through Englschalking, Johanneskirchen, Ismaning, the Visitor's Park station and finally the Airport. Finding the way to the terminal was easy.

I entered the airport terminal, and then checked in my wheeled bag. They said I would receive it only when I arrived at San Francisco, so that is one of the things that needs to be taken into account, when there is no connecting flight on the East Coast of the USA. The flight would depart about 11 AM for Frankfurt Airport, and there would be a 3 PM direct flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco. After I checked into my flight, I went to buy some candies for my work colleagues, then I waited in the waiting area, listened to Bayern 3 on the radio until it was time to board the flight to Frankfurt. The flight was an Airbus A321. There would not be any meaningful entertainment on board, and the inflight service was limited to drinks and snacks. I landed about 1:15 PM.

When I landed at Frankfurt, we had not gone through Schengen customs, so I was still technically in Germany. That would change, when I went to check into my flight for San Francisco, where an exit stamp would be necessary. I had left the terminal, just to go to the S-Bahn station grocery store (I do not believe it exists anymore) that I also went to on 8th November 2002, to buy a bottle of Äppler. I was able to buy the Äppler for about € 1,50. Going back to the terminal entry for my flight to San Francisco, I had a bit of a challenge. I had to let the security guard know that I had a flight to San Francisco that left at 3 PM. He was able to get me to the front, where he could check to see that I did not have any unnecessary metal items that could not legally go through the X ray machine.

I was able to get to the Schengen passport control desk in time for me to board my flight. The flight had started boarding, but I still had some time to find my seat. The airplane was a Boeing 777. It was built for long distance flights, particularly to the West Coast of the USA. The flight took off about 3:15 PM. It flew over the Rhineland, Belgium, Netherlands, northern England, Northern Ireland, and about 100 miles south of Iceland. I don't know exactly how high it was, but I think it flew as high as 39,000 feet, or 11,000 meters high. I watched maybe a couple of movies but not much. The inflight meal was fine. It had some German food, I think mild gulash, and I had a Beck's beer. I had to fill out the customs declaration card and say how much I bought and what countries that I visited. I did not visit a farm, so I was okay.

The flight went on to San Francisco and I think it landed around 8:30 PM local time, so nine hours behind Germany. For me, it was more like 5:30 AM. Before landing, we were served a light dinner, also with a Beck's beer.

It was a long flight, but that would not be my longest flight that year - November 2003 I would have an even longer flight to Hong Kong SAR. When I landed, it was in Terminal G, which was just newly opened along with Terminal A, just in front of the Harvey Milk Terminal which I departed from and arrived at as late as August 1998. I had my passport checked and received an entry stamp back into the USA. Then I went to the baggage claim. San Francisco is a bit more thorough than Washington Dulles when it comes to customs and goods to declare. They did not say much about the Keglevich or Äppler. I was allowed to go to the BART terminal and board the BART Train to Millbrae, where I alighted and transferred to the Caltrain southbound for Hillsdale in San Mateo. I had to buy three tickets in total. Luckily the 251 bus was running from Hillsdale Station to Hillsdale Blvd and Edgewater Blvd that night.

I caught possibly the last 251 bus to Hillsdale and Edgewater. It went past US-101 and crossed the bridge into Foster City. The bus stopped at the corner, and it was just a matter of me making one street crossing and making the last 100 meters to my apartment. Luckily I had already prepaid the August 2003 rent, and when I went into my apartment, everything looked like it was still there. I closed my door with the suitcase and bag inside. I did not bother to look in my mailbox, that could wait until the next day. I was so tired, and I turned on my alarm clock to play 94.9 FM about 6 AM the next morning. I think it was 10 PM when I went to sleep.

The next morning about 5:55 AM I woke up and made some coffee for myself. I would not need to be in the office until 7 AM. The car started up just fine. I went to work, and set out the candies for everyone to enjoy, and I got to work. The rest of the week went by fast.

On the weekend, I went to see my mother, as my father was on a business journey. She wanted to see the C/2003 K4 comet, and she wanted to be sure I was able to see it as well. We went to the Foothill College observatory in Los Altos Hills, as it was one of the best places to see it. But I'll have a better description of it in a few days. Hope you will join me then. Good night!

Am Wochenende besuchte ich meine Mutter, da mein Vater auf Geschäftsreise war. Sie wollte den Kometen C/2003 K4 sehen, und sie wollte sichergehen, dass ich ihn auch sehen konnte. Wir gingen zum Observatorium des Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, da es einer der besten Orte war, um es zu sehen. Aber ich werde es in ein paar Tagen genauer beschreiben. Ich hoffe, Sie kommen dann zu mir. Gute Nacht!

Le week-end, je suis allé voir ma mère, car mon père était en voyage d'affaires. Elle voulait voir la comète C/2003 K4, et elle voulait être sûre que je pouvais aussi la voir. Nous sommes allés à l'observatoire du Foothill College à Los Altos Hills, car c'était l'un des meilleurs endroits pour le voir. Mais j'en aurai une meilleure description dans quelques jours. J'espère que vous me rejoindrez alors. Bonne nuit!

Konec tedna sem šel k mami, saj je bil oče na službeni poti. Želela je videti komet C/2003 K4 in želela je biti prepričana, da ga lahko vidim tudi jaz. Šli smo na observatorij Foothill College v Los Altos Hills, saj je bilo to eno najboljših krajev za ogled. Čez nekaj dni bom imel boljši opis. Upam, da se mi boš takrat pridružil. Lahko noč!

Za vikend sam otišla kod mame jer je otac bio na poslovnom putu. Htjela je vidjeti komet C/2003 K4 i htjela je biti sigurna da ga i ja mogu vidjeti. Otišli smo u zvjezdarnicu Foothill College u Los Altos Hills, jer je to bilo jedno od najboljih mjesta za vidjeti. Ali dobit ću bolji opis za nekoliko dana. Nadam se da ćeš mi se tada pridružiti. Laku noć!

Nel fine settimana sono andato a trovare mia madre, perché mio padre era in viaggio d'affari. Voleva vedere la cometa C/2003 K4 e voleva essere sicura che anch'io potessi vederla. Siamo andati all'osservatorio del Foothill College a Los Altos Hills, perché era uno dei posti migliori per vederlo. Ma ne darò una descrizione migliore tra qualche giorno. Spero che ti unirai a me allora. Buona notte!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Tuesday 12 August 2003 - last full day in Munich - surfing along the Isar - BMW Museum and Olympia Tower - CD with the "Katzenklo" song - Schnitzel at the Hofbräuhaus and also a full liter of the Original pilsener - last night before flying home

Tuesday 12 August 2003

Good morning! Today I will take a tram ride to the Praterinsel inside the Isar River close to the Maximilaneum (state assembly house), walk back to Marienplatz and see people surfing on the river, take the U3 to Olympiapark, go up the tower and admire the view, hear Louis Armstrong's voice at an ice cream vending machine, walk to Georg Brauchle Ring station and take the U1 to Sendlinger Tor, do shopping along the Kaufinger Straße including a CD by Helge Schneider, and supper at the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, to end the vacation in Summer 2003. We fly home the next day. Hope you will enjoy's adventure in Munich, Germany!

Guten Morgen! Heute werde ich mit der Straßenbahn zur Praterinsel in der Isar in der Nähe des Maximilaneums fahren, zurück zum Marienplatz laufen und die Leute auf dem Fluss surfen sehen, mit der U3 zum Olympiapark fahren, auf den Turm steigen und die Aussicht bewundern , die Stimme von Louis Armstrong an einem Eisautomaten hören, zur Station Georg Brauchle Ring laufen und mit der U1 zum Sendlinger Tor fahren, entlang der Kaufinger Straße einkaufen, inklusive einer CD von Helge Schneider, und zum Abschluss Abendessen im Hofbräuhaus am Platzl Urlaub im Sommer 2003. Am nächsten Tag fliegen wir nach Hause. Ich hoffe, Sie werden das Abenteuer in München genießen!

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui, je vais faire un tour en tram jusqu'au Praterinsel à l'intérieur de la rivière Isar près du Maximilaneum (maison d'assemblée de l'État), revenir à pied sur la Marienplatz et voir des gens surfer sur la rivière, prendre le U3 jusqu'à Olympiapark, monter dans la tour et admirer la vue , écoutez la voix de Louis Armstrong à un distributeur automatique de glaces, marchez jusqu'à la station Georg Brauchle Ring et prenez le U1 jusqu'à Sendlinger Tor, faites du shopping le long de la Kaufinger Straße, y compris un CD de Helge Schneider, et dînez au Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, pour terminer le vacances à l'été 2003. Nous rentrons chez nous le lendemain. J'espère que vous apprécierez l'aventure à Munich, en Allemagne!

Dobro jutro! Danes se bom peljal s tramvajem do Praterinsel znotraj reke Isar blizu Maximilaneuma (državne skupščine), se sprehodil nazaj do Marienplatza in opazoval ljudi, ki deskajo na reki, se odpeljal z U3 do Olympiaparka, se povzpel na stolp in občudoval razgled , slišati glas Louisa Armstronga pri avtomatu za sladoled, se sprehoditi do postaje Georg Brauchle Ring in se povzpeti na U1 do Sendlinger Tor, nakupovati ob Kaufinger Straße, vključno s CD-jem Helge Schneider, in večerjati v Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, da zaključite počitnice poleti 2003. Naslednji dan odletimo domov. Upam, da boste uživali v pustolovščini v Münchnu v Nemčiji!

Dobro jutro! Danas ću se voziti tramvajem do Praterinsela unutar rijeke Isar blizu Maximilaneuma (državne skupštine), prošetati natrag do Marienplatza i vidjeti ljude kako surfaju na rijeci, uzeti U3 do Olympiaparka, popeti se na toranj i diviti se pogledu , čuti glas Louisa Armstronga na automatu za prodaju sladoleda, prošetati do postaje Georg Brauchle Ring i ići na U1 do Sendlinger Tor, obaviti kupovinu duž Kaufinger Straße uključujući CD Helge Schneider i večerati u Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, za kraj odmor u ljeto 2003. Sljedeći dan letimo kući. Nadamo se da ćete uživati u avanturi u Münchenu, Njemačka!

Buongiorno! Oggi farò un giro in tram fino al Praterinsel all'interno del fiume Isar vicino al Maximilaneum (casa dell'assemblea statale), tornerò a piedi a Marienplatz e vedrò gente che fa surf sul fiume, prenderò la U3 per l'Olympiapark, salirò sulla torre e ammirerò il panorama , ascoltare la voce di Louis Armstrong a un distributore automatico di gelati, camminare fino alla stazione Georg Brauchle Ring e prendere la U1 fino a Sendlinger Tor, fare shopping lungo la Kaufinger Straße con incluso un CD di Helge Schneider, e cenare all'Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, per concludere la vacanza nell'estate 2003. Voliamo a casa il giorno dopo. Spero che apprezzerai l'avventura a Monaco di Baviera, in Germania!

About 7 AM I woke up, took a shower, and went downstairs to breakfast. The breakfast had many fresh fruits and vegetables. Also they had soft pretzels. I had my bag with me, so I did not have to go back upstairs to get it. Hauptbahnhof had at least three tram stops, most lines using two at the most. The tram I needed stopped on the south side of the Hbf, namely, line 19 towards Berg am Laim past Max Weber Platz. The tram went past Karlsplatz-Stachus in a northeastern direction before turning right at Lenbachplatz. I remember in January 2002 going to the BMW dealership across the street from Lenbachplatz and sitting in one of the newest 7 Series BMW sedans, of E65 and E66 series.

The tram passed by the Bayerischer Hof and stopped at the north end of Marienplatz and went on to the Opera House, called the Nationaltheater tram stop. The train stopped at Maxmonument, but I wanted to go farther to Maximilaneum across the Praterinsel. In the middle of Max Planck Straße is the state parliament building. This is where the laws of the Freistaat Bayern are written and passed (or die on the floor due to a down vote). For those who have watched the "Aloysius - ein Münchner im Himmel" cartoon, this is where Aloysius was supposed to deliver a message from heaven, but instead Aloysius went back to the Hofbräuhaus to have a few Wies'n liters.

While crossing the Maximilanbrücke, I saw some people surfing on the river. The weather was good enough for that. At Maxmonument, I took a line 16 tram to the S Bahn station Isartor. From there, I rode that to Marienplatz, transferred to the U3 and went north to Olympiazentrum. In 2003, the extension to Moosach had not yet been built, though there was a U1 that went to the newly opened Georg-Brauchle-Ring. At Olympiazentrum, there was a small shopping center, completely different from the Olympia Einkaufszentrum farther west. I had visited the Olympiapark back in 1997 and 1998, and in particular, I wanted to see the tower and go up to the top. I thought about visiting the BMW Museum, so I thought, it is hot outside, so I think a visit would be fine. I think the admission fee was around € 6 or so. The cars that I remembered from 1998 were still there, particularly the Isetta, the 2002 with racing stripes, a cutout of a Series E38 7 Series, and films on the newer models with safety features. I spent about an hour there, before going to the Edeka grocery store for items to make lunch. I bought some grapefruit soda and Mezzo Mix, then a bread roll, Allgäuer toast cheese, Lyoner with pistachios and mustard. I walked to the tower and found a shaded bench to eat my sandwiches.

The Olympia Tower cost about € 7,50 to take the elevator up to the top. The tower is 191 meters high above the ground, and 291 with the satellites. The Rheinturm in Düsseldorf is about the same height. The elevator went 3 or 4 meters per second. I stayed mostly in the air conditioned lounge and enjoyed the view of downtown from afar, as well as the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. I would not be able to see the Brecherspitz unfortunately. On Friday 26 June 1998, I went with work colleagues up the Brecherspitz, and what a climb it was. There was an extra deck upstairs, not air conditioned, so I went upstairs and was able to see a little bit more. I did not spend much time there, so I came back down. Eventually I took the elevator back down and left the tower.

Before walking to the Georg-Brauchle-Ring station, I decided to have an ice cream cone from a vending machine. I think it cost € 2,00. I had to place a cone in the holder, paid my € 2,00, and while the machine was pouring the soft serve ice cream, I heard the voice of Louis Armstrong singing "Everybody loves ice cream!". It was too bad that I did not have a video camera to capture the moment. I would not have a video camera until March 2004.

I walked to the BMW Museum and boarded the line 180 bus to Georg-Brauchle-Ring. At Georg-Brauchle-Ring, I changed to the U1. I went seven stations to Sendlinger Tor, and went upstairs to take a U3 or U6 to Marienplatz. I spent maybe fifteen minutes outside the city hall. Soon I walked along Kaufingerstraße to Galeria München Marienplatz, and they had a music department. I managed to find a couple of CDs, one being "Diwodaso" from the Frankfurt duo Badesalz, the other being a semi-serious music CD by Helge Schneider, "Es gibt Reis, Baby" which included "Katzenklo". In 1993, that song was controversial. I already had Diwodaso on cassette, but the CD had more content than the cassette. I could not wait to listen to it back in the USA.

With my CDs, I took those back to the hotel. I went up to my room to have a short nap. After about 7 PM, I woke up, and I left the hotel, and walked to the Hbf tram stop to take the line 19 tram to Nationaltheater. I wanted to eat supper at the Hofbräuhaus. I had to walk along the Hofgraben, then Pfisterstraße past the restaurant owned at the time by Hans Schubeck, and right there was the Hofbräuhaus. I had asked about seating, and asked to be seated in the Biergarten. It's the one that has a fountain in the courtyard. The staff advised me to find an empty table. There was one next to the tree closest to the stairway. A waiter found my table, took my order, and soon he gave me a full liter of Hofbräu Original. It was really good. It tasted a little better than Spaten Helles and Paulaner Pils. I ordered a Schnitzel, I think it was a cream Schnitzel with seasonal grilled vegetables and Spätzle. It was really enjoyable. Inside the restaurant, there was a band playing traditional songs, similar to the ones I remember from late May 1998 just before I started working for the summer. One of the songs was "In München steht 'n Hofbräuhaus, oas, zwoa, G'Suffa!". At some stage everyone shouted "Zicka Zacka Zicka Zacka Hoi Hoi Hoi!". After supper, I paid my bill, it was about € 25,00 with tip.

I walked to the location of Schneider Bräuhaus München along Maderbräustraße, past the Stadtsparkasse München Marienplatz branch, went down to the S Bahn station and rode the S Bahn two stops to Hbf. I walked to the hotel, went up the stairs, and into my room. I had quite an experience the last two weeks, and I was prepared to go back home. About 10 or 11 PM I went to sleep.

Please join me tomorrow for almost the conclusion of Europe Summer 2003. I fly from the Franz Josef Strauß Airport to the Rhein-Main Airport, buy a bottle of Äppler and almost miss my direct flight to San Francisco, and take a Super Shuttle ride back home to my apartment in Foster City, San Mateo County, California. Good night!

Seien Sie morgen dabei, um den Europa-Sommer 2003 fast zum Abschluss zu bringen. Ich fliege vom Franz-Josef-Strauß-Flughafen zum Rhein-Main-Flughafen, kaufe mir eine Flasche Äppler und verpasse fast meinen Direktflug nach San Francisco und fahre mit dem Super Shuttle zurück Zuhause in meiner Wohnung in Foster City, San Mateo County, Kalifornien. Gute Nacht!

S'il vous plaît, rejoignez-moi demain pour presque la conclusion de l'été 2003 en Europe. Je vole de l'aéroport Franz Josef Strauß à l'aéroport Rhein-Main, j'achète une bouteille d'Äppler et j'ai failli rater mon vol direct vers San Francisco, et je prends un retour en Super Shuttle chez moi dans mon appartement à Foster City, dans le comté de San Mateo, en Californie. Bonne nuit!

Prosim, pridružite se mi jutri ob skorajšnjem zaključku evropskega poletja 2003. Letim z letališča Franz Josef Strauß na letališče Rhein-Main, kupim steklenico Äpplerja in skoraj zamudim svoj direktni let v San Francisco ter se vrnem z avtobusom Super Shuttle doma v mojem stanovanju v Foster Cityju v okrožju San Mateo v Kaliforniji. Lahko noč!

Molim vas, pridružite mi se sutra na skorom završetku Europskog ljeta 2003. Letim od zračne luke Franz Josef Strauß do zračne luke Rhein-Main, kupujem bocu Äpplera i skoro propustim svoj izravni let za San Francisco, i vozim se Super Shuttleom natrag kući u mom stanu u Foster Cityju, okrug San Mateo, Kalifornija. Laku noć!

Per favore, unisciti a me domani per quasi la conclusione dell'Europa Estate 2003. Volo dall'aeroporto Franz Josef Strauß all'aeroporto Rhein-Main, compro una bottiglia di Äppler e quasi perdo il mio volo diretto per San Francisco, e ritorno con il Super Shuttle a casa nel mio appartamento a Foster City, nella contea di San Mateo, in California. Buona notte!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Monday 11 August 2003 - one more tram ride in Zürich - more comedy CDs - just a regular locomotive-pulled train - new trains and busses for Munich plus the new convention center extension - a journey on Percy Adlon's "Sugarbaby" U Bahn line - a bedtime film and that's it until tomorrow

Monday 11 August 2003

Good morning! Today I make the final long train ride for this vacation, from Zürich to Munich. I would take the same train ride route as I did on the evening of Sunday 9 August 1998. When I arrived in Munich, I would check into the hotel, ride the then-new extension to Trudering on the U2, take a ride on the new bus from Arabellapark to Studentenstadt, take a new U Bahn car from Studentenstadt to Odeonsplatz, and another one back to the hotel. To end, I would watch a US film on TV, dubbed in German (I understood pretty much everything). Hope you will enjoy this day's journey.

Guten Morgen! Heute mache ich die letzte lange Zugfahrt für diesen Urlaub, von Zürich nach München. Ich würde die gleiche Zugfahrt nehmen wie am Abend des Sonntags, 9. August 1998. Als ich in München ankam, checkte ich im Hotel ein, fuhr mit der U2 die damals neue Verlängerung nach Trudering, machte eine Fahrt mit der neuer Bus vom Arabellapark zur Studentenstadt, mit einem neuen U-Bahn-Wagen von der Studentenstadt zum Odeonsplatz und mit einem weiteren zurück zum Hotel. Zum Abschluss schaute ich mir im Fernsehen einen US-Film an, der auf Deutsch synchronisiert war (ich verstand so ziemlich alles). Ich hoffe, Sie werden die Reise dieses Tages genießen.

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui, je fais le dernier long trajet en train pour ces vacances, de Zürich à Munich. J'empruntais le même trajet en train que le soir du dimanche 9 août 1998. Quand j'arrivais à Munich, je m'enregistrais à l'hôtel, prenais la nouvelle extension vers Trudering sur le U2, faisais un tour sur le nouveau bus d'Arabellapark à Studentenstadt, prendre une nouvelle voiture U Bahn de Studentenstadt à Odeonsplatz, et une autre pour retourner à l'hôtel. Pour finir, je regardais à la télé un film américain doublé en allemand (j'ai à peu près tout compris). J'espère que vous apprécierez le voyage de cette journée.

Dobro jutro! Danes opravim zadnjo dolgo vožnjo z vlakom za te počitnice, od Züricha do Münchna. Peljal bi se po isti poti z vlakom, kot sem zvečer v nedeljo, 9. avgusta 1998. Ko sem prispel v München, sem se prijavil v hotel, se peljal s takrat novim podaljškom do Truderinga na U2, se peljal z nov avtobus od Arabellaparka do Studentenstadta, vzemite nov avto U Bahn od Studentenstadta do Odeonsplatza in še enega nazaj do hotela. Za konec bi gledal ameriški film na TV, sinhroniziran v nemščino (razumel sem skoraj vse). Upam, da boste uživali v današnjem potovanju.

Dobro jutro! Danas idem na posljednju dugu vožnju vlakom za ovaj odmor, od Züricha do Münchena. Vozio bih se istom rutom vlaka kao uvečer u nedjelju 9. kolovoza 1998. Kad bih stigao u München, prijavio bih se u hotel, vozio bih se tada novim produžetkom do Truderinga na U2, vozio bih se novim autobusom od Arabellaparka do Studentenstadta, uzmite novi U Bahn auto od Studentenstadta do Odeonsplatza i još jedan natrag do hotela. Za kraj, pogledao bih američki film na TV-u, sinkroniziran na njemački (razumio sam skoro sve). Nadam se da ćete uživati u današnjem putovanju.

Buongiorno! Oggi faccio l'ultimo lungo viaggio in treno per questa vacanza, da Zurigo a Monaco. Avrei preso lo stesso percorso di viaggio in treno della sera di domenica 9 agosto 1998. Quando sarei arrivato a Monaco, avrei fatto il check-in in albergo, avrei preso l'allora nuovo prolungamento per Trudering sulla U2, avrei fatto un giro sulla nuovo autobus da Arabellapark a Studentenstadt, prendere un nuovo vagone U Bahn da Studentenstadt a Odeonsplatz, e un altro per tornare in hotel. Per finire, guardavo un film americano in TV, doppiato in tedesco (ho capito praticamente tutto). Spero che apprezzerai il viaggio di questa giornata.

About 6:30 AM I woke up, took a shower and went to breakfast. Then I went back to my room and packed, and then checked out of the hostel. I went pretty much the same way as I did the previous day, namely the covered bridge to the SBB station. It would have been about 8:30 AM when I arrived at the station. I took the 8:50 AM train to Zürich HB, and arrived about 9:20 AM. I put my luggage in a locker. The rates of the Zürich HB lockers are one of Switzerland's most expensive. However they were secure.

My train would not leave until about 12 PM, so I would take a tram ride from Zürich HB to Bürkliplatz, to see it a bit less crowded than Saturday the 9th. From there, I would take the line 5 or 6 to Enge, and return to Zürich HB by tram line 7 through Paradeplatz. I went to City Disc just past Rennweg, and bought a couple of CDs, "Achtung Almi kommt" by Almi, "No Broblem" by Peach Weber, and Plüsch's debut CD that has "Häb's güet". I paid for those CDs and then walked to HB. I went underground to the stores level, and bought another grapefruit soda bottle as well as a prepared ham and cheese sandwich. It may have been about 11:30 AM when I went upstairs to the locker level to fetch my wheeled suitcase, then I went to the track where my train would depart from.

The train that I was expecting from track 16, was not the ICE VT, namely the diesel multiple unit form of the Inter City Express by Deutsche Bahn, but rather an engine-driven train, with conventional cars and a dining car between the first and second classes. The first class cars were close to the rear of the train away from the engine. The engine would be a SBB 421 electric locomotive, up to and including Lindau Hbf, now Lindau-Insel. From Lindau, the train would change direction and would be pulled by two DB 218 diesel engines to Munich. At the time, no one thought that there would ever be electrification, until December 2020. From December 2020, dedicated EMUs from SBB, known as the ETR 610 Astoro, would replace the engine-driven trains and make use of the new DB electrified rails.

The train left around 12 PM, made its journey through Zürich Airport, Winterthur, St. Gallen, last station in Switzerland at St. Margrethen before crossing the Rhine into Austria, Bregenz, Lindau Hbf, changing direction and then going on to Memmingen, Buchloe and through Geltendorf to München Hbf. On the way I heard on the radio an interesting remix of Double's "Captain of her heart" with a bit more instrumentation than the original release. Then the news came on, I think it was about 2 PM.

The train arrived about 4:30 PM, into Munich Hbf. My hotel was along the Schillerstrasse, where I have stayed many times in different hotels. It did not have an elevator, and my room was on the third floor above the ground level, so that was a bit inconvenient. The room was comfortable despite the heat. It had an ensuite bathroom and shower, and it also had a color TV. I found out there was a movie I wanted to see, and it would be shown at 9 PM that evening, and also would be dubbed in German. I would make every effort that evening to return to the room before then.

I rested up for a half hour before going downstairs, and then I went to München Hbf, bought a 3 day pass and stamped it in the machine before boarding the U2 for Messegelände. Messegelände Ost was the new U2 extension from Innsbrucker Ring, that opened earlier that year. It would include the Trudering S Bahn station connection. Prior to 2003, the U2 terminated at Innsbrucker Ring and there was already a connection to the U5 line. I also remember the Kolumbusplatz and the Silberhornstrasse stations. When I lived in Giesing in 1997, particularly at the site of the future station St Quirin Platz, there was an U1 extension being built to Mangfallplatz that opened in early 1998. My local station was Silberhornplatz for that summer.

At Messestadt West, I alighted the train and walked around the Messe. The old Messe was at the current location of Theresienwiese, close to the site of the Wies'n, or Oktoberfest. The new one was located east of Trudering. I walked to the Messestadt Ost station and boarded the U2 for Innsbrucker Ring, then I took a U5 to Max Weber Platz. Max Weber Platz has two platforms for the westbound lines and one for the eastbound lines that branch off. I changed to the U4 for Arabellapark. Arabellapark was my local U Bahn station in Summer 1998 when I lived at Englschalking. The MVV, or the Munich transit union, had purchased new busses to replace the older MAN fleet, so I boarded one for Studentenstadt. The new busses were equipped with prerecorded stop announcements. Prior to that, almost every bus stop was announced live by the driver.

The bus drove from Arabellapark, past Cosimabad and along Freischützstraße to the Johanneskirchen rail station, and then west to Studentenstadt. The sun was about to set, and I had to take the U6 down to Odeonsplatz and the U4 or U5 to Hbf. Much of the U6 north of Marienplatz was part of the 1985 film by Percy Adlon "Sugarbaby" starring Marianne Sägebrecht and Eisi Gulp. At the time, only the A and B series were running. In 2003, MVV introduced a new series called the C series. This was the first new series with longitudal seating, and automatic next station announcements. I was impressed by the space that the new seating arrangement gave. Also the trains could be walked through, whereas the A and B series had only two cars per train. I rode it to Odeonsplatz where I had to change to the U4 and U5, a level below. I rode this two stops to Hbf and alighted.

On the way to the hotel, on Schillerstraße, I stopped at a Döner Kebab restaurant. I ate a lahmacun (Turkish pizza) and a can of Mezzo Mix, the cola-orange mix. I managed to finish, and walk back to the hotel with 15 minutes to spare. I was in the room about ten minutes before the film started. It would have been on RTL2. The film was one made in 1996, originally in English, and starred Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds. I did see it in English years ago. Pretty much all the German dialog was understandable. After the film ended, I went to sleep.

Please join me tomorrow, when I go shopping during the day, buy a funny music CD from Helge Schneider, visit the Olympic Tower, hear the voice of Louis Armstrong (or what I think it was), and have supper at the Hofbräuhaus complete with a Wies'n Mass of Hofbräu Original. The 12th would be the last full day in Europe before flying home to the USA. Hope you will join me then. Good night!

Bitte kommen Sie morgen zu mir, wenn ich tagsüber einkaufen gehe, eine lustige Musik-CD von Helge Schneider kaufe, den Olympiaturm besuche, die Stimme von Louis Armstrong (oder was ich glaube) höre und im Hofbräuhaus zu Abend esse eine Wies'n Messe von Hofbräu Original. Der 12. wäre der letzte volle Tag in Europa, bevor es nach Hause in die USA ging. Ich hoffe, Sie kommen dann zu mir. Gute Nacht!

Joignez-vous à moi demain, quand je vais faire du shopping pendant la journée, acheter un CD de musique amusante de Helge Schneider, visiter la tour olympique, entendre la voix de Louis Armstrong (ou ce que je pense que c'était) et dîner au Hofbräuhaus avec une messe Wies'n de Hofbräu Original. Le 12 serait le dernier jour complet en Europe avant de rentrer aux États-Unis. J'espère que vous me rejoindrez alors. Bonne nuit!

Prosim, pridruži se mi jutri, ko grem podnevi po nakupih, kupim smešno glasbeno zgoščenko Helge Schneider, obiščem olimpijski stolp, slišim glas Louisa Armstronga (ali kar mislim, da je bil) in večerjam v Hofbräuhausu skupaj z Wies'n Mass of Hofbräu Original. 12. bi bil zadnji polni dan v Evropi pred poletom domov v ZDA. Upam, da se mi boš takrat pridružil. Lahko noč!

Pridružite mi se sutra, kada idem u kupovinu tijekom dana, kupim šaljivi glazbeni CD od Helgea Schneidera, posjetim Olimpijski toranj, čujem glas Louisa Armstronga (ili onoga što mislim da je bio), i večeram u Hofbräuhausu zajedno s a Wies'n misa Hofbräu Original. Dvanaesti će biti posljednji cijeli dan u Europi prije leta kući u SAD. Nadam se da ćeš mi se tada pridružiti. Laku noć!

Per favore, unisciti a me domani, quando vado a fare shopping durante il giorno, compro un CD musicale divertente da Helge Schneider, visito la Torre Olimpica, ascolto la voce di Louis Armstrong (o quello che penso fosse) e ceniamo all'Hofbräuhaus completo di una messa Wies'n di Hofbräu originale. Il 12 sarebbe stato l'ultimo giorno intero in Europa prima di tornare a casa negli Stati Uniti. Spero che ti unirai a me allora. Buona notte!

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greenbagjosh · 8 months

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Sunday 10 August 2003 - the rural towns of central Switzerland - Glarus, Biberbrugg SZ, Arth-Goldau, Erstfeld, Altdorf and Flüelen - the lucky arrow that missed the kid - lovely Geschnetzltes and liter of beer to end out the visit to Switzerland

Sunday 10 August 2003

Good morning! What a Street Parade yesterday. This one was hotter than the last one. Today we will visit some rural towns in Switzerland by town, particularly in the central part of the Deutschschweiz. First we go to Glarus via Ziegelbrücke, then Pfäffikon SZ, then Biberbrugg and Einsiedeln, then change trains at Arth-Goldau for Erstfeld and Altdorf. The last small town we visit is Flüelen, and then we go to Zürich for a relatively quiet(er) supper at the Brasserie Johanniter. It is my last full day in Switzerland for the year 2003, before going to Munich, Germany. Hope you will enjoy this story.

Guten Morgen! Was für eine Streetparade gestern. Dieser war heißer als der letzte. Heute werden wir stadtweise einige ländliche Städte in der Schweiz besuchen, insbesondere im zentralen Teil der Deutschschweiz. Zuerst fahren wir über Ziegelbrücke nach Glarus, dann nach Pfäffikon SZ, dann nach Biberbrugg und Einsiedeln, dann steigen wir in Arth-Goldau um nach Erstfeld und Altdorf. Die letzte kleine Stadt, die wir besuchen, ist Flüelen, und dann fahren wir nach Zürich für ein relativ ruhiges Abendessen in der Brasserie Johanniter. Es ist mein letzter ganzer Tag in der Schweiz im Jahr 2003, bevor ich nach München, Deutschland, aufbreche. Ich hoffe, Ihnen wird diese Geschichte gefallen.

Bonjour! Quelle Street Parade hier. Celui-ci était plus chaud que le précédent. Aujourd'hui, nous visiterons quelques villes rurales de Suisse par ville, en particulier dans la partie centrale de la Deutschschweiz. Nous allons d'abord à Glaris via Ziegelbrücke, puis Pfäffikon SZ, puis Biberbrugg et Einsiedeln, puis changeons de train à Arth-Goldau pour Erstfeld et Altdorf. La dernière petite ville que nous visitons est Flüelen, puis nous allons à Zürich pour un souper relativement calme à la Brasserie Johanniter. C'est mon dernier jour complet en Suisse pour l'année 2003, avant d'aller à Munich, en Allemagne. J'espère que vous apprécierez cette histoire.

Dobro jutro! Kakšna ulična parada včeraj. Tale je bil bolj vroč kot prejšnji. Danes bomo obiskali nekatera podeželska mesta v Švici po mestih, predvsem v osrednjem delu Deutschschweiza. Najprej gremo do Glarusa preko Ziegelbrücke, nato Pfäffikon SZ, potem Biberbrugg in Einsiedeln, nato prestopimo na vlak v Arth-Goldau za Erstfeld in Altdorf. Zadnje mestece, ki ga obiščemo, je Flüelen, nato pa gremo v Zürich na razmeroma mirno(er) večerjo v Brasserie Johanniter. To je moj zadnji cel dan v Švici v letu 2003, preden sem šel v München v Nemčiji. Upam, da vam bo ta zgodba všeč.

Dobro jutro! Kakva ulična parada jučer. Ovaj je bio žešći od prethodnog. Danas ćemo posjetiti neke ruralne gradove u Švicarskoj po gradovima, posebno u središnjem dijelu Deutschschweiza. Prvo idemo do Glarusa preko Ziegelbrückea, zatim Pfäffikon SZ, zatim Biberbrugg i Einsiedeln, zatim presjedamo u Arth-Goldau za Erstfeld i Altdorf. Posljednji gradić koji posjećujemo je Flüelen, a zatim idemo u Zürich na relativno mirnu(er) večeru u Brasserie Johanniter. Ovo je moj posljednji cijeli dan u Švicarskoj u 2003. godini, prije odlaska u München, Njemačka. Nadam se da ćete uživati u ovoj priči.

Buongiorno! Che Street Parade ieri. Questo era più caldo dell'ultimo. Oggi visiteremo alcune città rurali della Svizzera per città, in particolare nella parte centrale del Deutschschweiz. Prima andiamo a Glarona via Ziegelbrücke, poi Pfäffikon SZ, poi Biberbrugg e Einsiedeln, poi cambiamo treno ad Arth-Goldau per Erstfeld e Altdorf. L'ultima cittadina che visitiamo è Flüelen, e poi andiamo a Zurigo per una cena relativamente tranquilla alla Brasserie Johanniter. È il mio ultimo giorno intero in Svizzera per l'anno 2003, prima di andare a Monaco, in Germania. Spero che ti piacerà questa storia.

By the time that the other roommates returned last night, I was already asleep. I only woke up to use the bathroom. The room temperature was still hot during the night, and only at 3 AM did the temperature become comfortable. I woke up about 7:45 AM, took a shower and went to breakfast. There were not very many people in the breakfast room, so I could eat more peacefully.

After washing the dishes, I took my bag with me, and instead of walking up the steep path up to the bus stop, I walked under the Limmat bridge to a low covered foot bridge which was past the Landvogteischloss and the Baden historical museum. There was a mural showing sailors in court jester outfits, and the quote below the picture was a poem about the Narrenschiff, or the ship of fools. I was able to walk up the Grabenstrasse to Kirchweg and Mellingerstrasse, to turn right at Bruggerstrasse which led to the SBB rail station.

About 9 AM I boarded a Regional Express to Zürich HB, where I would transfer to another Regional Express to Ziegelbrücke and transfer again to a Regionalbahn for Glarus. At Zürich HB, there were a few people still in their costumes, waiting for their trains home. At least Zürich would shrink down to its usual population of about 800,000 inhabitants. My heart went out to the city workers who had to clean up the trash on the streets. They really worked hard to make Zürich look clean.

About 9:45 AM, the Regional Express, a Dosto, went on the route to Thalwil and Pfäffikon SZ, and went on to Ziegelbrücke. The train announcment went "Reisende nach Glarus sind gebeten hier umzusteigen", "Passengers for Glarus, please change to the connecting train". There would be a Regional Bahn train for Glarus and farther south to Linthal UR. Ziegelbrücke is right on the cantonal boundary in the St. Gallen canton next to Glarus, and is separated by the River Linth, which flows into Lake Zürich. Glarus is one of the original cantons, the other two being Schwyz and the other being Uri. The confederation began in 1291. Over the centuries, parts of adjacent land joined Switzerland, and the last canton, actually carved out of the northwestern part of the Canton of Bern, was Jura, in 1979.

At 10:30 AM, the train departed Ziegelbrücke for Glarus. The ride took less than 15 Minutes. Once I left the rail station, I walked south, towards Ennenda, crossing the Linth. I walked through the park next to Kirchweg. Kirchweg crossed the Linth into Ennenda. The mountains were very beautiful to see on a summer morning. At some stage, maybe when I was just six years old, so in 1978, my parents took me to see Elm in southeast Glarus. In that area, there is a point where St Gallen, Glarus and Graubünden meet. Also, one product that comes from Elm is the sparkling water. There even is a sparkling lemon drink called Elmer Citro, similar to 7 Up and Sprite. I was six years old when I first drank Elmer Citro. Somwhere I have the photo of me with a bottle of Elmer Citro.

At 11 AM, I walked back to Glarus and rode the next Regional Bahn to Ziegelbrücke and Regional Express to Pfäffikon SZ. I then changed to a train for Biberbrugg. I alighted at Biberbrugg to have a look at the rail station. It was one of the few stations on the SBB network that still had level rail crossings that people could legally cross. I suspected that Einsiedeln would be more of a modern station. Eventually years later, Biberbrugg was modernized and there is now an underground passage for pedestrians, and use of the level crossing is no longer legal.

The time came around to 12:30 PM. I boarded a train at Biberbrugg for Arth-Goldau. The train was a Regional Bahn train like the last one, and went through Rothenthurm, Sattel, Steinerberg and finally Arth-Goldau. The train arrived about 1:30 PM. The next train to Erstfeld would not arrive for another half hour, so I managed to explore the station. At Arth-Goldau, there are some cable car trains going southwest to Rigi Kulm. Rigi is just northeast of the cantonal boundary with Luzern. At 2 PM, there was an Intercity train to Erstfeld before it would climb the mountain to Göschenen, so I took it. The train went through Schwyz, Brunnen, crossed the Schwyz-Uri cantonal border at Sisikon, passed through Flüelen, Altdorf and stopped at Erstfeld. I waited on an S Bahn to take me to Altdorf. I arrived at Altdorf about 3:15 PM. The way to the city center was about a half mile long. At the end of Bahnhofstrasse was the Telldenkmal, or the William Tell monument. William Tell was a revolutionary in the Habsburg Empire, fighting for indepencence, and somehow he was forced to shoot an arrow at an apple on the top of his son's head without killing him. The son was not harmed but an apple was perforated. That incident led to eventual independence from the Habsburg Empire and in Altdorf, a monument was erected. It was a good walk from the SBB station to downtown.

There were some busses running on that afternoon, so I boarded a bus, paid a fare of about 4.50 Franken, and rode it to the Flüelen rail station. Flüelen is a lakeside resort on the southeast end of the Vierwaldstättersee, or Lake Lucerne. The lake is shared by the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden and Luzern. On the lakeside next to the station, the flags of all the Swiss cantons can be seen. There is also a marina with space for thirty yachts in total. I spent about twenty minutes enjoying the scenery, before taking a train to Arth-Goldau and a faster train to Zürich HB. For years I had only passed through Flüelen, and on 10th August 2003, I had finally managed to stop there and spend some time.

It was just a little past 4 PM when the train arrived at Flüelen. The train arrived about 4:45 PM in Arth-Goldau, and about 5:15 PM there would be a connecting train which would get me to Zürich HB by about 6:15 PM. At Zürich HB, I walked across the Limmat to Central, and found the Polybahn station. On Sundays the Polybahn does not operate, and I did not have any need to visit ETH Zürich. Note on 24th July 1998, I made a selfie with my striped hat between the plant science center and where the Clausiusbar is located. Instead, I went to Niederdorferstrasse and entered the Brasserie Johanniter. It was good to be back, and my last visit was Sunday afternoon on 9th August 1998. This time they did not have the "Rösti Pizza", so I made do with a local Geschnetzltes and Spätzli. I also enjoyed a full liter of Cardinal beer. The beer really tasted good, just about like a Spaten Helles or Hofbrau Original, of which I would drink much of in Munich. That was a really good meal. I think it cost around 35 Franken with tip.

After supper, it bacame about 8 PM, and I walked around before returning to Zürich HB. I think I returned to Zürich HB about 9 PM. Then I took the Regional Express train to Baden, walked to the hostel and went to my room. I listened to some music before going to sleep. I would have to check out of the hostel in the morning and go on to Munich. Will I get to ride an ICE VT, that is, a diesel-powered Deutsche Bahn ICE tilting train, or will I have to ride the same type of train that I rode on 9th August 1998, namely a locomotive pulled train, called Lokbespannter Zug, in German?

Please join me tomorrow when I make one last walk along the General Guisan Quai, ride a conventional train to Lindau and Munich, ride the U Bahn to Messegelände Ost, then a train and bus combo to Studentenstadt as in Percy Adlon's "Sugarbaby" film, and watch TV in the hotel before going to sleep. Good night!

Bitte begleiten Sie mich morgen, wenn ich einen letzten Spaziergang entlang des General Guisan Quai mache, mit einem konventionellen Zug nach Lindau und München fahre, mit der U-Bahn zum Messegelände Ost fahre und dann mit einer Zug- und Bus-Kombination nach Studentenstadt fahre, wie in Percy Adlons „Sugarbaby“-Film. und vor dem Schlafengehen im Hotel fernsehen. Gute Nacht!

S'il vous plaît, rejoignez-moi demain lorsque je ferai une dernière promenade le long du quai General Guisan, prendre un train conventionnel jusqu'à Lindau et Munich, prendre le U Bahn jusqu'à Messegelände Ost, puis un combo train et bus jusqu'à Studentenstadt comme dans le film "Sugarbaby" de Percy Adlon, et regarder la télévision à l'hôtel avant d'aller dormir. Bonne nuit!

Prosim, pridruži se mi jutri, ko se še zadnjič sprehodim po General Guisan Quai, se vozim z običajnim vlakom do Lindaua in Münchna, se vozim z U Bahnom do Messegelände Ost, nato vlakom in avtobusom do Studentenstadta kot v filmu Percyja Adlona "Sugarbaby", in gledajo televizijo v hotelu pred spanjem. Lahko noč!

Molim vas pridružite mi se sutra kada budem zadnji put šetao General Guisan Quai, vozio se konvencionalnim vlakom do Lindaua i Münchena, vozio se U Bahnom do Messegelände Ost, zatim kombinacijom vlaka i autobusa do Studentenstadta kao u filmu "Sugarbaby" Percyja Adlona, i gledati televiziju u hotelu prije spavanja. Laku noć!

Per favore, unisciti a me domani quando farò un'ultima passeggiata lungo il General Guisan Quai, prenderò un treno convenzionale per Lindau e Monaco, prenderò la U Bahn per Messegelände Ost, poi un treno e un autobus combinato per Studentenstadt come nel film "Sugarbaby" di Percy Adlon, e guardare la TV in albergo prima di andare a dormire. Buona notte!

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