#Polentagraben

[greenbagjosh]

Sunday 3 August 2003 - Fribourg to Düdingen FR - crossing the Röstigraben at least twice - night train to Ljubljana - first visit to the former Yugoslavia - the beginning of the horrible heat dome - evening along the Ljubljanica

Sunday 3 August 2003 + Monday 4 August 2003

Good morning!  Today we will spend a little time in the Suisse Romande before going to catch the night train in Zürich to Ljubljana.  We spend a little time in Lausanne before going to Fribourg and Düdingen, to see what life is like on both sides of the Röstigraben.  In Zürich we catch the night train that goes to Ljubljana, passing through Liechtenstein, Tirol including Innsbruck and Wörgl, Villach, Jesenice and Bled.  It will be the first time that I visit the former Yugoslavia but not the last time.  Hope you will enjoy today's adventure.

Guten Morgen! Heute verbringen wir ein wenig Zeit in der Westschweiz, bevor wir in Zürich den Nachtzug nach Ljubljana nehmen. Wir verbringen ein wenig Zeit in Lausanne, bevor wir nach Freiburg und Düdingen fahren, um zu sehen, wie das Leben auf beiden Seiten des Röstigrabens ist. In Zürich nehmen wir den Nachtzug, der nach Ljubljana fährt und durch Liechtenstein, Tirol inklusive Innsbruck und Wörgl, Villach, Jesenice und Bled fährt. Es wird das erste Mal sein, dass ich das ehemalige Jugoslawien besuche, aber nicht das letzte Mal. Ich hoffe, Sie werden das heutige Abenteuer genießen.

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui, nous passerons un peu de temps en Suisse romande avant d'aller prendre le train de nuit à Zürich pour Ljubljana. Nous passons un peu de temps à Lausanne avant d'aller à Fribourg et Düdingen, pour voir à quoi ressemble la vie de part et d'autre du Röstigraben. À Zürich, nous prenons le train de nuit qui va à Ljubljana, en passant par le Liechtenstein, le Tyrol, y compris Innsbruck et Wörgl, Villach, Jesenice et Bled. Ce sera la première fois que je visiterai l'ex-Yougoslavie mais pas la dernière fois. J'espère que vous apprécierez l'aventure d'aujourd'hui.

Dobro jutro! Danes bomo preživeli nekaj časa v Suisse Romande / Zahodna Švica, preden bomo ujeli nočni vlak v Zürichu za Ljubljano. Nekaj časa preživimo v Lausanni, preden gremo v Fribourg in Düdingen, da vidimo, kakšno je življenje na obeh straneh Röstigrabna. V Zürichu ujamemo nočni vlak, ki pelje proti Ljubljani, pelje čez Liechtenstein, Tirolsko vključno z Innsbruckom in Wörglom, Beljak, Jesenice in Bled. To bo prvič, da bom obiskal nekdanjo Jugoslavijo, vendar ne zadnjič. Upam, da boste uživali v današnji avanturi.

Dobro jutro! Danas ćemo provesti malo vremena u Suisse Romande / Zapadna Švicarska prije nego što u Zürichu uhvatimo noćni vlak za Ljubljanu. Provodimo malo vremena u Lausannei prije odlaska u Fribourg i Düdingen, da vidimo kakav je život s obje strane Röstigrabena. U Zürichu hvatamo noćni vlak koji vozi za Ljubljanu, prolazi kroz Lihtenštajn, Tirol uključujući Innsbruck i Wörgl, Villach, Jesenice i Bled. Bit će to prvi put da posjećujem bivšu Jugoslaviju, ali ne i zadnji put. Nadam se da ćete uživati u današnjoj avanturi.

Buongiorno! Oggi trascorreremo un po' di tempo nella Svizzera Romanda / Svizzera occidentale prima di andare a prendere il treno notturno da Zurigo per Lubiana. Trascorriamo un po' di tempo a Losanna prima di andare a Friburgo ea Düdingen, per vedere com'è la vita su entrambe le sponde del Röstigraben. A Zurigo prendiamo il treno notturno che va a Lubiana, passando per Liechtenstein, Tirolo comprese Innsbruck e Wörgl, Villach, Jesenice e Bled. Sarà la prima volta che visito l'ex Jugoslavia ma non l'ultima volta. Spero che apprezzerai l'avventura di oggi.

I had much fun the previous day in Geneva.  It was my first parade since the one in August 1998, but with a bit of francophonic flavor.  There was still a bit yet to visit, particularly Fribourg, which I had visited in 2001, but only to change trains.  I had previously visited Neuchâtel in April 2001 as well, so there was no point in going there this time.  As I did not know if Fribourg had proper lockers, I decided to place my luggage in Lausanne, where I knew there still were proper working lockers.  

I had breakfast about 7:30 AM, and was ready to check out by 8:30 AM.  I took the bus from the hostel to Territet station, took the westbound REV to Lausanne, and deposited my rolling suitcase.  I had a look around the station.  The cog rail system that I remembered from 2000 and 2001, had been shut down.  This was because the local public transit company wanted to replace the cograil system with a bidirectional adhesive system using MP89-like cars.  I would return in February 2012 to ride it.

After looking around the Gare CFF Lausanne, I took a train to Fribourg, which was a SBB Dosto, or double level quality train pulled by a premium electric locomotive, similar to the ones I rode in September 2000 and November 2002.  It did not stop in Vevey, but went up the REV S5 and S6 routes to Puidoux VD, Moreillon VD, Palézieux, Oron, crossing into the Fribourg canton, Romont, Villars sur Glâne and Fribourg.  I exited the train at Fribourg.  Fribourg has a connection to the Bern S-Bahn system, which has a stop in Düdingen, which I would visit sometime later in the afternoon.  I walked along Boulevard des Pérolles.  As it was a Sunday, shops were closed, so I could only do "leche vitrine", or window shop.  The day was fairly nice, not too warm, maybe +27 C / 80 F.  I found a place to eat after walking a while.  I had a lunch portion of pasta with a Cardinal beer.  It tasted almost like a Feldschlösschen or an Eichhof.  

After lunch, I walked back to the rail station, and boarded the S-Bahn for Düdingen.  At the time, the Poya rail station was not yet built, so the next station from Fribourg CFF was across the Schiffenensee in Düdingen.  The Schiffenensee was also considered the local Röstigraben, crossed by the Viaduc de Grandfey.  Across the Schiffenensee, everything changed from French to German.  Soon enough, the train stopped in Düdingen.  I first passed through Düdingen about 11:30 AM on Sunday 10th September 2000, while going from Lausanne to Zürich, not knowing if it were in the canton of Bern, or still in Fribourg.  Fribourg is mostly a French-speaking canton, but it has some communities that speak German.  The Röstigraben generally does not follow cantonal boundaries.  Even the Polentagraben follows the Uri-Ticino cantonal boundary, but when it comes to Graubünden, that is a different story.  The canton of Wallis and to some degree also Neuchâtel, are mainly French-speaking, also with German-speaking towns closer to Bern.  I did not speak with many people in Düdingen, but I suspect their dialect of German would follow that of Bern.  

In Düdingen I walked sort of northeast of the SBB rail station.  I walked along the Hauptstrasse to see the Saatzucht Genossenschaft Düdingen silo, where they grow agricultural seeds.  Düdingen is not particularly large, but it is a notable town, in my opinion.  On a Sunday there was not much going on.  I decided to return to Fribourg and catch the next train to Lausanne, fetch my luggage and take the next Inter City train to Zürich.  Before I did that, I went into the Kiosk store, on the Düdingen SBB station premises, and ordered myself a chocolate ice cream on a stick, I think a Magnum white chocolate.  It was really good, just right for summer.  When I finished that, I waited for the next S-Bahn train to Fribourg.  The train to Lausanne was not quite at the station, so I looked around.  I found a payphone that took not just Swiss Francs, but also Euro.  Normally Swiss phones take only Francs, but the one I saw, had a blue and yellow "€" sign with the familiar twelve yellow stars.  

I took the next fast train to Lausanne.  It was a Dosto and travelled nonstop.  At Lausanne CFF, I fetched my rolling suitcase, and walked to the platform where the next train to Zürich would leave from.  I found a Dosto.  I sat in the lower floor of the first class compartment for the quietness.  The upper level is a bit noisier, and also has the Elvetino rail bar rolling through at times.  It was a nice quiet ride to Zürich.

In Zürich, I would have at least an hour layover until the train would be ready to board.  I had my reservation with me.  I would be sleeping in the lowest bunk of a three person car.  The train would go through, but not stop everywhere, southwest of the Lake Zürich, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke, Sargans, Schaan FL, Feldkirch, Bludenz, Innsbruck, Wörgl, Salzburg, Zell am See, Villach, Rosenbach, Jesenice and finally Ljubljana, and then on to Zagreb.  I walked with my rolling suitcase to the bridge to Central and the north end of Niederdorferstrasse where the bottom station of the Polybahn to ETH Zürich is located.  I had a look at the Limmat south to Bellevue and Lake Zürich, but did not walk there at that time.  From 8th to 11th August, I would spend more time in Zürich, so I decided to not take too much time, and to be ready for the train to leave.

At the rail station, the train had arrived about 7:30 PM local time.  I found my car, and showed the reservation to the conductor.  He showed me to my compartment, and I was on the lower bunk.  He took my ticket and passport, and he said he would return it after we cleared Slovenian customs.  He would also put entry and exit stamps as appropriate.  The compartment had three people on a three bunk bed setup.  There was a sink in the room.  The toilet would be down the hall.  Meals were not included, so it was a good thing that I had some food before boarding, and I also had leftover bottles of grapefruit soda and similar.  I was not so interested in carrying around much beer.  The train left about 8:30 PM.  

After the train left at 8:30 PM, it went on its route on the south end of the St. Galler Oberland mountains, crossed the Rhine at Buchs into Liechtenstein at Schaan, just north of Vaduz, then through Feldkirch, Bludenz, Innsbruck, Wörgl, Salzburg, Villach and Rosenbach.  Much of the night, the train was moving about 75 mph or 120 km/h at most.  Sleeping was kind of like I was lying down but being pulled in one direction.  It felt similar to when I went on 11th November 2002, from Hamburg Hbf to Zürich HB, arriving on 12th November.  

About 6 AM, the train pulled into Villach, in the Bundesland of Kärnten.  The sun had risen sometime while we passed through Spittel an der Drau.  This would be the only time I would be awake to see Austria that year.  This would be a major stopping station for the train.  Some people would exit the train, some would board it.  The train would make one last stop in Austria, at Rosenbach.  I received a stamp in my passport before departing for Slovenia.  About 8 AM, the train would be in Jesenice, Slovenia.  At Jesenice, the customs officials checked passports, and gave me an entry stamp.  This was my first entry into Yugoslavia.  The train went on to Ljubljana through really nice countryside, including Bled and Kranj.              

About 9 AM, the train arrived in Ljubljana, at Glavni Stanica.  In 2003, in Slovenia, although it had ascended to the European Union, it was neither a user of the Euro, nor was it part of the Schengen Agreement.  Instead, Slovenia used the Tolar, which was about 110 Tolar to the US Dollar.  I had to withdraw some money to be able to buy basic items.  I think the highest valued money I had was a 1,000 Tolar bill.  There did not seem to be any subdivisions of the Tolar that I was aware of, no coins under 5 Tolar were used.  In 2008, Slovenia started using the Euro.  In 2022, Croatia followed suit, using the Euro and being part of the Schengen Agreement.

At the station, I found the bus station, and bought myself a bus pass for the entire day, which would give me unlimited bus rides all around the city. The youth hostel was not particularly far away, it was called Dijaski Dom Tabor, along Kotnikova Ulica.  It did not seem too far to walk from the station, but by the time I walked all the way, I was very tired.  The hostel had its familiar blue on white Hostelling International logo, and the door had "Dijaski Dom Tabor" on the top.  I checked into the hostel, and my room was ready.  My room was a double room but no one other than myself was booked for that room for the two days I would stay.  I took a shower and changed clothes in the private bathroom, then I was ready to take the bus into town.  

The traffic lights in Slovenia are not particularly special.  They are mostly large head signals, about 12 inches or 300 mm per head.  At the time, they performed R-RY-G-Y similar to Switzerland and Germany, but there was a period of three flashes of green before going yellow.  I doubt that in 2023 that the signals do that anymore, but merely do the same sequence as Germany.  To get to downtown, I had to walk to Komenskega ulica, and board the bus at the 3 Illirska ulica bus stop.  I went as far west on the bus as Tivolska Cesta and south into the city.  Eventually I ended up about 3 PM that day in the cathedral square at Cankarjevo nabrezje.  That is the old town and major shopping center for Ljubljana.  The castle is high on the hill nearby.  It was neat to see the canal containing the Ljubljanica river.  I would visit there later that evening.  

About 3 PM I was starting to feel a bit of heat stroke.  I think it was a mistake to book a very cheap room at the hostel, particularly in that part of Europe.  I had to go back to the hostel and take a nap.  This was kind of like the 20th/21st June 1998 when I was in Salzburg, it was a particularly hot weekend.  In 2003 on the other hand, there would be about five days of hot weather, which would not let up until I went on to Munich, after visiting Zürich.      

I left the hostel about 6 PM when the weather cooled down a bit.  I took the bus into town, across the Mesarki Most across the Ljubljanica.  I walked around the Giril Metodov Trg to find a nice place.  I found one restaurant with an interesting menu.  Sadly I only remember the beef tongues with dijon mustard that I had as an appetizer.  I don't think I had the cevabcici.  At the restaurant, there was a guitar player playing live.  One song I remember him playing, was "Pandajero" by Cantoma.  I did not know that song at the time, and it would not be until November that year, that I would actually hear it on the radio.  Somewhere I still have that recording on an audio cassette.

After supper, I did a bit more walking around the Preseren monument and eastward along the Ljubljanica.  The sun had set about 9:30 PM, so the weather was a bit more comfortable.  The youth hostel was not too far that I could not walk there on foot.  When I was back in the youth hostel, I took my radio and recorded a few hours of Slovene radio.  Slovene radio at the time contained international music, including some songs from Italy, but mostly English.

Please join me tomorrow, when I check out the timetables for Milan via Venice, have an encounter with the local Jehova's Witnesses trying to sell me a copy of "Vatchtover" [sic], take the train to Zagreb, ride the tram across town, find a place to eat pizza, return to Trg Republika, take the train back to Ljubljana about sundown, and sleep until 1 AM.  Hope you will join me then.  Good night!

Bitte kommen Sie morgen zu mir, wenn ich mir die Fahrpläne für Mailand über Venedig anschaue, eine Begegnung mit den örtlichen Zeugen Jehovas habe, die mir ein Exemplar von „Vatchtover“ [sic] verkaufen wollen, mit dem Zug nach Zagreb fahre, mit der Straßenbahn quer durch die Stadt fahre, Suchen Sie sich einen Ort zum Pizzaessen, kehren Sie zum Trg Republika zurück, nehmen Sie gegen Sonnenuntergang den Zug zurück nach Ljubljana und schlafen Sie bis 1 Uhr morgens. Ich hoffe, Sie kommen dann zu mir. Gute Nacht!

S'il vous plaît, rejoignez-moi demain, quand je vérifierai les horaires de Milan via Venise, que j'aurai une rencontre avec les Témoins de Jéhovah locaux essayant de me vendre une copie de "Vatchtover" [sic], que je prendrai le train pour Zagreb, que je prendrai le tram à travers la ville, trouvez un endroit pour manger une pizza, retournez à Trg Republika, prenez le train pour Ljubljana vers le coucher du soleil et dormez jusqu'à 1 h du matin. J'espère que vous me rejoindrez alors. Bonne nuit!

Prosim, pridruži se mi jutri, ko bom preverjal vozne rede za Milano prek Benetk, se srečal z lokalnimi Jehovovimi pričami, ki mi poskušajo prodati izvod "Vatchtover" [sic], šel z vlakom v Zagreb, se vozil s tramvajem čez mesto, najti pico, se vrniti na Trg republike, se z vlakom vrniti v Ljubljano pred sončnim zahodom in spati do 1. ure zjutraj. Upam, da se mi boš takrat pridružil. Lahko noč!

Molim te, pridruži mi se sutra, kada budem provjeravao vozni red za Milano preko Venecije, susreo se s lokalnim Jehovinim svjedocima koji mi pokušavaju prodati primjerak "Vatchtovera" [sic], išao vlakom za Zagreb, vozio se tramvajem preko grada, naći mjesto za pojesti pizzu, vratiti se na Trg Republike, sjesti vlakom natrag u Ljubljanu oko zalaska sunca i spavati do 1 ujutro. Nadam se da ćeš mi se tada pridružiti. Laku noć!

Per favore, unisciti a me domani, quando controllo gli orari per Milano via Venezia, incontra i Testimoni di Geova locali che cercano di vendermi una copia di "Vatchtover" [sic], prendi il treno per Zagabria, attraversa la città in tram, trova un posto dove mangiare la pizza, torna a Trg Republika, prendi il treno per Lubiana verso il tramonto e dormi fino all'una di notte. Spero che ti unirai a me allora. Buona notte!

#Switzerland #Suisse #Montreux #Territet #Lausanne #Vaud #Fribourg #Düdingen #Röstigraben #Polentagraben #Dosto #SBB #CFF #FFS #ÖBB #Zürich #Central #Limmat #Sargans #Buchs #Liechtenstein #Vaduz #Feldkirch #Österreich #Schweiz #Kärnten #Villach #Rosenbach #Slovenija #Slovenia

[greenbagjosh]

Day 9 - what was train travel like before the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

Thursday, 14 September 2000

Buongiorno!  Grüß Gott!  Bonjour!  

Hello and welcome to the 17 day journey of September 2000.  

Today is Thursday the 14th September 2000.  We will be going to Lugano, south of the Gotthard Pass, using the pre-base tunnel.

I woke up about 7:51 AM, went to breakfast a bit later than I usually would, some time about 9 AM.  Then I went to take a shower, before packing up to check out of the youth hostel about 9:30 AM.  I took some plastic Pepsi bottles to be recycled at the Migros at Morgental.  I reached the northbound bus stop at 10:25 AM, waiting for the bus line 13 to take a tram to Zürich HB.  I made my tram connection and arrived at HB at 10:50 AM.  I boarded the 11:07 AM Intercity train that went to Milan and also Bellinzona and Lugano.  

The train went the same direction as the ones I took on 5th July 1997 and 25th July 1998, namely stopping at Zug, Arth-Goldau, nonstop to Bellinzona through Göschenen and Airolo, Lugano, Chiasso, Como and Milano Centrale.  The Zimmerberg Base tunnel was not yet built, so there was no significant tunnel section between Zürich and Thalwil at the time.  There however was a tunnel between Thalwil, where the train did not stop at, and just east of Zug.  Zug was sort of a triangle station, where you would have the trains for Lucerne in a curve, and the trains to Arth-Goldau and points south, going straight.  Arth-Goldau is similar, where the north-south trains between Zug and Erstfeld are more or less on a straight platform and the trains from Lucerne to Erstfeld are on a curve, and later on there is a junction to cross over from Arth-Goldau to Pfäffikon SZ via Einsiedeln and Biberbrugg.  

Between Zug and Arth-Goldau, you have a view of at least two beautiful lakes, one being the Zugersee, and the other the Vierwäldtersee (Lake Lucerne), separated in a way by Arth-Goldau and the Rigi Hochflue.  The train crosses the cantonal boundary with Schwyz and Uri at Sisikon but does not stop there.  Lake Lucerne comes to an end at Flüelen and the next town to the south is Altdorf, where William Tell lived.  There even is a statue in his honor.  

In 2000 I did not have any idea about the new Base Tunnel that was being built from Erstfeld UR to Bodio TI.  It was completed in 2015 and opened for passenger traffic in December 2016.  In the Verkehrsmuseum in Lucerne, there is a fifty foot section of the tunnel with a non-live catenary, plus the actual rails.  After Erstfeld, the train climbs the mountain that leads to the St. Gotthard tunnel at Göschenen.  I took video to show what intercity travel was like, before the Gotthard Base tunnel was opened.  From Erstfeld to Göschenen, the landscape is very beautiful.  So is the same from Airolo to Bodio.  

About 12:40 PM the train went through the tunnel at Göschenen.  It took about nine minutes to exit the tunnel at Airolo.  About 12:44 PM the train crossed under the so-called "Polentagraben", the linguistic boundary in Switzerland between German and Italian.  The new base tunnel I heard takes about twenty minutes as it is a much longer tunnel, maybe 23 miles / 35 km long.  About 1:20 PM the train passed by Bodio, the southern end of the base tunnel which in September 2000 was not yet built.  The train arrived 1:35 PM at Bellinzona, the cantonal capital of the Ticino.  The next stop would be Lugano, up the Ceneri pass.  The Ceneri tunnel also was not built until about 2019.  

At 2:25 PM I arrived at Lugano.  I bought a day pass for the bus line 9 for the Paradiso district.  It went down as far as Via Geretta, but the hotel I was supposed to stay at, was overbooked.  I had to go to the Hotel Cristina, not too far away, and even within a ten minute walk from the commuter station Lugano-Paradiso.  They gave me a single room with just a sink.  I had opening windows so I could have a nice view of Lago di Lugano, Monte Bré, some of Monte San Salvatore and as far as Santa Margherita across the Italian border.  The weather was humid and hazy so seeing across the lake was difficult.

At 4 PM I went into town by the trolleybus.  Many of the trolleybusses were based on the Mercedes Benz O405 platform and used 1,000 volt direct current through their trolley poles.  They had a loud sound when they operated.  It was rumored that the trolley bus network was to be dismantled within two years.  Everything else was to remain.  I explored downtown Lugano and even took the funicular from Via Paolo Reggazzoni to the railway station.

At 7 PM it was time for a bus ride adventure.  I somehow took the bus into downtown Lugano, then another to the city boundary at Viganello, just north of downtown Lugano. I got off the bus at Via San Antonio and walked to the lake shore.  There was a wooden church mockup of the San Carlino delle quattro Fontane (St Charles of the four fountains) which is located in Rome.  The view of Lago di Lugano was okay, good enough to see Monte San Salvatore, but not good enough though, to properly see into Campione d'Italia.

About 9 PM I went for supper.  I went to the Restaurant Schmid at the bottom of the cable car for Monte San Salvatore.  I had a quattro stagione pizza that had artichokes and prosciutto among other things, and a Feldschlösschen beer.  The placemat had German-language brainteasers that made me laugh a bit.  I still have that placemat.

I went back to my room about 10:30 PM and went to bed.  The bathroom was next door, and was available to those who did not have ensuite rooms.

Tomorrow I will be going to Chiasso, Milan and Como.  I hope you will join me then.  I think Roberto Benigni will do the same.

Buona notte!  Gute Nacht!  Bonne nuit!  Good night!

#Göschenen #Airolo #base tunnel #Gotthard #Lugano #Bellinzona #Ticino #Polentagraben

[greenbagjosh]

Day 8 - Paellas, selfie memory, and a near miss with a fare inspection.  All in Zürich.

Wednesday, 13 September 2000

Buongiorno!  Grüß Gott!  Bonjour!  

Hello and welcome to the 17 day journey of September 2000.  

Today is Wednesday the 13th September 2000.  It is my last full day in Zürich before leaving for Lugano, crossing the Polentagraben between Göschenen UR and Airolo TI.

I took a shower and had breakfast, and about 9 AM I walked from the hostel to the Wollishofen rail station.  Because I did not want to buy a 24 hour transit pass until 11 AM that day, I chose to take the S-Bahn from Wollishofen to HB via Enge and Wiedikon.  At the Wollishofen station there was a Spanish restaurant that specialized in paella.  It is a specialty of the Catalonia and Valencia region, with rice, shrimp, sausage and chicken.  They were offering a half portion for 25 CHF.

About 9:20 AM the S-Bahn came to Wollishofen.  I was allowed to ride it with my Eurail Pass.  I went to HB and then Central, walked along Niederdorferstrasse and then Limmatquai.  I passed by the Rathaus, the Helmhaus art gallery, Fraumünster where I saw a Mehari sport vehicle, Bürkliplatz and back north to Paradeplatz.  Eventually I bought a day pass, and it was around 11 AM.

About 12 PM I had a snack, and then took a tram to Bellevueplatz and another to Römerhof to catch the Dolderbahn.  The Dolderbahn is a cog railway that goes east and uphill.  There is a middle station where the train tracks separate.  At the top is the Dolder Grand Hotel.  It is probably a four star hotel.  They must have a very fancy restaurant there.  I heard that the drinks are the most expensive in all of Zürich, even more than at a few Street Parades that I attended in past years.  

I went back down about 12:50 PM and went to Central to catch the Polybahn that goes to ETH Zürich, Mondays to Fridays plus half a day on Saturdays but not Sundays.  I remember the times that I took it as a young child in the mid 1970s when the Be 4/6 trams were new.  I rememer there was one place that I took a selfie photograph on Friday 24th July 1998, about 3:20 PM.  I was wearing my red, white and green striped hat at the time, the same one I bought in Prague, Czech Republic on 13th June 1998.  At 1:28 PM I went downhill to Central and Zürich HB.  I wanted to also see the airport, at least take a train to the airport.  I took an InterCity train from HB to the airport, passing through but not stopping at Oerlikon.  The Airport station had four underground tracks like HB's Museumstrasse station.  I wandered around the front of the airport but stayed maybe an hour or so before heading back, I think 2:44 PM.  

I still had to see the Friesenberg rail crossing where the Üetlibergbahn or S10 crossed the trolleybus line 32. I took the tram from Helvetiaplatz to Friesenberg Bahnhof.  About 3:47 PM the S-10 to Üetliberg.  I took the trolleybus back to Farbhof and changed to a line 31 for Schlieren.  What I did not know at Schlieren, was that it was not inside the fare zone 10 for Zürich, and I had my ticket inspected.  They accepted my Eurail Pass on an adhoc basis.

I went back to downtown Zürich.  At the Uraniastrasse and Talstrasse intersection, I stopped at the traffic light.  Then I crossed the street to shop for CDs at City Disc.  I bought a few, including a Badesalz comedy CD, Falco's "Out of the dark", last one released shortly after his passing in February 1998, a soundtrack CD of the Energy 2000 Street Parade, and the CD single for ATC "All around the world".  About 8 PM the sun went down and it was time to go have dinner.  I walked past Central from HB, on to the Niederdorferstrasse.  At the time I did not know the Bierhalle Wolf, and would not likely know it until at least September 2011.  Before crossing to the Niederdorferstrasse, I was trying to find the webcamera that pointed to a certain tree along the Limmatquai.  On 24th July 1998, my parents saw me at the particular tree where my father had once stood a year before.  

The Brasserie Johanniter along the Niederdorferstrasse was the same one that I remember as far back as 4th July 1997, when I was desperate for cheap hot food at 11 PM and McDonald's would not do.  

I hope you will join me again in the next story, Thursday 14th September 2000.  That will be my last day in Zürich before going south through the Gotthard Tunnel to Lugano in the Ticino.  I ordered a full liter of Hürlimann, with an order of Graubünder style Spätzle, with swiss cheese, onions and smoked ham.  It was delicious.  About 9:40 PM I walked to the tram stop to take me to Stadelhofen, then I took an S Bahn to the Stettbach rail station.  I visited Stettbach on 24th July 1998 but only passed through it on 4th July 1997 when I accidentally went to Uster.  Stettbach is just an ordinary underground S Bahn station with a central platform.  But I had wanted to see it all the same.  I went back about 10:30 and leisurely made my way back to the hostel and went to bed sometime after 11 PM.  I had to check out the next morning by 10 AM.

I hope you will join me (and also Roberto Benigni, once we cross the Polentagraben) when I head to Lugano, the next city for September 2000.  See you soon!

Buona notte!  Gute Nacht!  Bonne nuit!  Good night!

[greenbagjosh]

Day 5 - Lausanne cog rail, Üetliberg roller slide, late night yodeling

Sunday, 10 September 2000

Buongiorno!  Grüß Gott!  Bonjour!  

Hello and welcome to the 17 day journey of September 2000.  

Today is Sunday 10th September 2000.  We will be taking the Inter City train from Lausanne to Zürich, via Fribourg, cross the Röstigraben before passing through Düdingen, Bern and Olten.  At Bern the train mentions that passengers for Olten and Basel should alight and transfer to another train.

I had breakfast at the hostel, took a shower, packed my bags and checked out at 9:55 AM.  While waiting for the bus line 2 to Ouchy cog rail station, I had an impromptu Munmenschanz performance at the traffic signal.  The traffic signals reminded me of a Mummenschanz peformance where they used something like sticky notes to change their facial expressions.  The bus came about 10:24 AM and I rode it to Ouchy and took the cog rail up to the rail station.  I took the 11:05 AM train from Lausanne to Zürich.  

About 11:15 AM the train had climbed well above Lake Geneva.  As it was sunny when we passed Puidoux VD, I could see Lake Geneva as far as Montreux.  Soon it went into tunnel to Romont, Villars-sur-Glâne and Fribourg, the last station in La Suisse Romande before the train crossed the Röstigraben at Lac de Schiffenen for Düdingen, Bern, Olten and Zürich.  At 11:52 the train arrived at Fribourg, and it was the last time that year that I heard the high-medium-low CFF chime, after that it was the low-high-medium SBB chime from Bern until I crossed the Polentagraben.  The train had arrived in Bern about 12:17 PM.

After leaving Bern, I turned on the radio about 12:50 PM.  I heard "Whoops Now" by Janet Jackson, the 1 PM news, "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz, and the Italian-language "Dipende" by Jarabe de Palo, vocals by the late Pau Donés.  The train arrived in Zürich HB about 1:40 PM.  I bought a 24 hour day pass for local transit.  I had already tried to take S4 to Manegg and bus line 70 to Morgental in July 1998, but thought it would be better to take the tram line 7 via Bahnhof Enge and line 33.  It would make for much better video material.  Also I could see the big Swiss and Zürich cantonal flags as I went along.  The tram line 7 used Be 4/6 cars, not yet the Tram 2000.  I stood in the rear of the train, being careful not to hit the big foot button which would ring the bell.  Why would ringing the bell be a problem?  The bell is meant for shunting, and the tram rolling stock is single direction, so it is necessary to have a bell to alert those in the rail yard that a tram is being pushed back and to take appropriate action.

After Beethovenweg and Bleicherstrasse, I saw many Swiss and Zürich cantonal flags flying before the tram headed towards the Enge rail station past the Tunnelstrasse stop. The tram stopped at Morgental about 1:55 PM, and I took the bus one stop over from Morgental up to the stop closest to the hostel, on Mutschellenstrasse.  I checked into the hostel about 2:10 PM.  I had a single room with a sink but no private bath or shower.  In the mid 2000s and 2010's, the hostel had been renovated.  Most if not all single rooms with only a sink, had been renovated to have a toilet and shower stall.  My room was facing the west, and I could see the big TV tower at Üetliberg.  I think since 2016 if you wanted to climb the tower to the top of the stairs, it would cost around $5.00 as an entry fee.  

About 2:40 PM I left the hostel after charging up a battery, to the Youth Hostel bus stop.  In 2000 there was only one stop and it was northbound.  The southbound stop of the hostel was not built until 2002.  I took line 33 to Wiedikon Bahnhof, and changed to a tram line 9 for Bellevueplatz.  I saw the outside of Neue Zürcher Zeitung at Falkenstrasse and Utoquai and it was 3:30 PM then.  I crossed the Utoquai to see the fountain called Springbrunnen Aquarentum.  Those are smaller than the Jet d'Eau as seen in Geneva.  It felt a bit peaceful to be in Zürich that day, when there was no Street Parade.  I wanted to go but had to defer that in favor of completing the computer course that I was taking a few months prior.  

At 4 PM I decided I would go to the Üetliberg resort.  I took the S Bahn at Stadelhofen to Zürich HB, at the time the Museumstrasse consisted of the former tracks 21 to 24, now they are 41 to 44, and went to tracks 1 and 2 on the other side of the station, now they are tracks 21 and 22.  I waited for the S10 to Üetliberg via Selnau, Binz and Triemli.  The S10 is a "special" line because it uses DC electrification and its catenary is offset so that it will not interfere with the 15 kV 16 2/3 Hz line feed that the S4 and the rest of the SBB use, like the Re 450 Series used by most the Zürich S-Bahn system.  The S10 train left about 4:38 PM.  I may have shared a video of the S4 journey, I took it almost to its end in Langnau-Gattikon in August 2017.  The train stopped in Selnau, which like HB tracks 21 and 22, is also underground.  The south entry to that station leads up to the Neue Börse, the new Stock Exchange, that uses the SSMI index.  At Giesshübel and Binz, the trains separate.  The S10 does not call at Giesshübel, and likewise the S4 does not call at Binz.  Most of the S10 is single-tracked, with a couple of switches at Berghof and Borrweg to let the S10 headed for Zürich HB pass by.  The train arrived at 5:05 PM, but it was too late to order any food at the Gmüetliberg next to the station as it closes 5 PM on Sundays.

One thing that I enjoyed as a child visiting Üetliberg was the rolling slide.  It is about 20 meters long, about 200 rollers, and you take a one foot by one foot V-shaped plastic plate and let gravity pull you down to the end of the slide.  I rode on it about 5:08 PM and made a video of it.

As I had no other agenda in Üetliberg, I rode back down the S10 and walked to where I could catch the tram line 7 to go back to the hostel for supper.  I made it by 7:15 PM.  Then I collected a charging battery and took the tram to Stadelhofen for the S-18.  The S-18 uses the same DC line feed as the rest of the Zürich tram system.  I wanted to do some late night yodeling at Maiacher, which I had passed through on Sunday 9th August 1998 before going back to my then-home in Munich.  That night I made it to Maiacher station about 9:15 PM.  I was the only one in the station waiting on a 9:25 PM train back to Stadelhofen.  In the meantime I set my video camera down and then facing north towards Zürich, did a one-word yodel, just to get the echo effect.  I did it again.  That I think was the best way to end that week before going back to the hostel.  I think I was back at the hostel at 10:30 PM.  The next day I would visit the Principality of Liechtenstein and even visit Graubünden, or Bündner Land, if you prefer.  

I hope you will join me again in the next story, Monday 11th September 2000.  We will bring our country total to six out of seven.

Buona notte!  Gute Nacht!  Bonne nuit!  Good night!