Friday, February
26, 1982
After a morning
exchange of phone calls between Jan and Christian, it was decided that I would
meet Christian’s girlfriend, Elisabeth, under the “red” of the Inselspital/Island Hospital in Bern, to
give me the key to his room for the night. He is a physical therapy student and
goes home on weekends. I would use the room to get a head start on my shopping
trip to München/Munich. After work I took the 18:52 train
to Bern, arriving at 19:20. I was going to run to McDonald’s for something to
eat, when someone grabbed my arm and said, “Come on, this way!” W-what? My
jumbled thoughts in an instant were that I was being mistaken for someone else,
or that it was one of these aggressive men. But because of the English I turned
to look, and it was Christian. Apparently he forgot to give the key to his
girlfriend and came to the station to intercept me. We went to the elevator to
the parking garage, and it had problems to get going. We walked up a couple
flights of stairs, but were on the wrong floor. We checked the next two levels
down, but no car. Finally one more level down, on the ground floor, we found
his orange Deux Chevaux/2-horsepower Citroën. He took me up to the Inselspital
where under the red-painted steel beam structure that connected the children’s
hospital to the main hospital, he showed me the route to follow to get to the
train station, and then took me to the apartment building where his aunt has an
apartment. On the top floor are several single rooms, and Christian and his
friend, Daniel, share one. He showed me where I was on the map, just off Könizstrasse,
gave me the key and left. Then he came back to tell me the toilet was at the
end of the hall. The room was big enough for a bed, desk, and wardrobe, and had
a small dormer window. The room was warm enough with a heating duct in the wall
next to the bed. I set out a package of
chocolates with a thank-you note for use of the room, repacked my backpack, and
used the bathroom. The toilet didn’t have a flusher, but a valve to let in
fresh water. Even though it was only 20:00, I went to bed after setting my
alarm for 3:00.
Saturday, February
27, 1982
Up at 3:00, ate my
tangerine breakfast, straightened the bedding, and left. The floor was
carpeted, but real creaky, so I hope I didn’t disturb anybody. Walked the empty
streets to the train station. Closer to downtown, a couple taxis and a moped
were out. Followed Könizstrasse, then Effingerstrasse. Tried to take a left at
one street but there were no sidewalks, so took the next left on Seilerstrasse
to a right on Laupenstrasse, anf finally a left on Schwanzenstrasse to the
train station. After 4:00, the train was already in the station with the heat
turned on full blast. At 4:30 the heat turned off, but the lights came on. I
read the “Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, Svizra, Switzerland” magazine that comes
out monthly and is found on the trains like the airline magazines on planes.
Only saw the postal carts zipping around the station and a few cleaning people.
The train left at 4:44 for Zürich, arriving at 6:30. I boarded the 7:07 train for München/Munich.
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| Train ticket cover |
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| Biel to München/Munich train ticket |
The car was regular coach, and I had a pair of
seats to myself the whole way. There were several very young men carrying
satchels, probably students, who were speaking Italian, The pair across from me
were retelling ancient Greek history in Italian, They got off at St Gallen.
After St Margarethen, we crossed into Austria and passports were checked. Our
only stop in Austria was Bregenz. In Lindau, Germany, a group of Japanese
tourists boarded the train, as well as a young Asian man with hair as long as
mine and a mustache. An older lady started talking to him and he responded in
slow quiet German. She spoke in slow LOUD German. He was Vietnamese.
The landscape was
picturesque with snow-covered evergreen forests. We arrived in Munich at 11:35
and I started my shopping trip. Went down Schützenstrasse to the underground
shopping area of Stachus. Couldn’t find the steins I wanted. Came up in
Karlsplatz among crowds and crowds of people. Went down pedestrian Neuhauser
Strasse, checking out all the department stores, porcelain ware shops, looking
for an Oktoberfest-like beer stein. I saw lottery stands, fruit stands,
demonstrations of irons and pots, and stands selling burnt almonds and peanuts.
Found a Woolworths that sold glass steins with Bayern metal lids; a pair for 15
DM/$6.50. In Kaufhall, a giant
department store, I found a huge selection of steins. The large liter-mugs had
the decals of all the major breweries, but none had the lids. I bought two
coffee-mug size steins with Löwenbräu and Hofbräu emblems for 15 DM.
Returning back up the pedestrian street, I stopped to listen to some street
musicians. Saw a souvenir jewelry shop that had the Löwenbräu liter-stein with
a lid! But since I had the others, I decided not to bother and went to
McDonald’s for a fish sandwich, fries, and chocolate shake. But then I thought
I’d buy that liter-stein anyway and returned to the gift shop. They didn’t have
any of those steins inside the shop, and the girl went to check upstairs. She
ended up opening the display in the window to sell me that one, for 41 DM/$18. The
girl wrapped it as a gift. I had time to wander, and noticed that the stores
closed at 14:00. I had done my shopping just in time! I never did see another
liter-stein with a lid. I did see a lot of U.S. servicemen, tourists with
cameras, and the evangelists were at their usual corner. Even found another McDonald’s
beyond Marienplatz. Back at the underground Stachus shopping area, I saw a sign
to the S-Bahn/tram and train station pointing down an escalator. Took the
escalator to find myself in a filthy area with bums lying against the walls and
drunks bumbling around. I figured that it was the S-Bahn that took you to the
train station, not this passage. Went back up to the store level. Since the
shops were closed, kids had taken over the area to rollerskate. Walked on
street level to the train station, getting some roasted chestnuts along the
way. |
| München/Munich to Biel train ticket |
Boarded the 16:39 train to Zürich, where we arrived at 21:01. Changed to
the 21:18 train to Biel, arriving at 23:00. To my surprise, Jan was there to
pick me up, not wanting to be outdone by Christian! We drove around looking for
people in costumes for Fastnacht/Mardi
Gras, but there were only a couple of ghosts. A carnival was set up in the
parking lot next to Migros. I stopped at Jan & Kirby’s place to show them
my purchases. Didn’t go to bed until after midnight; it was a long day!
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