Beromünster (9/19/1982)

Sunday, September 19, 1982

Train day pass

I slept in, then did my ironing before leaving at 10:45 to catch the 11:23 train to Zürich. It was hazy, but the sky was clear so that the nuclear plant cooling tower really did look like a cloud maker. Changed in Aarau to the 12:30 train for Suhr/Lenzburg, after not finding Beromünster on the schedule. Ten minutes later in Suhr the schedule said a train left for Beromünster at 12:44, but there was no train. I noticed an orange narrow gauge train go by a block away. Aha! The Wynental-und-Suhrentalbahn (WSB). I found the Suhr-Ausweiche station and waited for the 13:14 train. There was an automatic ticket machine, and the train had to be stopped on demand like a bus. I checked the train map and saw I could have caught the WSB in Aarau after all. The WSB went up a valley to Schötland, through Aarau, up to Wynental to Menziken-Burg. The train traveled through the streets of each town in a pleasant wide valley of farms and orchards. I decided to ride to the end of the line, as I was seeing no sign of Beromünster! In Menziken, I saw a sign for the SBB Bahnhof and there trains went to Beinwil and Beromünster. I sat in a park to wait for the 14:18 train, and was treated to Arabic music and conversation from a parked car nearby.

Wynental-und-Suhrentalbahn (WSB) in Menziken

Wynental-und-Suhrentalbahn (WSB) new car

Baby stroller access

After a 5-minute train ride, I arrived in the typical small town of Beromünster. I headed towards an old Baroque steeple and found a stone church, hearing choir music within. Then I heard bells tolling and turned around to see a much bigger and better-kept Baroque clock tower.
Walked up the medieval main street to the Stiftskirche/Collegiate Church of St Michael and entered the courtyard. It was freshly painted and the porch wall was decorated with the coats-of-arms of former canons.

Stiftskirche/Collegiate Church of St Michael 

Stiftskirche/Collegiate Church of St Michael
clock tower

Not all the shields were repainted yet. Ard was common among the names. The treasury wasn’t to open until an hour later, so I went in the church proper along with many others. Priests or monks were sitting in the choir behind a wrought-iron screen and were chanting/singing while one of them played the organ. The interior of the church was white with some blue fresco work on the ceilings. The doors were carved wood. I went out to peek in the graveyard and walk through the cloister with the surrounding corridors full of flowers. The church was in a courtyard surrounded by old buildings dating from the 1600-1700s, and several of the doors were ornately carved.

1666 door

I walked back and beyond the train station for a general view of Wynental.

Wynental

Stopped at an auto dealership to look at Volkswagens, but only the used cars had price tags. At the train station, I noticed the regular SBB trains had bright broad fluorescent stripes in yellow and orange, maybe because the tracks follow alongside the town streets. Took the 15:34 SBB train, arriving at Beinwil am See at about 15:50. I went to look for the See/lake and followed Wanderweg/hiking trail signs along a steep winding path through some woods. The edge of the lake was crowded with people at a dock, tiny marina, and a paying “beach” area. Took the 16:53 train to Lenzburg, changing to the 17:22 train to Biel, arriving at 18:30.

Monday, September 20, 1982

Found a 4-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

Tuesday, September 21, 1982

Well, well. I went to ABM to pick up the print film I dropped off, and found they really did only develop the negatives, and did not make prints. Live and learn! So I mailed the negatives off to another company to get one print copy of each. What a way to get your photos!