Rapperswil (5/8/1983)

Sunday, May 8, 1983

Sunny this morning as I went to catch the 9:23 train to Zürich. There seemed to be a lot of specially dressed ladies out today, for Mothers’ Day! Here they give the mothers flowers and/or chocolates. No Hallmark cards!

Changed to the 11:04 train towards Chur and got off at Pfäffikon about 11:35. Ach! Pouring rain! I ran over to the single-car train leaving at 11:47 to Rapperswil, arriving there five minutes later. Rapperswil is on a peninsula on the north shore of Lake Zürich and has been connected to the south shore by an ugly causeway carrying the railroad and a highway, basically cutting Lake Zürich in half.

Causeway

Otherwise Rapperswil is a very nice town with chestnut trees beginning to bloom along its quai, its neat little harbor, and its medieval old town with the imposing castle behind it.

General view

I walked out along the harbor, then into the old town passing a building with a fancy mosaic façade, the Curti-Haus (16C with 1894 mosaics). I turned left to the Rosengarten/Rose Garden, a very small walled-in area with rosebushes just beginning to leaf. Went up stairs past the Kloster/cloister gate to the Lindenhof/terrace of Schloss/Castle Rapperswil (1200-1220). Here I could see down on the town, harbor, causeway, and lake, but no view of the Alps today.

View from the castle

Continued to the castle and its deer park behind the wall on the left. One deer was braying as if with a sore throat. I never heard a deer make any noise before. Outside the castle was a memorial column, the Polish Freedom pillar. I entered the courtyard, but couldn’t go any farther. Inside the castle is a Polish Museum, but I didn’t go in. I walked around to the other side, past the Stadtpfarrkirche St Johann/City Parish Church of St John, and began going up and down the narrow medieval streets.

Narrow street

Returned to the train station to get the 12:32 regional train to Zürich, arriving about 13:20. Went to the Sprüngli chocolaterie and bought 100 g/3.5 ounces of noci/walnut candies for 5.20 CHF/$2.50.

While waiting for the 14:00 train to Bern, I saw a guy with a camera with a huge lens. The camera was hanging at his stomach, and he was intensely studying the top of the camera. Then “kichung,” he snapped a picture. I sidled around to get a closer look to see that he had a conventional viewfinder that was somehow rigged so that he could look down on it from above. No one would realize he was taking pictures unless they recognized the “kichung.” He took several pictures, but I couldn’t figure out what he was finding so interesting. People? His best trick was to tuck the lens under his arm so that the camera pointed behind him. He would study the top of the camera, turn slightly left and right, then “kichung!”

I arrived in Bern at 15:15 and there it was sunny. Had a bite at McDonald’s, then caught the 15:53 train to Biel. It was raining in Lyss, but nice in Biel. All this weather in one small country! The rapeseed fields were in bloom, creating great patches of brilliant yellow. Walking up Nidaugasse, I saw McDonald’s signs peeking over a boarded up building. A McDonald’s in Biel!

Shortcut to the Kinderspital/Children's Hospital

Next to the Personalhaus, I found a mutant clover patch, netting five four-leaf clovers and a five-leafer.

Later Marsha and I left at 18:45 to walk the Parcours up the hill near Beaumont. It was about 2.5 km/1.5 miles long and wound up towards Evilard. We came back via Eichholzliweg/Oak Way, stopping to check out some new houses they are building.

Thursday, May 12, 1982

Today is Ascension Day and normally a holiday. But I worked because I used this day off during my Christmas vacation.

Hans Rüdi S picked me up with Mathieu in the new car. Had salad, cheese, cold cuts and bread with the grandparents. I made brownies to have with tea and our lesson.

Friday, May 13, 1983

Marsha C took the day off to meet her parents at the airport who were arriving that morning. They picked up a rental car ($500 for 2-1/2 weeks plus 17 CHF/$9 per day for insurance), a roomy Opel Kadett, and drove to Biel. I received a call about 16:00 to meet the parents. Marsha and I drove to Migros, and we made dinner while her parents napped. We had Nüssli salad with boiled egg and a white dressing. Marsha made geschnetzeltes veal Züricher-style, and I made the Rösti. Jong-Soon was also invited to dinner. Marsha’s parents are so nice and not as tall as I expected! I felt really comfortable with them. They spent the night at Fr Dr Jo D’s in Evilard.