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greenbagjosh · 2 years

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Thursday 14 November 2002 - a very gray Bündner land visit - half price ice cream - The Hardhof near ZH Altstetten - supper at the Zeughauskeller

14 November 2002

EN Hi everyone. Twenty years ago today, I took a train from Zürich HB to Chur, past Thalwil, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke and Sargans. I managed to record some Rhätorumantsch from the RTR station and buy a Rhätorumantsch newspaper. Also a shop at the SBB rail station in Chur was having a half-off sale on ice cream, and rightly so because the weather was lousy, but not too cold. I visited the area, and had supper at the Zeughauskeller, close to Paradeplatz. It was a nice end to a visit to Zürich.

DE Hallo allerseits. Heute vor 20 Jahren fuhr ich mit dem Zug von Zürich HB nach Chur, vorbei an Thalwil, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke und Sargans. Ich habe es geschafft, etwas Rhätorumantsch vom RTR-Sender aufzunehmen und eine Rhätorumantsch-Zeitung zu kaufen. Auch ein Geschäft am Bahnhof SBB in Chur hat Glace zum halben Preis verkauft, und das zu Recht, denn das Wetter war mies, aber nicht zu kalt. Ich besuchte die Gegend und aß im Zeughauskeller in der Nähe des Paradeplatzes zu Abend. Es war ein schöner Abschluss eines Besuchs in Zürich.

DK Hej allesammen. For tyve år siden i dag tog jeg et tog fra Zürich HB til Chur, forbi Thalwil, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke og Sargans. Det lykkedes mig at optage noget Rhätorumantsch fra RTR-stationen og købe en Rhätorumantsch-avis. Også en butik på SBB-banegården i Chur havde et halvt rabatudsalg på is, og det med rette, fordi vejret var elendigt, men ikke for koldt. Jeg besøgte området og spiste aftensmad på Zeughauskeller, tæt på Paradeplatz. Det var en dejlig afslutning på et besøg i Zürich.

SE Hej allihopa. För tjugo år sedan idag tog jag ett tåg från Zürich HB till Chur, förbi Thalwil, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke och Sargans. Jag lyckades spela in lite Rhätorumantsch från RTR-stationen och köpa en Rhätorumantsch-tidning. Också en butik på SBB järnvägsstation i Chur hade halvrea på glass, och det med rätta eftersom vädret var uselt, men inte för kallt. Jag besökte området och åt middag på Zeughauskeller, nära Paradeplatz. Det var en trevlig avslutning på ett besök i Zürich.

FR Salut tout le monde. Il y a vingt ans aujourd'hui, j'ai pris un train de Zürich HB à Coire, en passant devant Thalwil, Pfäffikon SZ, Ziegelbrücke et Sargans. J'ai réussi à enregistrer du Rhätorumantsch de la station RTR et à acheter un journal Rhätorumantsch. De plus, un magasin de la gare CFF de Coire proposait des glaces à moitié prix, et à juste titre car le temps était maussade, mais pas trop froid. J'ai visité la région et j'ai dîné au Zeughauskeller, près de la Paradeplatz. C'était une belle fin de visite à Zurich.

Guten Morgen! Good morning! After visiting Valais, Geneva and Frauenfeld, I thought it would be good to see Graubünden once more. It would be my second visit since September 2000, when I also visited the Principality of Liechtenstein. I woke up about 6:30 AM, took a shower, ate breakfast downstairs, checked the train schedules on the coin operated internet terminals, and then took the bus 33 and tram 7 to Zürich HB, to catch the Intercity train to Chur. I was on a Dosto in first class and sat on the left side. If you are on a Dosto riding from Zürich to Chur, you should sit on the left side, so that you can see Lake Zürich after passing through Thalwil ZH, and Walensee between Ziegelbrücke GL and Walendstadt SG. Prior to the Zimmerberg base tunnel construction, you could have a good view, particularly between Zürich-Enge and Pfäffikon SZ. Now it is only possible between Thalwil and Pfäffikon.

Along the way I was listening to the AM frequency of DRS2 and the local FM frequency DRS3, I think, out of the Chur region. DRS2 was playing classical music, and I remember one song on DRS3 being "Round Round" by the Sugababes, followed by "Spiegelbild" by Swiss rap group Subzonic. I made it a point, to record off the radio from the RTR frequency, as it would be in the Rhaeto-Rumantsch language. For those who may not know Rhaeto-Rumantsch, it is a romance language with similarities to Latin, with some words sounding like they may be from French, Italian, and it sounds a bit like Latin being spoken with a Swiss German accent. If you have ever seen Swiss Francs, from the 10 Franc to the 1,000 Franc banknote, you might notice next to the German-language "Banknoten sind strafrechtlich geschützt", there is the Rhaeto-Rumantsch translation: "Las bancnotas èn protetgidas dal dretg penal", which basically means "banknotes are protected by criminal law". Some places in Graubünden will have a Rhaeto-Rumantsch name different than the German name. For instance Disentis is called Mustér.

The train stopped pretty much at the same stations as when I was riding to Sargans on 11th September 2000. There was even the transfer to Glarus at Ziegelbrücke, which I would visit on Sunday 10 August 2003. The St. Galler Oberland across the Walensee from the train tracks was very nice to see. The weather was generally not so good that day. Was mostly soggy and chilly, but not freezing and there was no snow. The train stopped at Sargans and passed through Bad Ragaz before crossing the Rhine into the canton of Graubünden. The train passed through Maienfeld, some people will know this village in Graubünden as the home of the Heidi Village, from the literature written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. Landquart GR was the next stop before Chur. The train arrived in Chur about 11 AM. It is too bad that I did not plan to take the train eastward towards Davos or Tirano. Those are reputed to be the most scenic train rides, and one of them even has the World Heritage certification.

I had my radio set to the RTR station to record Rhaeto-Rumantsch. Eventually I tuned back to DRS3. To this day it is quite remarkable to have heard the Rhaetorumantsch translation of the hymn "How great thou art" and then on DRS3 to hear an uncensored version of Warren G's "What's love got to do with it". Later on I would hear "If I were a sailor" by Midge Ure, formerly of Ultravox.

At the local Co-Op grocery store, I bought some Emmenthaler, some ham and bread. It was enough to make a sandwich. I think I bought a bottle of Sinalco, the Swiss equivalent of Orange Fanta as found in Germany and much of Europe, but not the USA. I did some shopping, and found a Buffalo clothing and shoe store. I also went into the Manor department store. Both stores offered me their 32-page minicatalogs for free.

It was about half an hour before the train to Zürich HB would depart from Chur. I went up to the Busbahnhof to see mountains in the direction of Liechtenstein and also Heidi's small village of Maienfeld. There was not much snow. The weather was a bit rainy, maybe just a shower, and temperatures about 43 F / +6 C. Kind of really meh-weather.

I took the train back pretty much the same way as I had come earlier. I ended up in Zürich HB, and took a line 6 tram towards Werdhölzli. That part of Zürich, I had not previously visited, other than along the trolleybus route 32 from Altstetten and Farbhof towards Schlieren. There is a stadium close to Hardturm where FC Zürich plays its home games. There was no match that day, but it was good to see where they played. I took the tram 6 to Escher Wyss Platz and transferred to the tram line 8 to Bürkliplatz to see Zürichsee. I walked from Bürkliplatz to Bellevue, then on the Niederdorferstrasse to window shop, but not much else. I had already eaten at the Brasserie Johanniter, so I wanted to eat somewhere else, but maybe not the Blinde Kuh, near the Höschgasse tram stop on lines 2 and 4. My parents had recommended going to the Zeughauskeller restaurant near the Paradeplatz tram stop, so I walked across the Rudolf Brun Brücke to Rennweg where the Modissa department store was located, then down to Paradeplatz. The sign for the Zeughauskeller, the set of yellow calligraphed letters spelling out "Zeughauskeller", was brightly lit and was opened for business. So I went inside.

The Zeughauskeller looked really well kept up. It has been a restaurant only since 1926, but it was a warehouse of weapons from as far back as 1487. There is even a working built-in clock on the wall. I ordered a Zeughauskeller house beer in a liter glass. It was really good. With that, I ordered the veal sausage plate, which came with potato salad. For dessert, I had something seasonal, walnut mousse with whipped cream. I had that with an espresso. It was excellent. The only other time I had walnut mousse, would have been on 5th December 2016 in the Verkehrshaus (Transit Museum) in Lucerne.

It was a really good end to my visit to Zürich that year. Well, I had to go back to the hostel on Mutschellenstrasse, yes, the one painted mauve. I had to sleep, because the next train journey, with luggage, would be long, namely from Zürich HB to Stuttgart, and farther north to Nuremberg Hbf. Please join me tomorrow, when I take the train to Stuttgart and on to Nuremberg, try to find my way to the Höfener Garten hotel, and visit to the M>1 club as suggested to me by someone.

Gute Nacht! Good night!

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