2016-02-20 47 8

Sat 20 Feb 2016 in 47,8: 47.2643397, 8.3665945 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

A field near Merenschwand AG.

Participants

• Calamus

Plans

1. S5 train leaving Zurich 4½ at 3.09pm.
2. 217 bus leaving Affoltern a.A. at 3.40.
3. Arrive at Merenschwand, Hinterdorf at 3.55.
4. Run.

Expedition

Calamus despised snow as much as he despised rain. But there was this very distinctive other kind of downfall, this kind of fine wet snow that melted as soon as it hit a surface; the beauty and dryness of snowflakes combined with the absence of passage-impairing snow on the street. Calamus despised this kind of downfall even more, and today there was plenty of it.

Calamus had planned just five minutes to get from the bus station to the hashpoint, which was in the Argovian village of Merenschwand. Unfortunately, he hadn't assumed that the proverbial absence of driving skills in Argovia also applied to bus drivers: When the bus arrived in Merenschwand, the driver missed the station and commented no more than 'Oops' while going on to the next one. Fortunately, there was a bus going in the other direction scheduled almost immediately. But it was a few minutes late. So Argovian. So it came to pass that Calamus arrived at the hashpoint (a grassy hillpath) ten minutes after 4pm, but invoking the teacher's privilege, he granted himself the academic quarter.

Like the rest of Switzerland, even the village of Merenschwand, which bore very limited significance, was littered with posters arguing for or against one of this trimester's upcoming referenda, ranging from new tunnels over free university education to constitutional homophobia and declaring war on Europe. Despite having commissioned some of those posters, Calamus was sick of seeing them – everybody had long made up their mind on them anyway.

Calamus stocked up on chocolate and returned.

Tracklog

On EveryTrail

Photos

• 

  Merenschwand village centre.

• 

  Reached.

• 

  Merenschwand from the hashpoint.