Downtown Zurich seen from restaurant Die Waid.

Zurich is one of Switzerland's main railway hubs.

View from my office at the ETH on the Hönggerberg (Höngg Mountain), north of the city center.

The Limmat River seen from a bridge near the Central Station.

The eastern quay of the Limmat River, seen from the same bridge.

A bi-articulated trolley bus at the Central bus/tram stop.

Billboards for one of Switzerland's main chocolate manufacturers.

A tram at the Central stop.

Another tram at Central, this one a few years older.

Tram 10 makes its way up the Weinbergstrasse from Central.

An interior view of one of the older trams.

View of the Alps from near restaurant Die Waid.

Main entrance to the HIT building, which houses ETH's astronomy department.

Close-up of the top floors of the HIT building.

Platforms 13 and 13 at the Central Station.

The size of Zurich's Central Station requires a complex layout of tracks.

A train pulling into the Central Station.

A German ICE train stands ready to depart to Frankfurt.

Another train pulling into the Central Station.

And yet another train… This one would carry me to Bern.

The interior of the second class in the intercity train from Zurich to Bern.

At Bern I changed to an intercity service to Interlaken Ost. There begins the Berner Oberland-Bahn, a narrow-gauge mountain railway running to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. From those to villages runs the Wengernalpbahn to Kleine Scheidegg. This is a rack railway, to cope with the steep slopes as it winds into the Alps. The trains climb from 795 m at Lauterbrunnen to 2061 m at Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

Inside view of the Lauterbrunnen-Kleine Scheidegg train.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

A passing train en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

View en route from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg.

The end point of the Wengernalpbahn: Kleine Scheidegg, at an elevation of 2061 metres or 6762 feet.

Kleine Scheidegg's station.

The train on the left is a newer one operating between Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg. The older model on the right is the one I rode on.

Kleine Scheidegg is the starting point of the Jungfraubahn, a rack railway first operated in 1898. Since 1912 it runs to the Jungfraujoch at 3471 m above sea level, making it the highest railway in Europe. It climbs 1393 m over a distance of 9.3 km at a maximum incline of 25%. The final 7.1 km run through one long tunnel and take about half an hour to travel.

The Sphinx Observatory (including a telescope dome at the top) near the Jungfraujoch. It is still in active use for many areas of science.

A train leaving Kleine Scheidegg on the Jungfraubahn.

View from Kleine Scheidegg.

Kleine Scheidegg is above the tree line. Since it lies on the north side of the mountains, it takes a long time for all the snow to disappear. In fact, some of it never does.

View en route from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch.

A tunnel leading from the Jungfraujoch station to the main visitor area. At an elevation of 3471 metres (11,388 feet), Junfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe.

View from the Sphinx Observatory, located another 100 m above the Jungfraujoch. Unfortunately, it was enveloped in clouds when I got there.

A view down from the Sphinx Observatory.

The Sphinx Observatory. The dome houses a 76-cm telescope.

Other visitors at the Sphinx. In the background, snow and clouds from one white haze.

Two jackdaws at the Sphinx.

A piece of equipment used by the scientific staff at the Jungfraujoch.

Although you wouldn't guess it from this picture, the light outside was extremely bright and very painful without sun glasses. I didn't bring any, so I quickly retreated back inside. Otherwise, I would have gone for a walk.

The Great Aletsch Glacier.

The Great Aletsch Glacier.

An ice sculpture at the Jungfraujoch.

An ice sculpture at the Jungfraujoch.

An ice sculpture at the Jungfraujoch.

An ice sculpture at the Jungfraujoch.

Because of the poor weather at the Jungfraujoch, I went back down again pretty quickly. It was raining at Kleine Scheidegg, where I boarded this train to Grindelwald.

View from Kleine Scheidegg.

We followed another train down from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald. My train had a glass cabin for the driver, allowing me to see straight ahead. The descent went at a speed of only 10-15 kph.

View en route from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald.

View en route from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald.

I got out at Grindelwald. The trains immediately went back up to Kleine Scheidegg.

When I got back to Interlaken, the weather had much improved. Because I'd left the Jungfraujoch earlier than originally planned, I had plenty of time now for a walk to Lake Brienz on the east side of town.

Station Interlaken Ost.

A paddle boat on the Aare River, connecting Lake Brienz to Lake Thun.

The Aare River.

Lake Brienz.

Lake Brienz.

A train crossing the Aare River.

View of the Alps south of Interlaken.

From Interlaken I headed back to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It was early evening and the weather was once again beautiful, so I went for a stroll through the city center. This is the Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Spirit Church), right in front of the Central Station.

Hotel Schweizerhof, next to the Central Station.

A tower near Bärenplatz.

The Bundeshaus (House of Parliaments).

The dome on top of the Bundeshaus.

A gryphon on the roof of the Bundeshaus.

Fountains in front of the Bundeshaus on the Bundesplatz square.

The Marktgasse, one of the main shopping streets.

One of several figures standing on pillars in the Marktgasse.

The Zytglogge, a clock tower from the turn of the 13th century.

The other side of the Zytglogge.

A wall painting on a drug store near the Zytglogge.

The Kramgasse, continuing on from the Marktgasse on the other side of the Zytglogge.

One of several figures standing on pillars in the Kramgasse.

The Kramgasse.

The City Hall.

One of several figures standing on pillars in the Kramgasse.

The Aare River seen from the Nydegg Bridge.

View from the eastern end of the Nydegg Bridge.

The Aare River.

A grand building on the Schüttestrasse, which I've been unable to identify so far.

The Bundeshaus seen from the back side.

A church.

After my final train trip of the day, I was back in Zurich. While waiting for the tram at Central, I took a few shots of nearby trams and other traffic.

A tram at Central.

Another tram at Central.

The next day I climbed up the Uetliberg (Uetli Mountain, 873 m tall) on the western side of Zurich. This picture was taken about halfway.

Another view from the Uetliberg. Clearly visible is Lake Zurich.

The footpath up the Uetliberg.

My trusty backpack and camera bag.

View from the Uetliberg.

Apart from walking, the top of the Uetliberg can also be reached by train.

A train stopping at Uetliberg station.

On most trains, the pantograph is located in the middle. On this train, it was off to one side.

The Uetliberg TV Tower.

View of Lake Zurich and the city center from the look-out tower on the Uetliberg.

View of the Alps from the look-out tower on the Uetliberg. Unfortunately, there were too many clouds to really see the mountains.

The look-out tower on the Uetliberg.