Sunday at Uetliberg

Sunday we took a more local sightseeing trip via the S10 train to Uetliberg, Zürich's local mountain. At 871 m, it is high enough to get out of the fog that often settles in the valley. Sunday turned out to be a sunny day from start to finish, our first since we moved over 2 weeks ago! The mountain is a popular place to visit so we were not the only ones out enjoying the beautiful day. Some people hiked, ran or biked to the summit, and others took the train as we did. Then at the top, a lookout tower lets you view the city down below, the farming fields in the distance and the impressive Alps to the south. Despite the clear day, there was a haze of smog so the mountains were not as clear as we had hoped. We had a lunch of grilled brats and hotdogs with slabs of hearty bread instead of buns, and then climbed to the top of the lookout tower. There is a trail with all the planets in the solar system spaced and sized proportionately along the ridge of the mountain so we walked about 5k along it to a cable car which took us back down into Zürich to another train back home. The trail was still ice and snow covered in spots and proved to be challenging walking sometimes. Only Elisabet needed to be carried for part of it. Leif wondered what we had gotten into.... we had told him the hike was only about 30 min and it turned out to be much longer! Luckily we were armed with chocolate squares for bribery. The cable car down the mountain was automatic (no driver) and we were so packed in, both Travis and I sighed with relief when we pulled into the station. The train back to Zürich's main station took us along a part of the city and a river we had not yet seen. The kids love the larger trains with the upper viewing section and the smooth ride. They can all navigate quite well on the tram system. I think even Elisabet might be able to figure out how to get back to our apartment via tram. She knows the key number (9) and place names of Schwamendigerplatz and Altried/Hirzenbach.