Zürich is served by a ubiquitous surface tram network that moves people efficiently around the city. On many lines the wait is no more than five minutes between trams. Today we purchased a 24-hour pass so that we could move around the city quickly and see the sights.

After a morning catching up on some work obligations, we began with lunch with Eszter at the faculty lunchroom of ETH Zürich, which has an open-air terrace with a view out over the city (see top photo). The facilities of ETH Zürich (a well-known technical school) and University of Zürich are close together at this location, so we saw a little bit of both schools. On display inside one of the U. of Z. buildings is a copy of Einstein’s Ph.D. diploma, granted in 1906.

Following lunch, we walked down the hill to the Zürich art museum (Kunsthaus), which offers free admission on Wednesdays. We spent several happy hours exploring their collection, which ranges from old masters to contemporary digital works and installations.

Besides the trams, our public transit pass also gave us access to the water shuttle, which travels along the river and part of the lakeshore. We jumped on the opportunity to take a little cruise and see the city from the water. The approved stops have a little pier marked by striped poles, and if you wait there long enough the boat will come and pick you up.

Towards the end of the day, we walked to the industrial section of town to meet a former student of Susannah’s for drinks and dinner. Along the way we walked along the banks of the Limmat River, which on days with gorgeous weather like today attracts throngs of people to the waterfront to tan, be seen, and occasionally swim. (We did see a few people in the water, but most were sitting along the edge in bikinis and board shorts.) We also passed this high stone viaduct, which has been creatively repurposed as a shopping mall with small establishments in each bay.