Switzerland

Zurich was the first city I saw in Switzerland. It surprised me with its compact dimensions. It is an easy city to walk around and get from place to place. Swiss seems to preserve the look and feel of their towns with love and care. There are a lot of cobbled streets that appear to be open only to pedestrians, but occasionally you see a car slowly navigating among the narrow twisting streets. These old streets look rather nice despite being not very comfortable for walking or driving. My photography in Switzerland was limited to architecture, some landscapes and market places, which I love! You can always find photographic opportunities here,whether it's nicely arranged produce, or sellers packing and unpacking their goods. Landscapes in Switzerland have been portrayed to death on postcards and souvenirs. So while riding on the train I was not surprised to see the rolling hills and snow covered mountains. At the bottom of the hills I observed the clean dimensions of fields and cottage style houses with obligatory flower pots suspended under each and every window. These scenes are fun to photograph as each house is different. Everyone tries to outdo their neighbour. Despite the landscapes being cute, they are a challenge to photograph sometimes. You have to carefully plan your photography for either the morning or late afternoon otherwise the light can be rather flat. To get good photos with a twist, that do not copy postcards, you need to learn the country places well and plan in advance for your journey. Above all, I give Swiss credit for their train system, which is excellent! It gets you anywhere quickly, on time and on budget. Discounts are available for frequent trips.Some carriages are called 'quiet', where you are not supposed to talk. You can easily fall asleep there on well cushioned seats. For the tourists there is plenty of help at the information centres. Swiss are very polite towards foreigners and treat you with respect.