Paz Now import: June 2009

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Holiday at last

The semester here in Zurich is over, all work is handed in and with view of my internship in August I figured that I won't have time to return to England in July. So I decided spontaneously to take a trip back to see the degree show and visit some friends.

In order to avoid a major culture shock and make my short return to England a pleasurable experience, I kept my schedule busy. A trip to the English Riviera in Paignton and Torquay, a visit to Plymouth to see the Wildworks open-air theatre performance, a weekend in Bristol with degree show, Banksy exhibition, Cabot Circus, walk along the harbourside, perfect pizza, yoyo burger and Bristol´s Biggest Bike Ride, and finally some relaxing time at the beach in Devon helped me to find not everything shit again really appreciate what I've got in England. I return with the good feeling that everywhere has its good and bad sides.

wirklich zu schätzen, was ich in England habe. Ich kehre zurück mit dem guten Gefühl, dass überall seine guten und schlechten Seiten hat.

Good thing I brought back my umbrella, which I didn't use during my England trip, because in Zurich it´s pouring down with rain.

And now go and enjoy my impressions.

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Switzerland in three days

Zurich is a nice city and the smallest metropolis in the world but it´s neither the capital (as many people like to think) nor very typical for Switzerland. However it is the perfect starting point for trips around the country to find out about the diverse landscape of this tetralingual, tiny country with its multiplicity of lakes, mountains and cows.

And with the fantastic rail network it is possible to reach any corner of the country within a couple of hours with a day ticket for only 52 francs (£30). So Matt and I decided to see the entire country and both sides of the alps (i.e. from East to West on the North side and on the South side) in only three days. Click on the images to see each of the albums with geotagged photos.

BlogThis!Share to X Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

Zurich — Milan

Because Switzerland is a rather small country conveniently located in the middle of Europe, I decided to invest 19 Euros to take a train ride to Milan over the holiday weekend (pentecost is a holiday, "bank holiday" is British, it´s never had anything to do with banks ... in case you were interested in the correct terminology). The train line goes through Ticino and the scenery is rather nice.

Milan is old, a little shabby and noisy, just like I remembered Italy. If you ever go there, be sure to check out the science and technology museum. Certainly the biggest museum of that kind I've ever been to. There´s an interesting part about communication which is actually quite similar to the communication museum in Berlin, except the interactivity is done more subtle. Leonardo DaVinci´s inventions, which they built a bunch of models from are also not bad. I always regarded Leonardo as a renaissance designer who didn't give a damn about disciplinary boundaries. Great man, we can learn so much from him.

By the way, the GoogleEarth experiment worked out neat and well (despite the road being slightly modified meanwhile). No need to print maps or write down addresses anymore. Just go on StreetView and figure out where you're going before you're heading to the place. It can certainly save some getting lost time. The only thing I'm still waiting for is "WalkView" with a human eye level and on walkways. Add a sound layer or moving image and I ain't travelling anymore.

Something that really made me laugh are some really odd signs found on the streets, in trams and shops. Looks like Italians like their pictograms really expressive and quite literal. Below are some examples of not quite unambiguous signs. Remember, no underwear, no robbery, no pole dancing in the underground, sleep on the carpark for 30 minutes max and don't run away from the diggers, they'll get you anyway.

If you want to see more weird things, some pretty buildings and really old, bright orange trams, click on the image below to see the whole album.