Paz Now import

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.

Friday, 29 May 2009

On holiday with GoogleEarth

As some of you might know, I'm a big GoogleEarth addict. Something I've been wanting to do for a long time is to find out how far GoogleEarth can assist or even replace a trip to an unknown city. For my little weekend experiment I picked Milan as a city where I've never been before. I checked it out in Street View etc., trying to spot some interesting places and figure out how to get to the hotel. Now I'm curious how well this prepared me for the real trip. I'm gonna report afterwards. Watch this space.

Thursday, 28 May 2009

Objectified

This week I had the pleasure to meet the Gary Hustwit, the director of 'Helvetica' who came to our school to show us his new documentary Objectified. According to Hustwit this is the 2nd part of a trilogy of design documentaries. He didn't want to disclose what the third part is going to be about but if it´s as good as the first two I'm sure it'll be worth waiting a couple of years. I'd put my money on architecture, but who knows? Objectified is definitely worth watching. If you liked Helvetica, you'll like this. And now I'm addicted to El Ten Eleven.

Saturday, 23 May 2009

Spoilt for choice

The Federal Republic of Germany celebrates 60 years of democracy this year. Although I'm there rather seldomly, I'm happy to follow my responsibilites as a German citizen at the ´super election year 2009'. Last time I found myself at the train to Berlin from where a plane was to take me abroad for the first time, when I ticked my boxes for the parliamentary elections. Today I found a large brown envelope in my post box and inside a lot of little colourful ones that again contained metre-long voting papers as well as instructions how to use them. It´s about the European parliamentary elections and the local elections and the whole super election package contains four envelopes in various colours and sizes and a phenomenal 40 inches long ballot paper as well as one in A2 and a little A4 one. I can cast my votes in an elaborate box ticking system in various different ways and then put envelopes into envelopes into envelopes. Particularly interesting though is the choice of parties for the European Parliament. It contains beside green, grey and purple parties also less known ones such as the Animal Protection Party, the Bavarian Party and even the Pirate Party of Germany. I wonder if the Anarchistic Pogo Party, that I remember from last time, was too drunk or hung over to participate this time.

OK, so I'm going to tick my boxes now, after all it doesn't happen very often that citizens are asked for their opinon. I can be glad that I'm not asked for my vote every week like in Switzerland. Perhaps I should vote blindfolded to be perfectly fair or maybe I ask the Wahl-o-Mat, a web application that compares my opinion on certain key issues with the policy of the parties. Oh before I forget: Happy birthday, democracy.

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Mountains and more

What a weekend. First the typography day, then a hike to the Säntis and a gorgeous view from 8205 feet altitude at a day that couldn't have been more beautiful (photos here or click on the picture above). And last but not least on Monday I got up at ten to five in the morning after 4 hours of sleep, travelled about 430 miles through 3 countries, spent 4 hours in the car, 5 on the train, all that for an interview (and a proper beer) in a town where I've never been before. Where? Have a guess. Hints below.