CHRISMYK

[aphrodihe]

moodboard: ravenclaw

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you’ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind;

[chrismyk]

Day 24/25 - Riva & Lugano

My last two full days in europe were very laid back, I slept in, relaxed and did alot of studio. On the 24th a group of us went to San Salvatore, the mountain that backs Lugano Paradisio.San Salvatore as it turns out is the second highest mountain in Italy, the highest we found out is the mountain right next tor Riva. So all of us had been unknowingly working and playing in the shadow of Italy’s tallest mountain for the past few days. It took 2 trams tog et us up the side of the mountain and then we took a quick treck to the church located at the top. We climbed the stairs of the church to the top terrace and were blown away.It was possibly one of the most breath taking views of my life. The next day I spent the morning working and then spent the afternoon swimming at Riva’s private beach enjoying every last second of my last full day in Europe. The night was pretty mellow, I had dinner and then went for a long bike ride around Riva till it got dark. It was a perfect relaxing way to finish up my study abroad in Riva.

This trip was incredible...beyond incredible and as I sit in this hot airport in New York typing this final blog post I can’t help but wish I was already back there. This trip was one of a kind and truely life changing and I cannot wait to see what my next adventure has in store for me.

View of lake Lugano from San Salvatore 

The Beach at Riva 

Cute little rive in Riva

[chrismyk]

Day 22/23 - Riva and Lugano

I got up that morning and took off with a small group to the nearby city of Lugano for a quick trip before studio. The city was beautifully situated around the edge of a gigantic deep green lake and the surrounding mountainside. The city was very much a resort city, I imagine that many of the richer Swiss have second homes here as the shopping in the city was even more expensive than Zurich. We took a quick 10 minute boat to the other side of the island, with the breezr blowing and the sun shining I felt like I was on vacation at a resort for a few minutes. After the boat ride we walked around the city a bit, had a great lunch and then hiked back up the steep city streets to the train. 

The rest of my day was pretty mild, with studio, then dinner and a bit of relaxing. I have to say I really have been enjoying the strong wifi connection since being in Riva.

The next day was a studio day and I wasn't feeling too well so I spent most of the day inside catching up on homework.

Lugano was beautiful

[chrismyk]

Day 21- Riva

The three hour train ride from Zurich to Riva was breathtaking. We sped past crystal clear lakes and towering verdant mountains. Everything about the Swiss country side was magnificent and also answered why the Swiss could at times remain so isolated from the rest of the world.

As our train pulled into Riva San Vitale I was beyond estatic. The small town looked nothing short of a resort. Protected on all sides by towering mountains the town lines a stunnig clear green glacier lake. After checking out the beaitful Virginia Tech Villa we moved into our apartment and had a great lunch. After lunch we rented bikes and a group of us headed to the lake to wash off all the long hours of travel we had done earlier that day. The lake was refreshing and left me completely satisfied with the last leg of my journey, something I had not particularly been looking up to. 

That night I met up with my old highschool friend Hannah, It was great to catch up and spend time with a familiar face. I spent the night catching up with Hannah and after dinner we headed over to the bar down the street for a quick beer before heading to bed

Church Doors in Riva 

[chrismyk]

Day 20 - Zurich

Our last day in Zurich was another nonstop rush around the city to see as much as we could before leaving. 

We started off that morining in a flea market at the edge of the lake, combing through stands filled with to the brim with eclectic items from ancient to arbitrary. My inner history nerd was freaking out on the inside trying to date any old looking object I could and marveling at the sheer volume of antiques and artifacts just lying about on these tables. 

Later Henry and I visited the graphic design museaum on the outskirts of the city. The museum was tiny but filled with iconic posters I had been learning about since I got into VCD. The museaum was small but powerful in terms of what it held and I studied each exhibit meticulously. Afterwards we explored the design school connected to the museaum and then headed our way over to the Kunts Museum. 

The Kunts Museaum was beautiful and held some absolutely stunning pieces of art. Henry and I walked around poking fun at the old mideival pieces and marveling at the rest. The names of the number of famous artists there were countless and all the work was great. 

That night a group of us went to the outskirts of the city, to a bar that made the best mojito I have ever had. The 15 franc was a worthy investment. The bar its self was alternative and hip. people sat down outside under tents, on giant stairs covered in carpets or on the roof. I felt like we had stumbled upon the young hipster crowd of Zurich and it was awesome. The drinks and the company were a great way to spend my last night on the penultimate stop of my trip.

Dice Sculptur at the Kunts

Hipster bar

[chrismyk]

Day 18/19- Zurich

These next two days were very very long. We had two full day work shops with Rosemarie Tissi, a very famous Swiss designer. She was an adorably cute old woman but when it came to design she was blunt, strict and very critical. The graphic design student spent the next two days getting our asses haded to us, swiss type style. By the end of the workshop we came out a little beaten up and our egos a little bruised but all the for better. The workshop was definitely a hard but rewarding experience and something I will be able to talk about for years to come. 

The first night after the workshop Maddie, Henry, Gigi and I went bar hopping and found some great places in the less central part of the city. It was a great way to decompress after a long workshop. The people of Zurich were nice and even though the drinks were expensive we had a great time chatting up the bartenders and waitresses of the bars we roamed. 

The afternoon after the last workshop Henry and I went to this fantastic not so little design shop. If Vitra was for furniture for my house, then this store is where I would have bought everything else. From kitchen knives to pencils to bath towels this shop was filled with everything a designer could think of. The rooms went on forever and each product was meticulously designed. After buying a few postcards we left, still wanted to purchase everything we had left behind. 

The water is beautiful here

Finished swiss design poster form the workshop

Zurich night life

Glitch exibit 

Art store

[chrismyk]

Day 17 - Zurich

Zurich was incredible, as soon as I left the train station I felt like I had entered a city the had been taken over by the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The building were all white and beautiful adorned in classical statues and facades. The people beautiful and the streets perfectly clean. The city was well off and the prices matched it. 

After we got into our hostel, the uncomonly hot Zurich weather forced us all to the beautiful Lake Zurich. Jumping in that lake was one of the best decisions I had this whoel trip. The cool, crytal clear water of Lake Zurich seemed to wash away all the minor stresses and sweat of traveling and left all of us drying off in the warm Zurich sun. 

That night Henry and I went around and explored the city, much livelier than Basel the city was beautiful and a perfect city to walk around getting lost for hours. 

Love Switzerland, posters everywhere

Lake Zurich

Zurich at night

[chrismyk]

Day 16 - Vitra

We spent the majority of our day in Germany at Vitra, The furniture/ Indistrial Design company. Just located over the boarder to Switzerland, this place was a design haven. Each building on the campus was meticulously designed and each one more incredible than the last. Their 4 floored gift shop/store was mind glowingly beautiful I wanted every single piece of incredible Mid-century Modern furniture they owned. If I ever have enough money I know exactly where I’m going to buy all of my furniture for my expensive loft in SOHO.

That night I went out with Henry and Meaghan for a great traditional Swiss dinner and the group capped off our last night in Basel with another great trip to the Beir Garten. 

Vitra

Cathedral in Basel 

Last night in Basel

[chrismyk]

Day 15- Basel

I spent much of the day today exploring Basel by myself and working on a journeys project for our studio, which required me to document a 500 step journey in Basel. I stumbled upon the beautiful Marktplatz that morning where I saw some beautifully painted buildings and had the best sausage I have ever had in my life. 

After lunch we headed as a group to the Basel Poster Museaum where we were given a private tour of the museums collection. It was fascinating to see this small group of people working very hard to preserve the integrity of well designed posters and their history. I loved seeing our tour guide share all of his favorite pieces with us and explain everything so animatedly. 

That night we e had group dinner where I got experience Swiss Fondu for the first time. Needless to say, one of the first things I do back in the states is find a Melting Pot. 

Old Gothc church doors 

These chicken dragon monsters are everywhere

Cool detail from the Old Bridge

Cool architechtural details from the Marktplatz area

Some of my favorite pics from the poster museum

Cool alleyway graffiti

[chrismyk]

Day 14 - Basel

We spent our morning exploring the Basel paper museum. This short little excursion was so so informative, and incredibly enlightening. It was quite the experience seeing how people hand made regular and specialty paper, i even got to make some of my own. 

We had the rest of the day off so Henry and I explored the incredible city that is Basel, had some amazing Gyros and gazed at all the beautifully designed buildings. That night a group of went out to a Beir Garten ( or beer garden ) and had a great time drinking amazing beer on an cute rooftop deck. 

Marbled paper I made

Found these  little guys 

The Rhine

Lights :)

[chrismyk]

Day 13 - Basel

We spent the majority of this day traveling by plane to Basel. Crossing over from Italy and Switzerland was walking into two different worlds. While Italy was rustic, bustling, maze-like and pretty dirty, Switzerland was steril, planned, orderly and pristine. It was a nice change of pace seeing a country that included design so much into everything it did. From the moment we left the airport, the architecture, ads, and posters all looked like a design professional took part in them all, something I did not see as much in Italy and definitely not at home. 

We stayed at a recently done hostel with a beautiful, modern feel. Surprisingly my friend Chandler from home was there studying abroad with his school. So after a very expensive yet delicious dinner I spent the rest of it catching up with him and hanging out with his group of friends at a local hookah bar late into the night. 

Bye Italy!

Our hostel

Downtown Basel

[chrismyk]

Day 12 - Vatican City / Rome

We spent our last full day in Rome covering every last sight and ruin we could before heading to Switzerland. We toured the Vatican Museum that morning which simultaneously left me in awe over the incredible pieces of art and architeture and disgusted over the sheer ammount of money spent on the building. 

After the museum we explored the Plaza at St. Peters and then made our way over to the Castle San Angelo and the beautiful San Angelo Bridge that connected it back to Rome. We explored Rome a bit more and then I went into shopping mode spending the rest of my day visiting little stores and markets looks for gifts for my family. I came back to the hotel totally exhausted with Rome but feeling very fufilled and excited to head over to Switzerland. 

Vatican ceiling. The definition of Modesty

Pinecone.

Beautiful modern art

St. Peters Square

Angels of Castle San Angelo

[chrismyk]

Day 11- Ostia Antigua/Ostia

We started off our day bright and early heading over to the ruins of Ostia Antigua, an old Roman port city that was still under excavation. The ruins were massive and beautiful and seemed to go on forever. I spent the morning getting lost and exploring the maze of ruins hoping to find a few of its secrets. 

We then spent the afternoon at the beach in Ostia, which gave us a much needed break from all the walking around we had been doing. It was so nice to feel the sand underneath my feet and the cool splash of the Meditteranean. 

After a much needed rest on the beach we headed back to Rome, tired and a bit more sunburnt. I went out that evening with some of the other students and explored the gigantic park by Villa Borghese area of northern Rome. The scenery was absolutely serene, it was great to walk underneath the canopy of trees and look at all the stunningly beautiful fountains and foliage. 

For dinner Henry and I broke off from the group and had a great dinner in the Jewish Ghetto area of the city. We both tried the mouth watering specialty artichoke of the neighborhood and then I had some deliscious lamb Gnocchi. We came back to the hotel that night completely satisfied and ready to sleep off our long day. 

Mosaics  and tiles from Ostia Antigua

The Mediterranean in Ostia

Church by Piazza del Popolo

[chrismyk]

Day 10 - Rome

Our next day in Rome was a long one but it was was spectacular. We started out in exploring the Colosseum and then made our way to the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum was nothing like I expected and was gigantic, probably about 3 square miles. The sheer massiveness of the forum took us by surprise and we spent a large ammout of time there exploring every nook and cranny. We hit up Trajans column on our way out of the ruins and back to the hotel.

Arch of Constantine

Colosseum

Roman Forum

Trajans Column

[chrismyk]

Day 8- Rome

Our first full day in Rome started with a bus tour of every major monument and ruin of the city. The tour fulfilled helped to cover a ton a sight seeing in a little time and it only furthered my want to explore every inch of Rome in the next few days.

A group of us went around after the tour and explored as much as Roma as we could. We hit the pantheon, Palazzo Barbari, the Spanish Steps and Palazzo Novona. My personal favorite was Palazzo Novona, a bright beautiful plaza with three beautiful fountain s infront of an incredibly ornate government bulding.

That night we had another incredible group meal at a small mom and pop restaurant  ran by an adorable old lady. It was traditional Italian home cooking and it was amazing. After wards, Henry, Meaghan, Gigi and I went to a small rooftop bar and ordered a few drinks to cap off the night.

Palazzo Barberini and Fontana del Tritone

Pantheon Column 

Beautiful doorknocker on a random house door

Top of the Trevi Fountain

Palazzo Navona

[chrismyk]

Day 7 - Rome

We departed from our little haven nestled in the mountains that morning and after a bit of travel ended up in Rome. To put it in an American context, Rome was very much like New York City just with older buildings, more graffiti and an occasional 2000 year old mounument.

We had the afternoon free to explore Rome so we grabbed a quick lunch at a cute little mom and pop establishment and explored the city. Seeing all these monuments and ruins I had learned so much about in art history classes was a truly surreal experience. The Pantheon, The Trevi Fountain ( which was sadly semi under construction ) and catching glimpses of the colosseum was fulfilling every expectation I had for Rome. After stopping by an amazing Gelateria with a selection of over 150 gelato flavors, we walked along the Tivere River and trekked our way home back to the hotel.

Ruins right in the middle of the city 

Pantheon :)

The Tivere River

[chrismyk]

Day 6 - Cornuda

We started our day off back at Tipoteca working on our letterpress project, which was an alphabetical poster project. We spent the morning preparing the lead type compositions to print and then we went off to a life changing lunch.

I am entirely serious when I say life changing , It was truly an amazing meal and the epitome of Italian fine dining. Just to give you a little taste we had Prosecco, an array of beautiful appetizers, a delicious pea risotto and very authentic Italian Tiramisu. I was beyond satisfied to say the least and I was half convinced all other food would taste like cardboard compared after that meal. Did I mention that the area around Cornuda was the birthplace of Prosecco AND Tiramisu. Just saying… be a little jealous.

After the very fulfilling lunch, we finished up printing. Afterwards I explored the letterpress museum, marveling at all the old typographic pieces and bought a few souveniers.

That night we bought out the Hotels stock of house made Prosecco. I might have finished a whole bottle myself… but it was from the vineyard from behind our hotel, it was drink or regret in my mind.

Cool type from the museum

printing

inking

Final posters