north field trip to switzerland and germany

ahhh sorry im so behind. we had so much due this week i havent had much free time to spare. anyways heres a little rundown of our class field trip to zurich, basel, and vitra.

on tuesday, the 9th, we left really early to go to the train station to leave for milan. this was where we had to stop to catch a train to zurich, switzerland. after 8 travel hours later, we arrived and went straight to a poster museum that was showcasing a typography exhibition. they had some originals of bayer, hofmann, muller, and more famous typographers/designers. we even got to see some original mucha work!

after checking into our hostel we ventured out to find something to eat. this proved slightly difficult as prices were extremely high. restaurants comparing to redstones or champps had entrees beginning around 30-40 franks, which exchanges at close to the same rate as the dollar. the cheapest place we could find served pizzas for 18-28 franks so we ate there. howeverrrr, swiss money is the prettiest ive ever seen. each is a piece of art.

christmas preparation was in full gear here and it made me miss home. rome hadnt really started setting up window displays or lights or anything christmas related yet and zurich made christmas feel so close. unfortunately this was the only night we had in zurich, and we left for basel, switzerland early the next morning.

leaving our hostel

gorgeous views from the train ride

as soon as we arrived in basel we set out to find our hostel. it ended up being behind a pretty church really close to the river. it was also freshly renovated and extremely modern, which was nice for a change. we were actually going to vitra, germany later so we got some quick lunch, which consisted of cheap street food of french fries and a beer at a carnival. they had carnivals everywhere, like every 4 blocks. most were ending a couple days later so we happened to come at a great time. 

we took a bus to germany (which was only about 30 minutes away) to visit the vitra museum. we had time to kill once we got there so we took an autumn wonderland photoshoot. the colors were the brightest ive ever seen, it was crazy. 

after a little fun we were given a tour around the area. vitra is a designer and manufacturer of contemporary furnishings. they didnt want to use the same designer for each of their factories and buildings so each one is very architecturally different. zaha hadid even designed their fire station. after the tour was over, we were free to explore their "museum," which was one giant store basically. each room was decorated differently and i wanted every room in my future house to look like them all. (mom you would have love it.) unfortunately the clocks were around 700 euros and the couches were some 11000 so looks like i wont be able to afford it anytime soon. oh and we definitely took a nap in one of the rooms. we = around 8 of us. vitra should just hire us to convince the customers that their furniture is comfortable.

we returned to our hostel around 7ish and had a free night, so we decided to hit up some of the carnivals. we were all pretty tired though so we didnt last long. the next morning i looked out of our window to find this beautiful view :)

since switzerland is adorable and we couldnt get enough of it (and had a free morning to ourselves), we explored along the river. climbed some trees. and went to the munsterbauhtte basel cathedral, which conveniently was right next to a carnival. explored some murals, window shopped, and returned to our hostel. 

exploring a paper museum/mill was next on our field trip agenda. it was only a 5 minute walk from our hostel which was very nice after walking around all morning. we saw lots of old linotype machines, old typewriters, made our own paper, marbleized paper, and wrote our own calligraphy that someone sealed shut in a little envelope for us. 

after a 3 hour nap, we headed out to find food and explore a little more after we ran into friends at a nearby carnival. we wanted to see the spalentor castle, which was really just the former entry walls and gates to enter basel. "one of the three remaining gateways, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful gates of switzerland."

early the next morning we headed back on a train, stopping in zurich and milan again. we got to see the beautiful alps and tiny villages at the bottom of them. i want to live here someday :) OH and i almost forgot to mention that we found mountain dew!!! it was about a dollar per little can but i got a couple with the extra franks i had leftover. yummm.