I am still in recovery mode, sleeping a total of 13 hours today and STILL yawning. That should tell you how great the trip was!
So let's see... Day 1, Flight to Amsterdam
My host dad drove me to the airport in the morning. I had to get up at 5amish which is not my forte. So we arrived around 10am and headed to the hotel to drop off our things. We stayed in a very quaint area that reminded me of Boston. Our first visit was the Llyod Hotel that was partially redone by MDRV. The rooms were done by various designers/artists. We also had lunch there which was delicous. Can I also note that I am totally on board with having milk at every meal? Love it, Dutch. Later the ID students went to visit Edenspiekermann, a graphic firm. For dinner some of us went and got Chinese food, keeping it cheap. Then we all met up at Concertgebow? for a Brazilian piece. It was SO cool! There was a band called "pianorchestra" who played music using only a piano. Then there was this amazing family that played together as well as separately who were SO talented. I was blown away.
Day 2, Train to Utrecht
We went to Utrecht to see the Schroder Haus! We had a tour inside of it and inside of the buildings next to it the Rietveld also designed. It was so amazing. It's such a fantastic experience to actually be at a place you have studied and be able to take in the experience first hand. It creates a whole new connection. After that we went to Utrecht University and walked around their campus a bit. I was SO excited that we ran into the Basket Bar! I was not expecting it at all! We had lunch there. After that we went into the library and the Educatorium, both amazing buildings.
So let's see... Day 1, Flight to Amsterdam
My host dad drove me to the airport in the morning. I had to get up at 5amish which is not my forte. So we arrived around 10am and headed to the hotel to drop off our things. We stayed in a very quaint area that reminded me of Boston. Our first visit was the Llyod Hotel that was partially redone by MDRV. The rooms were done by various designers/artists. We also had lunch there which was delicous. Can I also note that I am totally on board with having milk at every meal? Love it, Dutch. Later the ID students went to visit Edenspiekermann, a graphic firm. For dinner some of us went and got Chinese food, keeping it cheap. Then we all met up at Concertgebow? for a Brazilian piece. It was SO cool! There was a band called "pianorchestra" who played music using only a piano. Then there was this amazing family that played together as well as separately who were SO talented. I was blown away.
Day 2, Train to Utrecht
We went to Utrecht to see the Schroder Haus! We had a tour inside of it and inside of the buildings next to it the Rietveld also designed. It was so amazing. It's such a fantastic experience to actually be at a place you have studied and be able to take in the experience first hand. It creates a whole new connection. After that we went to Utrecht University and walked around their campus a bit. I was SO excited that we ran into the Basket Bar! I was not expecting it at all! We had lunch there. After that we went into the library and the Educatorium, both amazing buildings.
Day 3, Last day in Amsterdam
For ID we went to Amsterdam University's Library and got to see their font collection. We saw everything from the 1500's and up, from wood engraving to copper, to hand written. It was so amazing! Then one of the guys from Underware came and talked to us about his firm. They also do some amazing work. We had the rest of the afternoon on our own! Lynn and I went to the Van Gogh Museum and the Rembrandt Museum. They were both so nice! Then we all met up for a delicious dinner. I ended up going out that night with a few friends since it was our last night.
Day 4, Off to Essen/Colonge
Today it was crappy weather, raining and FREEZING. Not the best way to be introduced to Germany. We went to the Ruhr Museum which was done by Rem/OMA. It was so awesome! He may have a huge ego and take away credit where its due, but his work is fantastic. We also went to the Red Dot Design Museum which I was really excited for. All of the products were so amazing. I felt like half the people didn't appreciate any of it, but I enjoyed it. Design is design. Then we went to a Sanna-Gebaudo building. Most of the architecture kids once again didn't like it, but I really appreciated it. Next we went to the Kolumba Museum by Peter Zumthor. It was so beautiful and elegant. Then (I know, it was a long day...) we went to the Turm Museum which was a tribute to a huge battle that took place there during the Romans. I was pretty upset that I didn't get to wander around since it was a landscape park, but we went into one of the buildings which had a really interesting interactive museum. FINALLY! We went to the Dom in Hamburg. This was the first time I had gone to a cathedral like this. It was breath-taking. The details were so beautiful and the stained glass was so pretty. It was a great way to end the day. Then we headed off to the hotel which was SO nice! I went out to grab a quick dinner with Kate and Allison then headed in for an early night of much needed rest.
Day 5, Hamburg
We left for Hamburg in the morning. Our first stop was their city info center where we saw a really cool model of the city. They are developing a new harbor area that the architecture students went on a tour of. The ID students went to the Museum of Arts and Crafts. We got a tour through an art nuveau exhibit. The pieces were so intricate and beautiful! I tried to do a bit of sketching while we were there. Then we got a tour through their graphic collection, and finally a tour through their "Stylectrical" exhibit. This was a really cool apple exhibit! The plan of it was a circuit board! They also had a memorial for Steve. But it was really cool to see how apple started and why, and where they are now. I also got to see Frank Ghery's cardboard chair as well as another chair he designed with Knoll! Bonus! We all had dinner together at an amazing german restraunt. We had delicous beef soup, then golash?? It was beef with pickles and something that was similar to a matzo ball. It was so so so good. For dessert we had custard with fruit that was so amazing. To top it off I had a beer that had lemonade in it. It was actually really good! Later at night a few of us walked around the harbor area to see what the opera house and such looked like since we didn't get to see it during the day. Then, we headed back to the hostel.
Day 6, Can we leave now?
We were all so exhausted. We went of a 2 hour walking/sketching tour with Bo as the leader. Then we had time on our own. I went shopping with Allison and Kate, because it's my favorite thing to do! Then we had lunch at a cute little German place. We had really good cream soup and then herring. I don't really like smoked fish or herring, so I didn't eat that part. BUT! I did eat the delicious potatos and the apple kraut and the vegetables. I also ate the yummy dessert they gave us! It was really good. We were all super glad to head out though! Everything was great until I found out we were taking a huge boat back into Denmark. I got so Nausseaus!
End of story, it was great to be back in Copenhagen =)
I ended the night by watching Bingo Banko, eating pie, and then watching How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days. Perfect night in