CORNUDA BOUND

Wednesday June 8

Cornuda bound we are! Woke this morning at 6:20. My new pal (im calling Brooklyn) had to run back up to her room bc she had put her pants on inside out... Tell me, there's just something kind of wrong about waking with the sun while traveling in Italy. However, something tells me that it just might be worth it. Have yet to be disappointed thus far on the trip.

We've had this constant haze over the city the past 3 days that every now and then turns into rain showers. Not the most ideal weather, but it creates this fabulous diffused glow for picture-taking.

That's all for now. My eyes are heavy & my brain hasn't quite turned on yet. Here I'll sit, staring out the window of the train. Hypnotized by the blur of terra cotta, stucco, graffiti & sea of vibrant green vegetation surrounding.

and so the trek begins...

first stop: Botter Pasticceria Caffé

drooling...

still drooling...

Just arrived in Cornuda! Stopped off at Botter Pasticceria Caffé & perhaps had one of the best cappuccinos in my life. No joke... and yes I know I've said that about 10 times already... The texture of the foam, the perfect pull if espresso paired with an authentic conolli; so light & fluffy. Delectable. Now back on to our bus and onward to the print shoppe.

Helvetica

Master printer. A true man of his kraft. 

Jonathan. Lita. Elise.

...and more helvetica

The one and only Louise Fili, sharing a print she found in the studio that she found lovely

Fell in love with a sink. 

Amazing wall art, all old wood block letters.

There he is again.

Nerd alert, walking to this restaurant reminded me of a scene out of Under the Tuscan Sun.

Picturesque doesn't even begin to summarize.

the crew

oh, look! It's-ah me-ah.

Incredible vintage woodblock letters. Another thing I fell in love with while I was here. 

Drawers and drawers and drawers of beautiful wood blocks.

They had a built-in wall shelving system that housed their rare letter collection.

N, for Nicoletta

The. Original. Bodoni. Type. Manual.

(Gasp!)

the cool letterforms from about, in use.

Holy crap, I've never been around so many über type geeks EVER! It was ah-maz-ing! Just left the Tipoteca Italia Foundation (tif). Our handsome Italian type guide, Alesandro, took us through a beyond incredible collection of printing presses, wood type from the 1800s, the original Bodoni typeset collection from 1500s... You would have thought we just saw Brad Pitt with the amount of photos we were taking (however, if it was brad pitt I could care less). Wow. And breathe.

Did I mention lunch? Nope, I don't think I did. We walked about a mile to Tratoria da Luciano, a family-owned Italian restorante in the fields of Cornuda. Chianti & local Prosecco to start, vegetable risotto al dente, followed by a tender pork roast & roasted fingerling potates... These are the things dreams are made of.

ECHOES OF ITALY (sva blog entry)

SVA MFA Design blog entry. Photos and copy by yours truly (from the Rome portion of our travels)... and yes, I've been given the Italian name Nicoletta. Ha! It's kind of stuck with me. Don't think anyone else on the trip is still going by their Italian alter ego. Just sayin'.

today...

June 8

periodic thoughts

Italians are speaking to me in French, and I’m ok with that.

Well, bc it means I look French and the French are classy people.

I wish I had a travel companion.

Found the best pastry shop thus far in Italy.

Yeah, you could say I might have over-indulged... we’ll call it a pre-birthday solo celebration, how’s that?

bought my first piece of typical Venezia tourist shwag: Murano glass ring. 

Finding I like the cities outside of Venezia a bit more... 

authentic, no tourist and Italians treat you with a bit more respect

thoughts of grad school... shhh

trying to distract my intense craving for Italian Leather goods

(fail. you'll find out later)

US TO EUROPE EXCHANGE RATES...

suck! My calculations were waaaaay off. No bueno.

DOWN TIME CAN BE DANGEROUS...

In between June 7 & 8

That is, if you can call it down time... I wander, and a lot. If I'm not contemplating my next move on this project, I'm wandering – discretely carrying my camera around catching any unique moment. 

red

speaking of red... wine

Absolutely adorable child. 

Found some gloves in the window she really needed to have

put a bird on it

shrooms, dude

dudes

Uncommonly rainy since we've been here. 

Cute kids in their galoshes. 

(shout-out to pops for hooking me up with shnazy raincoat)

THE UBER INSIDE SCOOP

I'm not the only one keeping tabs on the group... We've had a paparazzi-style crew keeping up on our every move throughout this journey.  Get some inside insight on some of the other kid's experiences here: SVA Masters Workshop in Italy (yes, those are my hands in the letter press photo – hot... I'm thinking about becoming a hand model.)

WHAT NOT TO DO IN VENICE

hotdogs  on French rolls... umm nope.

RIALTO MARKET

Tuesday June 7


Today, a 30 minute walk into the heart of Venice to the famous Realto bridge & then on to the daily open-air market.

dreamy

I don't even have to hear them speak, they just look so cool & Italian

amazing selection of produce

love

so far my favorite bakery/pastry shoppe... minis of everything. When I speak of

over-indulging, this is where it happens.

Monday June 6

We began with a short introduction to the Venice portion of the project, conducted by the one and only Louise Fili – a beyond wonderfully talented designer that I have admired for as long as I can remember. Elegant in her demeanor & classically whimsical in her designs. è così bella!

We began our first Venetian journey to Gianni Basso's letterpress print shop. Winding through the crevices they call streets, we met Gianni and his apprentice son in their tiny shop. Gianni, a kind sole with a giant smile from ear to ear, so gracious and so proud to have us in and show us around his centuries-old printing machines, alphabets and stacks of stationary, business cards, type specimens and beyond. 30+ years of work and a timeless style he's done work for the likes of Joan Rivers, Paul Rand, AND I even managed to find a University of Kansas business card he was re-designing... The world needs more Gianni's. 

From there we walked to the nearest gelateria along the water and shared ideas for our project... guess what, I'm doing mine centered around food. Go figure. 

Gianni's studio – curiosities everywhere

the man. the myth. the legend. Gianni.

details

details

...and more details

couldn't leave Venice without a cat photo

Zaynep and Brynly

A SURREAL SUNDAY MORNING

Sunday June 5

View from the boat taxi, on my way into my port in Venice

Immediately left hotel upon my arrival to go wandering... 

ran into a vintage/antique sale

love the architecture here

uncanny shot

my gelateria

Our classroom, well, one half of it. Some of my classmates. 

We're also being documented by local Italian art students. 

Kind of feel a little famous... but not. 

View from the other side of the classroom. Amazing. So surreal.

and of course, the food!

As I'm very sure you've noticed, I've done a poor poor job of keeping up with this... Can you blame me? We really have very little time in front of the computer and when we are, we're designing. I will do my best keeping things in order. May get a few days at once when I have a spurt of time...

Sunday I arrived in Venice. Took a boat taxi from the hotel where I was staying to Zattare; a lovely stop about 90 minutes along the way. The people here know enough english for me to get by, however I’m finding I’m learning very quickly. The phrase of the day Sunday was: dov’è______ (where is ______). 

As I arrived at my hotel, Belle Arti, there was a hand-written note waiting for me. Quite lovely. Flet as if I was on a secret adventure. “...meet in the hotel garden and we will walk to the San Gregorio...” I had 2 hours to waste before orientation. I immediately dropped my luggage and bolted out the door – beyond excited to start exploring this curious city. A veggie panino and some chocolate mint gelato were what awaited me. That, and a  street sale – as in the authentic, Italian-antique market.  

Time was running out, so I scurried back. Believe it or not, I was gone the whole 2 hours, wandering & winding through the streets amlessly by myself. I doubt you’d believe me if I told you, but I didn’t get lost. Found my way back without a stutter. Psh, I was made for this city.

Met the group & they are all wonderful. All ages from all over the world; Canada, New Zealand, Turkey... Surprisingly very few from NYC (where the school is based). Did an introduction, drank Prosecco & ate all the fabulous food you see photographed above. Not a bad orientation if you ask me. Now, why didn't they do this for undergrad?

Ciao, Ciao!