Operation Window Seat: Mercedes Design World- 11.14.10
I just went literally around the world in 4 days! And for all who agreed it sounded both awesome and horrifying all at once… Mercedes-Benz managed to make it impressively painless, luxuriously comfortable even ~ i actually may have both seen more and slept far more than usual ~ as i was catapulted between time zones so quickly, my body had yet to completely notice before ending up right back here in LA! So forgive me for going quiet the last few days… i honestly can’t recall the last time i’ve actually had so little internet (and barely enough time to even panic about it!) I’ve just touched back down to LA, though currently in Laguna Beach for a bit before LA Auto Week kicks off. The gist of the trip is “Timeless Design” where we visit 4 of Mercedes’ six global design studios, one after the other! So on weds night i left LA, ended up in Stuttgart Thurs night (via Munich) to see the Sindelfingen studio on Friday, then quickly to a private jet to Milan, where we drive to see the Como studio - spend the night in Milan (next to the duomo!) - saturday morning we take the jet to Frankfurt to hop on the beautiful A380 to Tokyo - pop into the Tokyo hotel for and hour and a half to freshen up before heading to the Tokyo studio - and then hop on another jumbo jet right back to LA… and here i am in Laguna Beach SUNDAY AFTERNOON! …with an hour before the meeting with the futurist, a million pictures to sort out… and we’ve yet to visit the Carlsbad studio, or play with the cars, or see the auto show. So, here’s some quick NotVentures/Operation Window Seating literally around the world on the next page to inspire you… the globe has never felt quite so small or diverse as it does right now, my head is still spinning trying to keep track of all the places we’ve been and things we’ve seen in such a tiny amount of time… surreal to say the least! While this is certainly not everything, and a bunch of flights were in the dark… see some of the most inspiring views i found!
p.s. As for the actual design inspiration and incredible studio peeks… coming soon. Somewhere between catching up on all the pics and making sense of a bigger story as the trip comes to a close!
Sunset flying in to Munich from LA
Dramatic clouds over the planes in stuttgart…
Windiness as we boarded…
The logo amused me…
Landing in Milan…
Mobile pic as we drove to Como…
Views from El Gatto Nero in Como… breathtaking!
Mobile pic of the duomo in the morning…
Jetting it from Milan to Frankfurt…
Sleeeeeeep from Frankfurt to Tokyo i was pretty much out for 8/10 hours…
Then we appear at the hotel, and the views from the room…
Views from the bar…
More sleeeeeeep on the Tokyo to LA flight, and i wake up over San Francisco… to this view of the peninsula…
Immigration was a breeze today at LAX, and doing this trip with only hand luggage, i was out in no time! Quick little roadtrip… and i’m now posting this quickly to you here in Laguna Beach on the balcony!
So there’s a quick look at my Weds night till Sunday afternoon through windows… more to come on all the adventures soon!
Wow, I am officially jealous! I wonder why I was not invited! ;)
Hehe, but good for you. Looks like it has been an interesting trip. Wonder if the group was as entertaining as the last one! Mercedes is doing a good job in making bloggers happy I guess!
----- Markus reuter 22.11.10 03:51