BALTIC CRUISE PART 3

 

Sorry, I nearly forgot to finish posting my Baltic cruise journal sketches but I'm back now and starting with this sketch done as we sailed away from Helsinki. We had taken a tour to a traditional village and had a look around the city but the weather was damp and I wasn't too inspired till I saw the pretty islands as we left and the seagulls escorted us along the coast.

 

Our next port of call was Stockholm and we woke to a beautiful sunny morning, sailing through the archipelago.  We seemed very close to the shore and had a lovely view of the pretty red cottages and pine forests that line the coast.  That swirl on the bottom right is a scrap of silk and mohair yarn I bought later in Stockholm in a fascinating shop in the old town.

 

Our mooring was a few kilometres out of the city and we had a magnificent view from our balcony of the amusement park with it's incredible rides.  I could hear the screams of the people as they swooped down on that tall tower structure.

 

We were transported to the city by bus and decided to visit the city hall as we had already been here before and seen most of the other sights.  We had a very interesting tour and then went in search of lunch in the old town, Gamla Stan, where we had meatballs, the typical Swedish dish.  After a bit of shopping for herrings and crispbread we took the bus back to the ship for our tour of the ship's bridge which was a great experience.

 

From Stockholm we had a day at sea while we sailed to Warnemunde in northern Germany where we docked right next to a pretty holiday resort.  We were able to walk ashore and explore and found that we could take a train to Rostock for only a few euros.

 

We found an attractive town with some interesting architecture and a good choice of bistros for lunch.  Later we took the train back to the ship and bought a few souvenirs along the way in a fantastic shop by the port.

 

Our last stop was at Copenhagen which we had visited before so we decided on a casual walk from the port with our new friends, Jerry and Sorrel.  We stopped for coffee in a pretty hotel courtyard and a herring and beer lunch at Nyhavn before another drink stop on the way back to the ship.

 

 

Here we are on the last shore day of our cruise after lunch at Nyhavn.

We had a wonderful cruise with so many new places seen and friends made and it certainly was a new experience for us.  We're normally country folk, preferring rivers and landscapes to cities and crowds but this was the only way to be able to see so many places in a short time.

 

WINTER HOLIDAYS 2019

 

We had 2 lovely sunny weeks at Los Cristianos on Tenerife in a comfortable modern hotel overlooking the harbour and bay.

I took some embroidery supplies with me so that I could sit and stitch in the sun.

I was inspired by the cacti used to decorate the public areas of the hotel combined a couple of sketches for this one.

 

 

There was a nice pool area with plenty of interesting trees and plants to draw.

 

I took a handful of inktense crayons and some water soluble Triplus pens so I was very happy sitting for the afternoon drawing what was in front of me.

 

These pots of cacti were on the roof of the hotel in a chill out zone where we could relax on big sofas and sun loungers with extra cushions.

 

The cactus bar had it's 6 foot high symbol in a huge pot.

 

While we were there I went to the market to say hello to Sharon and buy a few more of her beautiful sarongs. She was delighted to see what I had made in previous years and I've promised to email her a picture of my next creations.

 

My final stitch pic is an interpretation of the view from our balcony at sunset.  I re-cycled lots of bits like the ribbon from a basket of goodies from the hotel, a cord from a sun-hat and the sun is cut from a perfume sample card.

We're already thinking  of our next trip, a cruise to the cities of the Baltic in May and I'm planning to make a sketchbook to record the journey.

HOME FROM THE HOLIDAYS

 

Back home now after a couple of weeks touring Brittany. 

We started at L'Aberwrach on the 1st of September where we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a delicious meal at le Vioben, an excellent restaurant renowned for it's seafood.

This is a sketch drawn while we were walking along the footpath by the edge of the river, I haven't added the blue of the water or the pale green hills in the distance as I wanted to concentrate on those wonderful tangled pine trees.

 

The path was lined with all sorts of plants like brambles and bracken but my eye was taken by the velvety looking sloes and the nibbled greeny grey leaves.  I used to gather these inedible berries to make sloe gin but as we haven't finished drinking the last batch from 2 years ago I thought I would leave them for someone else;  I also believe in only taking what you need from nature, not over collecting just for the sake of it!

 

From L'Aberwrach we drove on to Locronan, designated 'une petite cite de charactère' by the French tourist board.  The campsite was on the edge of town up a winding hill road and we were allocated a plot with a fabulous view through the front window which I couldn't resist drawing as I sat at the table in the morning.  I could see across the valley to the hills opposite with their éoliennes (wind turbines) turning slowly in the distance.

 

As always I took some sewing supplies with me and stitched this picture postcard view over the next 3 days. The background is a printed patchwork fabric perfect for this kind of work and then I layered up organza and other scraps as well as some of the confetti patchwork I prepared before we left home. I used a mixture of threads and yarns to depict the trees and leaves and chain stitch around the edge for a border.

 

In the mornings we visited the town to see what all the tourists came for and to have a refreshing beer before climbing back up the hill to camp.  The walk was very pleasant through the woods with glimpses of the view through the trees and then the roof tops and the old church spire came into sight.

Coach loads of people come here to see where many films have been made and spend money in the gift shops.  I felt there wasn't a lot of character though, just a lot of well preserved grey buildings and hundreds of people pointing their cameras in all directions.  We even overheard an American trying to persuade his wife to pose in front of the bank pretending to take out some cash!

We moved on to Benodet next but I'll have to save that till next time.

A bientot!

2018 SUMMER HOLIDAY PART 2

 

We had decided to cross the Pyrenees from coast to coast and here is one of my sketches done on a rare damp morning at a small camp along the way.  This tangled tree was right next to our parking spot and when the sun came out later it gave us some welcome shade while we took our lunch.

 

 

The tree had flowers and fruit at the same time and I enjoyed using my watercolour pencils to capture the fuzziness of the seed heads.

 

 

We only had one stop on the Mediterranean coast at Roses, just across the frontier  in Spain, which has a wonderful bay with sandy beaches and an interesting history.  I sketched and stitched the palm trees just in front of the café where we took our daily aperitif.

 

 

We then spent a week at Argeles Gazost, a wonderful place just south of Lourdes, the famous pilgrimage destination.  The snow capped mountains surrounded the town with a fast flowing river running through the valley.

 

 

This is the view from a high point in the town which I was able to sketch and stitch using some threads and organza I found in the weekly market that filled the centre on the Tuesday.

 

 

We discovered the 'voie verte,' a cycle track made from a disused railway that runs from Lourdes to Pierrefitte Nestalas.  What a fantastic couple of days we spent cycling in each direction and enjoying the views and the cool air when we came close to the river.

 

 

I was totally captivated by the sight of the cold water rushing  over the different coloured pebbles so I tried to capture it in a stitchpic.

 

 

Another view by the river, a clump of poppies caught my eye and soon that became another embroidery and then a birthday card for someone special.

We finished our holiday at St Jean de Luz for a few days then on to Nantes for a couple of nights on the last leg of our return home.

 

 

I didn't have time to sketch while we were at St Jean de Luz so here is one I did on an earlier visit showing the typical architecture.