Conil - a white city at the atlantic coast

White city, beautiful endless beaches, blue water, sun and light… 

Córdoba

We stayed 5 days in Córdoba. Córdoba is famous für the Mezquita-Mosque which has been converted to a Cathedral. I loved the atmosphere in the great Mosque and tried to ignore the huge Cathedral which was built into the heart of it.

Córdoba is the town of patios and orange trees. I can imagine the smell and how beautiful it is in the blossom season. Flowers and plants are decorating every corner, green patios and orange trees everywhere. 

„Plaza de la Corredera“ was a good location for a serveza in the early evening,

and a Flamenco show is always a must for me in Andalusia, even if it’s a touristic show. Olé!

Algodonales 2019

My husband cannot imagine an October without being in Algodonales. He is a paraglider and this small town in Andalusia is famous for its good conditions for paragliding. The area is also famous for the large amount of vultures who live there. They even fly beside the paragliders - making this an unforgettable experience. I am happy to accompany him. During the day, while he is in the air, I have time for sketching.

Since it was the third time for me in „Algo“ (here are the previous posts from 2018 and 2016) it was a little bit like coming home. The long plaza with two rows of orange trees in front of the church is still the center of life. 

At any given time in the day there is a different activity there. 

Siesta time. The Plaza is empty

My favorite time is between 18:00 and 20:00, when the temperature cools off, and everybody shows up there. Small groups of men, couples and old people with their helpers are walking up and down the plaza. Kids are playing all over, while their parents are sitting on benches.

I loved the view from our window. Again and again I tried to catch the exceptional light. While looking at these sketches I still hear the sounds of cocks and chickens, which had whoken us up every day…

Every morning we had breakfast and every evening we had a meal with some of the pilots in one of the bars in the Plaza.

I was lucky this time. There was another non-gliding wife in our group and - unbelievably - she also liked sketching and had a sketchbook and pencils with her! So we spent the time together moving from one shaded spot to another, sketching in Algodonales and enjoying every minute of it.  

We also visited Ronda,

Zahara,

and Grazalema.

Next October is already booked :)

In der S Bahn

Chilehaus

Chilehaus is one of my favorite buildings in Hamburg. It was designed by the architect Fritz Höger and built between 1922 and 1924. Despite of its enormous size and its dark bricks, it has a touch of lightness. 
Last Saturday I had the opportunity with the Hamburg Urban Sketchers to make some sketches of it.

Amsterdam - USk Symposium 2019

The sketch-highlight of 2019. The USk symposium in Amsterdam. This time, I decided to not participate in the workshops. The sketchwalks were open for everybody and that was what I really wanted - to spend 4 days of sketching, accompanied by old and new sketcher friends.

Amsterdam is a beautiful, big and touristic city. All the „grachten“ (canals) and bridges provide a fabulous and unique atmosphere. 
 

The main traffic in the city consists of bicycles and boats. Every boat, private or public, was so cozy inside! All of them had at least pillows, table cloths, drinks and candles.

Houseboats are all over the place and each of them were surrounded by flowers and many other details that I couldn’t really identify.

And all these old buldings! Beautifully old, each of them with its own character. It was very hot weather during the symposium so I couldn't really choose my motives freely. I had to sit in the shadow and as we know: the sun is moving... so the time for a sketch was always limited. 

I stayed in a small hotel just in the hottest part of the red light district. This was not a good choice for me. In the evenings the street was full of red light tourists, who where wandering up and down the street, watching the half naked women posing behind red lighted windows. In the mornings the street was empty of people but full of rubbish. 

So I experienced two sides of Amsterdam and I guess that is part of the city too. Every morning I happily left the hotel to sketch beautiful parts of the city. And every evening I tried to stay as long as possible with other sketchers drinking & drawing, going back to the hotel as late as possible.

In these 4 days I got into such a sketch flow - it was wonderful and I hope to be able to keep it!