Blankenese spring 2021

The winter was long and cold. 

We are in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic. Everything is closed, no cafes, no restaurants, no journeys, no trips.

Here are some sketches of my neighbourhood during the first warm spring days.

Happy birthday

 תמילה, מזל טוב! - פוסט לכבודך

My very special friend is celebrating today her birthday. 

Five years ago, she gifted this blog to me as a birthday present. "I think you should have a blog", she said, opening a door for me to share my sketches on a simple platform.

I cannot sketch the meaning of a good friendship. How wonderful it is to have an empathic friend from my homeland, to be able to talk, share stories and to laugh in our language as well as understanding each other intuitively.

I can, however, sketch Shoko

 

and I love sketching their flat. They live close to the city center, but are lucky enough to have a small garden in the front

and even a small backyard, which is the place to be on a hot summer's day. 

She and her husband share a passion for flea markets and they create compositions in every corner and every wall. Each spot in the flat has a story behind it.

 

 

 

 

But those always change! The big table, for instance, started its career in the garden, moved from there to the kitchen and has finally found its place in the living room. Who knows how long it will stay there. The old armchair has also found in the meantime a new place, I was told on the phone.

Speaking of the kitchen! It is also full of wonders. Unfortunately I have only one sketch and it doesn't show much.

To be continued after the lockdown ... when I can finally hug my friend again!

A walk in the woods in winter

Jenischpark in autumn

 Jenischpark with no words

 

A weekend in Lübeck

Since we didn't have any big Urban Sketchers meetings this year, I felt a strong urge to spend some days sketching with others. Therefore I spent a weekend in Lübeck - a city not far away from Hamburg - but a city in which I have never sketched before.

 I was fortunate to to be able to meet locals urban sketchers there, such that I could discover Lübeck with my sketchbook and good company.

Lübeck is a beautiful historic city that is surrounded by the river Trave. 

It’s not too big and not too small and you can find large impressive buildings there,

 and magnificent small houses in very idyllic corners.

 

The great weather magnified the overall beauty. Lübeck really did show herself from the best side.

 

Sommer holidays in the Alps

Mountains, mountains, mountains

Three weeks sommer holidays in the alps at three different places for hiiking, paragliding (not me!) and sketching. For someone who lives in Hamburg, where the highest hill has 90 meters, the world of mountains is exiting. I have to get used to the hights above me or the depth beyond me. This big nature is very impressive. 

In the first week we stayed in a simple little wooden house 

with a small garden, 

and a typical living room.

I love hiking in the mountains. I love the green smooth alms, the lakes, the silence and the fresh air. But the real highlights are the mountain-huts, where you get the best Kaiserschmarrn or Apfelstrudel.

One week of the three we spent in Feltre, Italy. While Gu was driving up with his paragliding group to the top, taking off and flying above this beautiful erea, 

I drove down to explore with my sketchbook the town Feltre,

and its surrounding. 

Life there was still under the shadow of Corona. Some bars and shops where
closed and everybody was going around with a mask…

 

My highest sketching point at 2443 m 

My hero :)