Stockholm - Monday 25th February 2019

Well, hello, and thanks for tuning in to the first edition of An English Fool Abroad With His Sketchbook of 2019, Stockholm Edition.

I’ve wanted to visit Stockholm for a long time – believe it or not ever since I saw the huge photograph of Gamla Stan ( the island which has the old town on it)which they used to have in the restaurant in IKEA in Cardiff. Sad. It’s one of quite a few cities which calls itself the Venice of the North, and not without good reason. Still, we’ll come to that all in the fullness.

A 7:25 flight this morning from Bristol necessitated a very early start, but even so I still only arrived about 20 minutes before the plane started boarding. For once I have nothing unusual, funny or annoying to report about the flight. We boarded on time, and we left, well if not quite on time to the dot, at least not more than a few minutes late. Something for a first for EasyJet, I fancy.

Arlanda airport is about 20 minutes away from the centre of Stockholm using the Arlanda Express. Now, I think that I was in a bit of a funny mood when I got off the plane, because for some reason discovering that the Swedish word for lift is Hiss set me off on a fit of giggles which lasted halfway into the centre of the city. When I arrived at the Central Station my first priority was to get a 72 hour travel card. This necessitated – gulp – talking to people. And it was when I was buying my card from the tourist desk in Central Station that I first encountered the Swedish Hej. Hej- pronounced hey – is a pretty ubiquitous greeting in these parts. Which is fine, except it sounds like an accusation the first time you hear it. It sounds like it ought to be followed by – what the hell do you think you’re doing? – You do get used to it pretty quickly, though.

There was no necessity to go to the hotel right away, especially since the central station is rather obviously, right in the centre of Sweden, and therefore very handy for lots of interesting things to see and sketch. I made the 4 sketches you should be able to see with this post. Coming back to the point about Stockholm being nicknamed The Venice of the North, there’s a good reason, being that the city stretches across no fewer than 14 islands. I crossed to Gamla Stan, which literally means the old town. It’s an attractive place, no doubt about that. Going across to Gamla Stan also meant that I got to fulfil one of the required elements for any visit to a capital city, namely a ride on the metro. Stockholm’s is the T (for tunnel) Bana (for Bana). I only went the one stop back to the Central Station, and was about to go and find where the splendidly named Pendletags (commuter trains) departed from, when I saw a word which will always gladden my heart. Trams, and a helpful arrow. That’s how I ended up with a sketch of the tram, and yes, of course I went for a tram ride.

So, back to Central Station for the third time, this time I really did take the Pendeltag to Alvsjo, and was delighted to find that you can actually see the hotel from the station. So far so good. Inside the hotel the reception is up several flights of stairs. When I found it, I announced to the chap behind the desk that I would like my room please, he looked at my piece of paper with the booking reference, then looked at my passport, then looked at both again, and said,
“You are not Yennifer.” No flies on this guy, I thought to myself, but decided that sarcasm was probably not the best idea at this time. I explained that Yennifer, sorry, Jenniffer, is my daughter who made the booking. In her name.
“She is not coming?”
- Yes, me old china, she’s in me rucksack here – I made a point of not saying, and explained that Jenn had made the booking, and that’s why it is in her name. He wasn’t that happy, but got a lot happier when I offered to pay the full amount up front in cash.

After unloading the bag, and removing a couple of layers of clothing – look, I know that the forecast said that it is going to be unseasonably mild in Stockholm this week, but I wasn’t taking any chances – I took the pendletag (love that word) back into the centre. My planwas to take a walk to the National Museum and have a look and thus cross off one of the items from my to do list. Good idea. Or at least it would have been if it had not been stangd pa mandag. Yes, if you haven’t worked it out that means closed on Mondays.

By the time I’d walked back to the Central Station – again – the sun was sinking low, and a bit of a bitter wind had started to blow. Also, the 4am start this morning was beginning to take its toll. So I headed back to the hotel to conclude day one.

Amsterdam - 29th October - 1st November Part Two

Hello, and welcome to the second episode of An English Fool Abroad with his Sketchbook. I’m sorry to say that after the misadventures getting to the hotel, this has been a largely foolishness free trip, and I’m afraid that this episode continues in very much the same vein. So if you want to leave this episode and go and do something else, then feel free.

Right, now they’ve gone, let me tell you what really happened. No, only joking, nothing that exciting, honestly. Yesterday I was only able to book one of the earliest times for the Van Gogh Museum today, so I decided to have breakfast at the hotel. Mistake? Not necessarily. However, notices like “You may only take what you are going to eat NOW! Do not take when you will not eat!” frankly set the wrong mood. Yes, alright, I would have taken a free lunch from the cold buffet as well as breakfast if not for those notices, but I’d like to have been given the benefit of the doubt. Frankly, too, what was on offer was rather, well, spartan. I didn’t expect a full English, but it might have been nice to have something approaching a full Dutch. I felt like complaining after having my third helping of everything that was on offer, but discretion proved to be the better part of valour.
So to the Van Gogh Museum. Now, I’d like to say something very witty and clever and original here. But I can’t. Literally, amazing. Van G. is an artist whom I’ve come to appreciate more and more over the years, and this collection was just out of this world. I was a bit sceptical about shelling out another 5 Euros for the audio guide, but I’m so glad I did. I entered, worked my way through the audio tour, and looked at my watch. Two hours had gone! Honestly, and I hadn’t even noticed. An absolute highlight of the trip.

Mindful of the fact that I didn’t do a great amount of sketching, I decided to head back towards Dam. Dam is the heart of the tourist area of the sity. So called because that’s where the locals first built a dam in the River Amstel – Amster – dam, see? They’re a wonderfully literal people, in my experience. The nearest Metro station to Dam is called Rokin. Now, I’m very sorry, but I cannot read that name without mentally adding the words – Don’t come knockin’. Here I made the first sketch of the day, of an agglomeration of buildings that I liked. This also revealed the great problem with sketching today. It was a bright and very crisp October day in Amsterdam today. If you were moving around, then it was great. But. . . if you were sitting down for between 30 and 45 minutes working on a sketch, the cold began to creep into your bones. All of which, I suppose, is by way of being an excuse for the fact that I only made another four sketches today.

A short walk from Rokin, then, back to Dam, and I sat and made the second sketch, this time of the Nieuw Kirk – or New Church. It’s still pretty old, actually, and now more of an exhibition space than a church. It’s currently holding an exhibition about the Life of Buddha. Arguing against themselves there, I would have thought. The Oude Kirk, or Old Church, which is in the Red Light district, is actually the oldest surviving building in Amsterdam. Before they built the New Church, it was simply called the Church. They built the New Church, so this became the Old Church. Told you that the Dutch are pleasingly literal people.

A Dutch gent came up and had a look at the sketch, and I was a bit worried, because Amsterdammers are reputed to be very forthright and blunt in their views. But he liked it, so I refrained from drawing an ink moustache on his face, which might have been my reaction had he not.

I sat for about 45 minutes, but by then I literally couldn’t hold the pen straight, I was so cold, and so I moved off in search of coffee (and a chance to use a toilet for free). Once I’d had a coffee from a Dunkin Donuts I headed to a bridge over one of the smaller canals which I’d noticed on the walking tour yesterday. It had a handy bench by it, and this is where I produced the third and last sketch of the day. While I was in the process of making it, two American ladies came up, gushed a little, and asked if they could take a photo of the sketch. Seriously. So, if you’re thinking that this made my day, then you know me too well. Once again, about an hour into the sketch the sun had gone in, and I just froze, and had to stop where I was.

As for the rest of the day, well, after eating I spent an interesting couple of hours in the Amsterdam Museum. Another audio tour, although this one was included in the price, which is all well and good. I did enjoy it, although I did find something a bit strange. You’re led through the story, from he founding of Amsterdam to the ‘golden age’ of the mid 17th century. Then suddenly the story jumps forward, and you’re hearing about Napoleon Bonaparte making his brother Louis – and I have to say that he really looks a shifty sort – the first King of the Netherlands. What happened to the intervening century? Maybe not a great deal, but it would have been nice to have been told something.
Time was getting on by the time I’d finished in the Amsterdam Museum, and I was, as the Dutch might say, knakkkerrred. So I headed back for the hotel. I might head out this evening and see what’s what, but my legs and calves are giving me gyp, so it’s unlikely. 9:30 flight tomorrow morning, so I’d say this pretty much wraps up An English Fool Abroad with his Sketchbook for 2018.

Murcia (13th August)

Hello, good evening, and welcome to another episode of An English Fool Abroad with his Sketchbook. Now, I’m sure that you’ll have been paying attention so you’ll know that today was scheduled for a trip to Murcia. I was surprised to learn that Murcia is actually Spain’s 7th largest city. It was actually founded in the 9th century by the Emir of Cordoba, and I saw a couple of traces of the city’s Islamic heritage.

So, I promised you some foolishness, I think. I made sure that I was by the station with some time to spare, so I nipped into the nearby Hiperber supermercado to buy a large bottle of water, and a smaller one. The idea was to drink the smaller one, then refill it and use it if I was going to make a painting. Clever huh? Well, actually not really. You see, I opened it on the platform a minute or two before the train was due. Now, bearing in mind it was called something like Gaseosa I did expect it to be fizzy. Not that fizzy, though. It practically exploded on opening, and the top third of the bottle showered me, just as the train was pulling into the station.

To be fair the little Cercania train to Murcia passed through some quite interesting scenery. Now, I’m a city boy, myself, and I often find scenery to be a bit like wallpaper – I don’t really notice it’s there a lot of the time. The hills, which we passed quite near to, were impressive. In fact, colour and shape wise they were kind of like I’d imagine the surface of Mars to be like.

It took about 40 minutes to get to Murcia. Now, a little bit of research beforehand had told me that I really wanted to see the old town, and that the railway station was a bit of a walk. When I had researched which bus to take me to the Royal Casino – more about that later - - it gave me two options. Well, when I asked the drivers of both,- Casino Real – they both gave me the kind of reaction they might have done if I’d asked them for a cheap day super saver return to Ulaan Baatar. So stuff it, I thought, and started to walk. I had seen the tower of the Cathedral as we’d puled into the station, so I knew the right general direction. I hoped.

No, I’m not going to try to keep you in suspense. I did get there. And the centre of Murcia is really rather impressive. First port of call was the aforementioned Casino Real. It was built in the 19th century, and is still the HQ of a private club, but in 1983 it was declared a national monument. Oh, and if the word ‘casino’ is conjuring up mental images of slot machines and roulette tables, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Open to the public are some rather grand public rooms – ballroom, a hall of mirrors, and an Italianate patio meant to conjure up images of Pompeii. After I’d taken the audio tour I was pretty much ready for a sketching break, so I walked to the Plaza San Domingo at the end of the street where the casino was located, and made the ink sketch you can see of the corner of said street.

The Casino is the most visited building in Murcia. However, probably the most impressive is the Cathedral. Again, I had the same problem with it that I’d had in Madrid – when you’re in the Plaza where you can see it’s detailed and ornate façade, you just can’t get a good sketch of it. You can’t because a) you’d hurt your neck, and b) the whole plaza is bathed in sunshine and you’d go doolally in the heat before finishing your sketch. On the same plaza is the tourist information office, and all I had to do was ask and they gave me a lovely detailed map of the centre of the city. Incidentally this revealed that I had actually gone in a fairly impressive circular detour on my way from the station to the Cathedral. Such is life.

Using the map then I visited a nineteenth century market, just as it was closing up for siesta time, and crossed the Rio Segura on a different bridge from the old bridge I’d used earlier. Walking back along the side of the river towards the old bridge I came upon a good angle showing the bridge, and the tower of the cathedral, with, more importantly, a bench in the shade to sketch it from. This is the second sketch I made today.

I had two things left by this time. The first was to sort out some sustenance. I’d bought a couple of queso y jamon boccadillas (aka cheese and ham baguettes (aka cheese and ham long crusty rolls) ) earlier before catching the train. Having polished these off I was looking for a little more. I passed a pasteleria and saw what I took to be a tray of cheese pastries in the window. I bought one, bit into it, and found that what I had taken to be light yellow cheese was actually custard. Gotta be honest, it was delicious, for all that. Then it was a gentle walk to the station, incidentally passing by tpday’s winner of the Most Unusual Name For A Museum Award – Museo de la Ciencia y Agua de Murcia (The Museum of Science and Water of Murcia). I’ll be honest, I was tempted to have a look inside, but time was getting on, and so I headed back to the station.

Nothing particularly interesting to report occurred on the way back to the Casa Me Duck, but something interesting happened when I got there. I was sitting in the living room, minding my own business, reading my kindle, when the sofa started to shake from side to side. Honestly, it was an earth tremor, and it went on for it must have been about half of minute. Apparently it’s not uncommon here, and the houses have been built so that they can withstand any amount of tremors of this strength – which I believe from reports locally to have been about 4. Well, I can promise you all that it is the only time that the Earth has moved or will move for me on this trip. (Oh, be fair, you can’t say that you didn’t expect that one, surely.)

So that was the trip to Murcia – nice place and I enjoyed. Tomorrow it’s Alicante. More foolishness? Can’t promise anything. Watch this space. Adios.

Madrid - Day Four

So, if you’ve ever read my posts on previous trips you’ll know that there are certain things I like to do whenever I go to a new city. I like to ride a funicular if they have one. Well, I haven’t found one of those, but there is a cable car, the Telerifico, but sadly I just haven’t been able to cram it in. Maybe next visit. I also like to ride the trams if they have any. No, but I have been riding on the Metro, and you can see the picture I sketched this morning. I had to let three trains go before I’d ‘got’ it mind you, but wwe all have to make sacrifices in the name of Art. Then one of the other things I really want to do is find if the city has what I would call a ‘signature’ bridge.

You know what I mean, I’m sure. If you think of my previous sketching adventures, Prague has its Charles Bridge, Berlin its Oberbaumbrucke, Budapest has the Chain Bridge, and even Kaunas has the Vytatutas the Great bridge, albeit that’s rather more modest in scale. I was beginning to think that Madrid maybe didn’t have one. A bit of googling first thing this morning, though, brought up the Puenta de Toledo – the Toledo Bridge. This was completed in the 1720s, and in my humble opinion, as bridges go, it’s a bit of alright. Mind you, at this time of year the Rio Manzanares really isn’t anything to write home about. One of the other things I try to do is to take a river sightseeing trip, and up until I got to the bridge I wondered why I couldn’t find anyone in Madrid offering them. Having seen the Manzanares I think I now know. Basically you can forget about getting a boat down it. The closest thing you could have to a river sightseeing trip is wading through it in a pair of wellies.

I’d taken the Metro to the bridge, but I walked back along the river path towards the palace, and from there onto the Temple of Debod. Basically, the Egyptian Government donated it to Spain since it was going to be flooded by the Aswan Dam anyway. It’s, how should I put it? – a bit – bleh, mind you, it was built in the Roman period anyway.

I walked back to the hostel for lunch and a wee siesta, and then decided to check out the Parque de Buen Retiro. Now, the path that I took from the main road took me up hill, along an avenue full of what looked like little green beach huts on either side. Each of them belonged, so it seemed to a bookseller. I asked one of them if she minded me doing a wee sketch of her, and whether she understood - difficult to tell since she replied in fluent grunt – she didn’t make a fuss when I did. And so, good people, she became my Madrilena of the day. Thence to the park.

Considering that the park is in the middle of one of the busiest areas of the centre of Madrid it is incredibly peaceful and tranquil. Mind you, it’s huge. However most of the pathways are lined with trees, so it was well shaded, which is just as well since the tips of my ears were burning – although I notice that my legs are staying stubbornly white, a legacy of my Scottish ancestors, I’d guess.

One of the features signposted in the park was El Palacio de Cristal. Now, even with my poor Spanish I could work out that this probably meant crystal palace. Well, I’m very sorry, but offer me the chance to see a crystal palace and I’m your boy. I have to say, when I reached it I really wasn’t disappointed. It was built a couple of decades after the London one, and like that one, for an International Exposition. According to my research the plan was to make it in Bilbao, which they did, and construct it in such a way that it could be dismantled and re-erected elsewhere. The Spanish authorities had the good sense to leave it where it is. It’s terrific.

I shan’t lie – I’ve loved Madrid, but I’m cream crackered. So I’ve decided to call it a day. The train to Madrid is just after midday tomorrow, so if there’s anything I’m desperate to sketch I can maybe do it before I leave. I sketched the Toledo Bridge about 8:30 this morning, and it was so lovely to do because the day hadn’t really started to heat up, so maybe there will be an opportunity tomorrow morning.

So that’s almost it for Madrid. However don’t worry – for tomorrow we’re off to Alicante.

Lithuania - Kaunas Sketchpedition 2018 Required Elements

Kaunas is the second city of Lithuania, and for a brief time it was actually the temporary capital city of the newly independent nation in the 1920 and 30s while Vilnius had been annexed by Poland. Its interwar Art Deco architecture has earned it world heritage status, and is very much a leading centre for Lithuanian cultural life. 

In my opinion, it is a developing, rather than developed tourist destination. A lot of necessary tourist infrastructure is there - loads of hotels to suit all budgets, and what seems to me to be an excellent public transport network of buses and trolleybuses. However, the centre of Kaunas is not at all well signposted - well it's not signposted at all. Once you've found the Old Town there is a tourist information Office in the Town Hall Square. It was never open during my visit, but did have a couple of very helpful maps n the wall outside, which I photographed on my kindle. English use is not very widespread at all.

As for the required elements, well:-

* Ride a tram. Ride the Metro

Kaunas has no trams. Nor does it have a Metro system - which is hardly surprising considering the country's troubled history through the late 19th and 20th centuries. It does however have trolleybuses : - 

Generally I found Kaunas public transport - trolleybuses, ordinary buses and minibuses to be exceptionally cheap and reliable. 

*  Seek out and sketch the city's signature bridge

There's only 4 bridges in Kaunas and none of them are exactly world beaters. However this was my favourite.

This it the Vytautas the Great Bridge, built in 1948, during the 5 decades of Soviet occupation. One thing I like about Kaunas is that although there are reminders of Lithuania's trouble history throughout the city, it doesn't rub your face in them, and for all of this there is a feeling of looking towards the future. 

* Take a Boat sightseeing trip along the river

It is possible to do this in Kaunas. Not in April, though, for the company running the boats only operates from May - September. 

* Get up high and have a look over the city - preferably by funicular if they have one

They do have a funicular railway, which runs from the end of the Vytautas Bridge. The only real problem was that once I got to the top, there really wasn't a great view across the river to the Old Town. There should have been, but the viewing platform was fenced off, and there were trees obscuring the view from all other points. 

14) Hungary - One Day in Budapest - Other Pictures

St. Matyas Church, Buda

 Yes, this is one of the pictures that I finished off in the evening back at the hotel. It was taking ages, it was cold, and time was getting on. It's a stunning looking church, high on the same hill that houses the Castle.

Chain Bridge, from Pest side of the Danube

 My first attempt to sketch the Chain Bridge. It just doesn't work because of that crenelated tower in front of it.

St. Matyas Church and the Fishermens Bastion, Buda

 My first sketch of part of the Matyas Church, and the Fisherman's bastion beside it, which is a great place to look down and out across the river and the rest of the city.

Budapest Parliament Building - Buda - from Danube

This is the other sketch I finished off in the hotel. I made a very quick outline sketch on the boat, but most of the work was done from the photograph.

13) Hungary - One Day in Budapest - November 2017 - Required Elements

Alright, it wasn't exactly 1 day. I flew out on Tuesday 31st, but didn't arrive at the hotel until after dark. I did go into the centre of town by tram and metro, but it was too dark to make sketches. I spent all day in the centre of Budapest until after dark on Wednesday 1st, and flew home early on Thursday 2nd. Well, half term holidays are short, and you have to make the most of them. As such, I was pleased with the number of sketches I made on the day - although I will admit that a few of them were started on site, but finished in the evening back at the hotel with the help of photos I took at the same time.

Budapest - Chain Bridge

 I first saw this iconic bridge lit up at night. When I looked at it, being a Londoner, my first thought was - Hammersmith Bridge. Only, it doesn't look like the current Hammersmith Bridge very much. But I must have been thinking of the previous Hammersmith Bridge, since not only were they very similar, they were also designed by the same man, an Englishman called William Tierney Clark. Once I'd started comparing these Budapest bridges to bridges on the Thames, I couldn't stop. The next two bridges struck me as being like Chelsea Bridge and the Albert Bridge - even though the similarity is slight at best. As for the Chain Bridge, the original Hammersmith Bridge has gone, but Tierney Clark's Marlow Bridge in Buckinghamshire , which was built as a dry run for this one, is still there for a comparison if you're interested.

Castle - Buda - sketched from boat while waiting for sightseeing trip to start

 I did take a sightseeing boat trip down the Danube for an hour or so. Not as interesting as the Spree trip in Berlin, but more interesting than the Vltava trip in Prague. This is the castle complex in Buda. You can either walk up to it, or do as I did and take a ride in the funicular railway.I made this sketch while waiting for 15 minutes or so for the boat to depart.

Heritage tram - Danube riverbank - Pest side

 The most interesting - slightly older looking trams in Budapest run along either bank of the Danube. I sketched this one by the stop just along from the Chain Bridge. Not one person in Budapest stopped to look at any of my sketches at all. I must be losing what little touch I ever had.

Number 50 tram - Hatar Ut metro station

One of the things I love about a European trip is when you can leave your hotel early in the morning, and walk down the road a short way then hop on a tram. From my hotel you just had to cross the road to the tram stop, and take a 15 minute ride on the number 50 tram to the end of the line at the Hatar Ut metro station. These trams are pretty much as modern and efficient as you could ask - almost up to Berlin standards. In which case its such a shame that some of the passengers take them so much for granted, and show so little respect as to leave half eaten pizza on the seats and on the floor.

11) Germany - Berlin - late August 2017 - Required elements

Next on the itinerary, and the last chance to go anywhere during the long school Summer Holidays, was Berlin. My wife bought me this trip as a Christmas present back in Christmas 2016, and I'd been really looking forward to it. It was another European capital city, which was reason enough, but more than that it was fair to expect that Berlin is one of the great European capitals.

I had two full days and another half day in Berlin, and I found that I did spend most of that time in East Berlin. So let's get to the trams and the river and the bridges.

Bode Museum - Museum Island

 Okay - now I didn't actually make a sketch while I was on the river - although I did take a sightseeing trip along the Spree. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than the trip on the Vltava in Prague too. Berlin 's river, the Spree is home to an island which houses five of the world's great museums - hence its name of Museum Island. This is the Bode Museum, at the tip of the island, and is one I made sitting on the opposite bank of the river. It was one of several sketches which passers by stopped to talk about, I'm happy to say.

Oberbaumbrucke bridge

 Ah yes. Now, I wouldn't say that the bridges in the centre of the city crossing the Spree are ugly. They're rather nondescript, though, and I was starting to despair of finding a real signature bridge for Berlin, until I found a photo of this, the Oberbaumbrucke, online. This is actually a road and rail bridge, as it carries one line of the U-Bahn, the Berlin underground railway to its ending. You have to go East to the end of the line, mind you, but it's worth it. I mean, let's be honest, this bridge is mad, almost Wagnerian, and I like it very much. It was a burningly hot day, though, and I burned my bald spot while I was painting this.

Hackesscher Markt S-Bahn Station

 The Hackescher Markt is a large market in the centre of East Berlin. It's also a rather nice station of the S-Bahn, Berlin's other, rather grander metro system. This was another one which attracted some nice comments, from a group of Spanish people no less, who turned out to know Catral quite well.

Hackescher Markt - catching the M6 tram to the hotel

I'll be honest, I couldn't get much enthusiasm for sketching Berlin's sleek, modern and highly efficient trams - this is the only sketch I made on the spot. This one was done from photos later-

.

7) Czech Republic - Prague - Other sketches - April 2017

Vintage style car cruiser - Prague Old Town

 These stylish car tour vehicles were everywhere. You can't drive through every street in the Old Town, but through the few that you can drive, these were a constant.

St. Nicholas Church - Prague

This is y favourite church in Prague, and it's pretty much as good inside as it looks outside. It's a baroque masterpiece which sits on the same hill as the castle complex, only a little lower down.

Watercolour - Prague Old Town Powder Tower

 This is the only true watercolour I made in Prague, and I won't lie - it's based on a photograph. This illustrates one of the great things about the Old Town - you can literally turn a corner and find a medieval remnant just waiting for you to admire it, like this one.

Prague Legionariu Bridge

 You can see the dome of the St. Nicholas Church here in the background. This is a perfectly tidy metal arched bridge which only suffers by comparison with the Charles Bridge, which is really unfair competition for most bridges.

Prague - Number 23 tram approaching Legionariu Bridge

 Yes, as well as bridges I also have a thing about trams. This is the number 23 tram which I used to get to and from my hotel in Kubanski Namesti. I won't lie. I had to sketch incredibly quickly, but even so I needed three number 23s to stop there before I had the tram finished. The figures were sketched in the same way as I often do to form a composite sketch - as I've said before, they were all there, but not necessarily at the same time. This next sketch was made later from a photo that I took at the time: -

Prague Tram Café - Wenceslaus Square

 Imagine my delight to discover the café to one side of Wenceslaus Square made out of 2 vintage trams. I sat down and ordered the most expensive cup of coffee in Prague ( I can't prove this, but I can't believe anywhere else charged more) while I sketched this.

Prague - Church sketched while sitting on a bench in the street market off Wenceslaus Square

I made this sketch about an hour before my airport transfer was due to pick me up just off Wenceslaus Square, and finally a couple of passers by reacted and took a good look at my sketch. I was beginning to get paranoid through lack of feedback.

4) Czech Republic - Prague - Charles Bridge - April 2017

Charles Bridge, Prague

I've already explained the circumstances of my trip to Prague n April 2017. One sight that I sketched more than once is the Charles Bridge. I will confess, I have a thing about bridges. I once took part ina very well known British quiz show where contenders are required to answer questions on a specialist subject, and one of the subjects I picked was the History of London Bridge, The Charles Bridge is a really good one - built across the River Vltava in the 14th and 15th centuries. It's named after King Charles IV of Bohemia, in whose reign construction started. It has stunningly impressive gothic towers at both ends.

I like this sketch, since I took great time and trouble over it, fortuitously adding the two silhouette figures just as I was about to finish.

Monk on Charles Bridge

This sketch on the other hand was all about the figure when I started it. I was crossing the bridge first thing in the morning, and saw and followed this monk, sketching furiously as I did. Then I added other figures one by one - to this extent it's a composite sketch. These figures were all there, but not all at the same time. You can see the towers a little more clearly.

Charles Bridge

This is my clearest sketch of the bridge, from the Old Town side. Sadly it's not complete. All I can tell you is that the day was nobbling cold. It took me about 10-15 minutes to get this far, and by then my hands were absolutely frozen.

The next day was a little warmer, but I didn't return to sketching the bridge itself. I did, though, makes this sketch of the statue of Charles IV at the Old Town end of the bridge.

Statue of Charles IV of Bohemia - Charles Bridge