Summer Sketching in Germany

Summer went too soon. I still miss it much.

 

Happy New Year

  

Hic...Happy New Year!

Khram Spasa na Krovi

 

Thanks to Postcrossing, I got this amazing sketch of Khram Spasa na Krovi (The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood) in St.Peterburg, Russia from a random postcrosser called Mary Kochukova. It's great, when someone in Russia, who you don't know, made a beautiful sketch of your favourite architecture and sent it to you.

Please, no christmas parties!

Oh, please, no christmas parties!

Christmas Tea

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/2010/12/christmas-tea-by-thao-mai.html

 My recipe "Christmas Tea" is now posted by They Draw & Cook- Recipes Renderings by Artists and Illustrators.

Ice Girl

It's cold outside. Winter and all things related to it are the only things I now have in my mind: Hooded anorak, mittens, fur lined boots, big wool scarves, ice crystal, snowflakes, penguins, polar bears, igloos, Eskimos, Snow Queen and... an Ice Girl

Some reasons to love winter

Brzzzzzz...it's cold outside. Winter is here. Let's have a cup of hot chocolate and watch snowflakes through the kitchen window.

First Snow

 

Christmas is coming. You're so far away. Where you live now doesn't have winter. That's why I caught one beautiful first snowflake and sent it to you. Remember me!

Sketches in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

 I'm going to Amsterdam to visit the Van Gogh museum. How deeply I'm now in love with Vincent!

This time, Ben'll stay at home. Amsterdam might be a bad influence on such a spoiled boy like him. Danny- a sweet Koala- will go with me to the Netherlands.
Notes: Don't mistake a coffee shop for a café. People go to a café to enjoy a cup of coffee but go to a coffee shop to buy hemp.

 I'm now staying at Annette's Bed and Breakfast happily. There's a small kitchen in my room, so I can cook everyday and don't have to go out for a meal.

 Have you ever been in Amsterdam? Did you know, see, taste, try...?

 The House of Bols is a must-see for cooktail lovers. Is it a bar? No, it's a museum of cooktails and genever with a stylish bar, where you've got a cooktail for free.
I ordered one glass of Vanilla Berry Crush. It was tasty. Yummy!

Some souveniers I bought from the Van Gogh museum. Because the museum was crowded with visitors from many countries, it wasn't pleasant for me to stay longer in the museum shop.

 From my room, I could see the small garden in the courtyard of the guest house.

Mailboxes in the Netherland are painted with red. I don't like these funny, long mailboxes, but prefer the ones in Germany, which are yellow. Yellow is one of my favourite colours.
Now I knows, that TNT comes from the Netherlands.

 "De Molen De Gooyer"- the last windmill in Amsterdam, built in the 17th century.

 Friday, 15.10 was a really bad day. It rained cats and dogs all the time.

 

Begijnhof is a special courtyard middle in the city. Only women reside here. At Begijnhof, you'll see a lot of old houses, built from the 17th century. However, the house called Houten Huys (The Wood House), which were painted with black, originates from the second haft of the 15th century.

 A ship souvenir I bought from a ship shop owned by a German.

Amsterdam is crazy and international, and I love this city. There are some reasons why...

Sketches in Firenze (Florence), Italy

I'm going to take a short holiday in Florence- the city of my childhood's dreams

 Things I packed in my suitcase. If you don't know who Ben is, I'll happily introduce him to you.

 Before going to Florence, I still had enough time to go to a party held in a farm, where the air is fresh and reeks of cows' droppings...

 ...and saw there for the first time in my life, how people milk cows and roast a whole pig...

 ...and enjoyed a very frustrating German song sung by a guy sitting on a strawroll at the party. What a day to remember!

 Because I wasn't able to wait to drink coffee in Italy,I went to a coffee house in my city and ordered me a "Moby Dick".

 

Finally, I flew to...Paris Charles-de-Gaulle. While waiting for my flight to Florence, I bought some postcards of "La Tour Eiffel".

 Hotel Ariston, Firenze.
No fridge. No hairdryer. It didn't annoy me at all, as long as I still had clean bedclothes to sleep on.

 Carriage first in front of the cathedral, later at Piazza della Signoria

Although there's a lot of horse-drawn carriages at the centre of the city, the streets aren't full of horses' droppings, because each horse carries a bag behind.

 Crests on the facade of the cathedral

As a crest fan, I found in Florence my paradise. There are crests everywhere in this city.

 

The drawn wall clock  in the cathedral from the year 1443

 Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza del Duomo, 10:30 p.m

The square where the cathedral is located is full of tourists in the daytime, that's why I waited for the night. During the day, it was hot in Florence, but it became very cold at night. As a result, I caught a cold.

 Santa Croce, Piazza Santa Croce, 03:00 p.m

What a beautiful day! I visited the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo in Basilica di Santa Croce and bought there a lot of postcards.

 View from Piazzale Michelangelo, 06:00 p.m

From this hill, I could see Palazzo Vecchio, San Lorenzo, Duomo and Santa Croce. What a view!
Besides, this place was full of German tourists. No more Italian, only German. It made me wonder.

Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, 01:00 a.m

The streets at the centre of the city are crowded to midnight. It was funny to eat ice-cream at this time of day.

 Mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk and me writing postcards 

It's a passion to write postcards. Ben was a little bit upset, because he would receive no postcard from Florence.

 Panforte Fiorentino

Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert containing fruits and nuts, similar to ginger bread. A piece of a Panforte from Gilli- a famous coffee house located at Piazza della Repubblica- could cost 12 Euro. Crazy!

 Montefioralle, Greve in Chianti, Toscana, 03:00 p.m

A walk to remember!

From Florence to Greve in Chianti by bus, then to Panzano on foot through beautiful vineyards and olive orchards.

 Piazza G.Matteoti, Greve in Chianti, 02:45 a.m

Unfortunately, I missed the last bus from Panzano to Florence. I went back to Greve and stayed for the night there.

 Dishes I ordered in a restaurant in Florence and another in Greve. I'm now deeply in love with Italian food and decided to learn a bit Italian, in case I come back to Italy or want to read a real Italian cookbook in Italian.

 Florence is a great city. And the reasons are...