I have recently been on a short 10 day tour of northern Europe – Germany, Holland and Belgium. Here are my sketches from Amsterdam and Belgium starting with our first stop Cologne in Germany.
Germany sketches
Newquay Airport has increased the number of places it flies to and from during the summer so we flew from Newquay to Dusseldorf Airport with Eurowings. There is a big travel market for visitors from Germany wishing to visit Cornwall to visit the beautiful Cornish locations featured in Rosamunde Pilcher novels. It was then a short train journey from Dusseldorf to Cologne for our 2 night stay. Click on any of the images to see larger versions.
The first sketch is of the Hohenzollern Bridge, a railway bridge consisting of 3 large iron truss arches. You can see the Cathedral in the background. The second is a bar in the Heumarkt, a cobbled plaza filled with bars and coffee shops. A great place to watch to world go by. We were sat in a cafe opposite enjoying a refreshing cup of tea and cake! The last sketch was of the inside of Cologne railway station. It seems that German trains don’t run as efficiently as I thought they might! Our train to take us from Cologne to Amsterdam was well over an hour late, so to distract me from waiting I got my sketch book out to capture the 4711 advertisement that at the end.
Amsterdam sketches
We did eventually arrive in Amsterdam, our home for the next 5 days. We had a lovely studio flat in the Museum Quarter. It was very hot in Cologne and the heat didn’t disappear when we got to Amsterdam, although we experienced frequent heavy showers.
My first sketch is a very typical Amsterdam scene of a bridge over a canal, with the bicycles all lined up. I found the tall houses, bicycles and canals quite overwhelming, it was a job to decide what to paint! My second sketch was of the windmills at Zaanse Schans. Zaanse Schans is now a heritage site with open access, and as well as seeing the windmills, it also has green wooden houses, handicraft shops and industries. It was very pretty and well worth a visit. You can visit Amsterdam Noord by a free ferry ride from the main train station. It was interesting to walk around this area as it was a contrast to the main city. The last sketch is of Paard van Marken, a lighthouse on the Dutch peninsula Marken, on the IJsselmeer. We caught the local bus to the “island” of Marken and walked out to the lighthouse. I particularly loved Marken, although it used to be an isolated island, it is now connected with the mainland by a dike. Catching the bus and visiting this island gave me a good insight into the dike system that is used in the Netherlands.
Belgium sketches
From Amsterdam we caught the train to Antwerp for a 2 night stop – well worth a visit. There is a beautiful historic centre and less touristy than Amsterdam. Although there were a few stag dos, probably attracted by the strength of the Belgium beer. From Antwerp we travelled to Bruges for another 2 night stop. Bruges, with its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings, is very pretty but also very touristy.
You can walk under the River Scheldt using a pedestrian tunnel with an authentic wooden escalators. They took me back to when I lived in London nearly 40 years ago! My first sketch is of the view across to the Antwerp city skyline. My second sketch was of the Grote Markt in Bruges. This is a very large Market Square with so much going on. I was particularly attracted to the gabled buildings, with its many cafes and restaurants below. Lastly I attempted to capture one of the many beautiful canals. I was attracted to this scene because of the reflection in the water of the buildings and large tree that overhung the water. I am not sure how successful I was though!
Back home
We came home via Brussels and Eurostar, a great way to travel. The trip was pretty full on, as we tried to see as much as we can. I haven’t done as much as painting as I used to do whilst away, as I still adjust to my eyesight difficulties, but I did enjoy it. I hope you have enjoyed looking at them.
Thanks for reading.