Berlin

December 20, 2015

I'm a list maker and a sort of part time journal maker, on my recent trip to Berlin I kept a brief journal documenting the sights we saw and the food we ate. Rather than write a long blog post I decided to keep it informal with what we managed to fit into four nights in the beautiful German capital.

Day one

Halloumi and falafel for lunch, walk to the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag. Tiergarten and war memorial then the Holocaust Memorial and harrowing information centre. Hot chocolate then the gate at night time then a walk to Alexanderplatz to the Christmas market. Pommes and trdelník for dinner.

Day two

Breakfast at Cafe Fleury and a day at Museuminsel - Altes Nationale Galerie for Impressionist painting, Nues Museum for Egyptian artefacts, Alte Museum for Roman and Greek artefacts. Pizza for lunch in between. Vegan banquet at Kopps followed by an apple mojito at the quirky bar next door.

Day three

Banana and chocolate waffles for breakfast. Berlin Wall and the memorial centre. Train to the East Side Gallery stopping at Mr Vegan for vegan wurst. Walk along the wall stopping to take pictures of the murals. Train to Alexanderplatz and a quick wander around the square before heading to Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart. Highlights - Cy Twombly, Anselm Kiefer - the rest of the gallery felt like an ordeal. 30 minute walk home through the city then burritos for dinner.

Day four

Fry up breakfast with vegan sausages at Chipps, then Checkpoint Charlie. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church before hot chocolate and a mini ice cream at Bikini Berlin. Train to Schloss Charlottenburg, wander around the grounds visiting the Belvedere then hot apple juice at the Christmas market. Home via the Neue Synagogue. Burger and sweet potato fries at Tommi's.

Hampshire Walking Series

November 25, 2015

This past year my other half Craig and I have been exploring our home county of Hampshire by taking walks in the countryside inspired by an AA walking guide book. I like to take photographs on our walks and one day decided to draw from a photograph I'd taken on a walk near Hartney Wintney. The drawing was similar in composition to the WSA Window View drawings I did on my MA and I loved how drawing from the photograph brought back memories from the walk. I decided to title the drawing based on the guide books walk title with the date of the original walk.

Adventures in the Candovers - 17th October, 20.5cm x 20.5cm, pen on paper.

I chose another photograph to work from, this time from a walk by Basingtoke Canal. I cropped the photograph down quite drastically and once the drawing was complete it resembled a topographical landscape or a map.

Odiham and the Basingstoke Canal - 7th June, 20.5cm x 20.5cm, pen on paper

I've continued to draw using photographs from our walks, each one is different in its composition, a swirl of autumn leaves, a straightforward view of a bluebell wood. During the earlier walks we took before the project I didn't photograph as much and therefore finding an image to turn into a drawing will be tricky however the challenge will hopefully add variety to the drawings with unconventional views and different subject matter for me to tackle.

Whitchurch and the River Test - 21st February, 20.5cm x 20.5cm, pen on paper.

In the guide book, each walk has a story written about it, a brief history of the area or an interesting anecdote. One of the walks we did encompasses a monument where it is said a murder took place by a King, another took in beautiful scenery right by where Jane Austen lived. By following these routes I'm learning little pieces of history and drawing from the walk documents these places, cementing them in my memory.

Jane Austen's Chawton - 4th May, 20.5cm x 20.5cm, pen on paper.

There are 50 walks to tackle including some on the Isle of Wight and I hope to draw from each walk we take, perhaps one day I'll complete the book and move onto another county.

I'm tweeting and posting Instagram progress images of you'd like to follow along - Claire_Leanne88 on both.

Dubrovnik, Montenegro and Mostar

October 19, 2015

I took a week out to visit Croatia with my mum. We stayed in Plat, a small village on the coast just south of Dubrovnik. Three days were spent in Dubrovnik's historic old town, surrounded by the city walls, with marble streets and gorgeous architecture. We walked along the city walls and took the cable car to see fantastic panoramic views of the Croatian coast, Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island. On one afternoon while caught in a downpour we visited the Rectors Palace and sought refuge in churches and restaurants.

We decided on a day trip to see Montenegro, crossing the border and receiving a stamp in our passports we explored a new country, stopping at Kotor and Budva. Kotor was beautiful, a walled town by water. We climbed to a church on a hill to see views over the town, as we reached the church bells rang in the distance and then right by our heads. After a stormy day in Dubrovnik the day before, Montenegro offered us brilliant sunshine.

Another of our days was filled reaching Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the geography of the countries, we crossed borders several times before reaching Medjugorje. Once in Mostar we wandered past shops selling trinkets to the bridge where locals jump once they've been paid enough Euros. On one side of the Neretva river the people are Catholic and there is a huge cross on the hillside, on the other side the people are Muslim and there we heard the call to prayer.

It's not often that on a week long holiday you can explore three different countries, or at least sample a little of what each has to offer. Despite having a full time office job I'm happy to retain the adventurous spirit by travelling when I can, and I'm grateful for a mum that is happy to be adventurous with me.