Norway

 A Lighthouse Troll drawn in the guestbook of Kråkenes Fyr-a lighthouse 'inn' we stayed at.

I'm back from the 10 day trip around Norway that I won.  We had an intensive itinery with activities every day-glacier hiking, rafting, cycling etc. but I still squeezed in some sketching between all the extreme outdoor pursuits!

The UNESCO protected wooden shops on the waterfront in Bergen.

The Johannes Kirken in Bergen.

View across the harbour at Flåm

Kalvoya Island

Drawing in the bridge of the Fjord 1-one of the rapid ferries we used to get around the long stretches of water between our destinations.  The Norwegians have always used the fjords to transport themselves and goods-seems to be the quickest way!

 Quick sketches made out the window of the ferry of islands and landscape we passed.

We spent a day under the sun at Hoddevik-a 'surfers paradise'.  While the others practised surfing I found a quiet spot on the jetee to make this drawing.  The air was pungent with the smell of scores of rotting king crabs that had been dashed on the rocks by waves.

The banks of the Oslo fjord are dotted with cute little huts-presumably used for weekend sun-bathing and swimming.

 Sketching atop a glacier was a first for me-I got a wet behind though!

Ringebu Stave Church

Spain pt. 2

Leaving Bilbao we started heading south towards Madrid.  We stopped in Burgos to see El Cid's tomb in the cathedral.

Continuing south a slight detour to the west took us to see the impressive Alcazar of Segovia.

Next day we hit Madrid where we would find our quarry-Picasso's 'Guernica'.  However the museo Reina Sofia was closed the day we arrived so we had to spend an extra night at Madrid's one & only campsite sweating in our stuffy tents.  We passed the evening exploring some of the city's exotic watering holes.

The morning after we went went back to the museo Reina Sofia and finally clapped eyes on Picasso's masterpiece!  In printed form I'd never noticed the bird painted in between the bull and the horse.

I felt I had to make a study of the painting so tussled by hordes of Korean tourists and Spanish school kids I made the sketch above.

After Madrid we headed west into the vastness of Castille la mancha.  We didn't see any Quixote style windmills but we passed literally hundreds of the modern turbine type.
We were heading straight across country to Barcelona but a friend was visiting Zaragoza to the north so we took a sharp left turn & headed up into Aragon to meet him.