When Art Saved Me from Food Poisoning: Porto and Douro Valley

Went on a short weekend getaway to Porto to meet up with friends from the US. The upside is: I get to meet up with old aquaintances and chat over some delicious meals (which doesn't happen too often for an introvert). The downside is: the weather was fabulous and way better than when I last spent 2 weeks there during Christmas, but I couldn't sketch when and where I wanted. 

Anyhow, I did catch some break by (1) skipping fresh oyster treat at the market (because I never grew a taste for it, and because my first impression of it was from a Maupassant story) (2) skipping a wine tasting (because the scenery outside was way more attractive than having to sit at a table and watch people drink and come up with descriptions) (3) simply getting up early

Clérigos Church - while skipping oyster eating

View of Douro River - while leaving the wine tasting table at Graham's

Douro Valley wineyards - from hotel room terrace

 Skipping oyster turned out to be a giant blessing in disguise, because most people I went with got sick afterwards. Art and socialist upbringing saved me I guess?? My flight back was postponed by one day because of a technical issue with the plane, but I decided to chill at the airport hotel even though there was technically still some time to go back in town and do some proper sketches. I was just exhausted from driving and the anxious waiting at the airport. All in all a good trip, I went in unsure if I could finish the last 4 pages of the sketchbook, but I did and included the much coveted red roofs of Porto (Schmincke transparent orange's time to shine).

Where I discover the necessity of the Siesta - Rome

After reading the blog by a local artist, I realized that I never really properly sketched Rome, or maybe none at all?? Technically I've been to Rome twice, but both trips were very rushed and packed with itineries. (And did I mentioned the unbearable heat??) Anyway, so I booked Rome for the upcoming Labour Day long weekend, with absolutely no plan to step into any monument or stand in line. Just, sketch, eat, and sleep.

Day 1

So yeah, I was not prepared for the heat. By the time I arrived in Rome proper, it was nearly 1PM and 27C. I really regretted not changing into my linen pants in the morning.

I was just going to pick the closest church from Termini to warm up (the irony of that on a burning hot day) and headed to Santa Maria Maggiore. This church totally slipped under my radar even though I always stayed near Termini. Only when I noticed the huge queue in the plaza did I recall hearing this name in the news lately: the late Pope Francis was only recently buried here. There was a good patch of shadows across the street and a good landing spot for my bag and supplies, so I "warmed up" while panting and constantly wiping sweat away.

I then walked to the Colosseum and found a tiny patch of shadow casted by a restoration/construction access gate, which was also conveniently located at the end of the walkway when it turns right. The angle was of course not perfect (the diagonal cut of the colosseum is not very prominent), but I was already lucky to find this spot! And...I'm still rubbish with arches. So that was Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum all checked off right?

After dinner, I was taking a stroll around the hotel and stumbled upon this wonderful view of the same church again. I don't do the same subject twice, but this calls for an exception (for some reason it really felt like that the 2 domes are unequal in dimension...maybe I'm going crazy) There was a guy asking if that in the front is indeed Santa Maria Maggiore. This time I was confident in my answer!

Day 2

I did a crash course of Rome travel tips on Youtube and decided to head out early the next day and take siesta during the hottest hours. And so I headed out at 8:30 (which is already uncharacteristically early for me on vacation) to Castel Sant'Angelo. The view from the bridge itself was also very nice, but there was a growing crowd of tourists throughout the bridge. So I ended up taking the stairs to the water level (somehow I never noticed these lower river banks earlier). The shadow was on my side so it was actually a bit chilly while I worked. Very people came through despite the nice view, down here which was understandable because I also missed it the previous time I was here. I had to rework the last/closest arch several times ooops

Deciding that my arch-drawing skills need more practise, I immediately stopped at the next bridge downstream, Ponte Vittorio Emmanuelle II. This time I sat on top of the stone railings along the river, which put me out of foot traffic and also above passer-by eye level. This was where I got asked once if they can take picture of my drawing, and another time of me drawing (?). I really loved how green and full-bodies the Tiber looked. (Oh and even though I never planned to include St. Peter's in this trip, it somehow popped up in both of these sketches! Very sneaky)

Afterwards I had incredible good luck in finding a decent spot to sketch the Fountain of Four Rivers at Piazza Navona. The restaurant next door had some flower pots to delineate their outdoor seating area, so I put my water jar down on them. The crowd in front of the fountain was too dense for me to see the bottom structure, but the main statues were visible! I dunno if there were still people who knew this place from Angels and Demons, like me.

I was originally planning to do the next one at Pantheon, but it was impossible, totally impossible. There was barely any standing room left. So I gave up and started heading back to the hotel when I saw this when walking through the heavy construction area at Piazza Venezia. Pedestrian traffic was dense and chaotic, but there was shadow and scaffolding on the buildings, which provided some space for people to rest and take a break from walking. The left side of the Vittoriano was slightly obscured, but I can't ask for too much. During this time, a lady actually asked me where Teatro Marcello was, with a hand written itinerary. I had absolutely no idea what that was. I looked it up on my phone, but I'm pretty I gave her the wrong direction because the whole Piazza Venezia looked nothing like the map. While I was putting in the finishing touches, a guy (the dad of a family of 3) stopped a bit longer to take a look, and eventually said "Congratulations" to me before leaving. I had no idea what he meant, but still said "Thank you and have a nice day" to them (??) After this, lunch, then siesta from 2-6pm heck yeah.

Day 3

The next day I headed to Spanish Steps (another place I never really visited before) first thing in the morning, getting there at 8:30AM. There were people, but no crowd. So I settled comfortably in front a (still closed) luxury shop window and had full view of the scene. Unfortunately I did accidentally put the two towers a bit too close to each other, so I decided not to add the obelisk in the end...

At Piazza del Popolo was when I really felt I'm getting some sketching fatigue. There were some strange flat metal bars that were just wide enough for people to sit, but as I discovered, only intended for a short stay because they make your legs go numb. I didn't plan for this, but this time the Obelisk was big enough in the frame that I needed to put in details for the hieroglyphs. This was the first time I sketched in a script I know nothing about! Super exciting!

I did the last 2 at River Tiber/Ponte Fabricio, the oldest bridge in Rome. I kind of messed up the first one, but the second one at river level was much better. Despite the chaos on the street level, here at the water level everything was extremely peaceful. And because of the sound of the rushing water, I could concentrate a lot more. So much so that a handfull of passer-bys really gave me a surprise when they walked behind me (because I didn't hear them approaching at all) and eventually a maintenance truck driver had to gently tap his car to make me notice them (he didn't honk, which was very considerate, because I could have had a heart attack). I didn't expect cars to come through at all, so I parked myself in the middle of the road ooops. 

Overhearing Gossips is Part of the Charm - London

I hopped over to London during the Easter weekend. The weather coorperated and never rained more than a few drops. I even enjoyed some decent hours of sun!

This time I chose to stay in Brick Lane, instead of my usual Soho hotel. I noticed that I kept coming here anyways to eat and shop, so might as well just save myself some time and stay. After grabbing some late lunch at my usual noodles/bun joint (which has increase from 1 to 3 stores since I started eating there), I started my new sketchbook with a view onto "The Golden Heart" (originally built for Truman's Brewery), with Christ Church Spitalfield peeking out in the back.

After checking in and dropping off my heavier bag, I did some last minute research while sipping on tea before setting out again into the city. By this time heavy cloud started gathering and some drops started coming down. Thankfully London has plenty of spots with overhead covers. Because it was Good Friday, I also had no trouble finding a place (closed shop fronts) to stand along the busy street in front of Liverpool Street Station. I thought my spot was inconspicuous enough, but several ppl noticed me and stopped to have a quick chat, including a guy with a bunch of Tesco bags, and a mom and daughter who asked where I got my supplies (I don't know London art supply shops so I wasn't able to give any more concrete answer other than "most art shops should carry those. You just need to look for them")

The last one of the day was the medieval church St Helen's Bishopsgate, which now finds the Gherkin as its backdrop. It really felt like a time warp/surreal corner amongst all the steel and concrete. The nearby office building had some convenient bollards with *wide and flat* tops, which was perfect for my purpose. The security staff in the building also paid me zero attention. I really ate too much for lunch, and by this time my stomach is really starting to feel interesting. The 3-hr movie session afterwards really helped with digestion!

Day 2

I started the next day late and lazy at Leadenhall Market. There were construction ongoing all around the market, plus there was some open market action happening inside, so my choice of sketching area was limited. Thankfully I found another closed shop front (thank you bank holiday) with a big enough window sill to put my jar on. I couldn't see the inner structure of the market, but I could see the exquisite front, Lloyd's building, and the cheese grater in the back. A lot of Spanish-speaking tour groups were filing through and I understood nothing except the words "Harry Potter". Just as I was wrapping up, the sun came out and casted a beautiful shadow.

With the sun now high in the sky, I had an unexpectly hot and dry session at Bank Junction. It was difficult to choose exactly which side I should draw, but in the end I decided the Bank of England + Royal Exchange side has more interesting shadow, plus there was a convenient pedestrian crossing button that was at exactly the right place I needed it to be. I started when the Royal Exchange was completely in the shadow, then the sun came over the columns from the right in no time! The 2 sides looked disconnected at first, but as soon as I added the Wellington statue in, it somehow all came together! This time too a guy jogging (I think) came up and asked if I was using watercolour and if I ever used pen/ink (I told him this way is faster than pen)

By this time I was starving, but I also don't know how long the sun is going to last. So I decided to push for a last one of St Paul's. Unfortunately my original planned spot on One New Change's public terrace was closed for the public (unless you eat at the posh restaurant), so I had to settle for a more conventional view. I'm still not 100% satisfied with St. Paul's

After some much needed lunch and tea break, I set out again in late afternoon and walked across the Thames. There were some nice benches along the river so I decided to give St Paul's another try. I vastly decreased the distance between the cathedral and Southwark Bridge because the skyline isn't too interesting between them. Alas, I'm still not 100% happy with this attempt either... I was almost going to do another one from Blackfriar's Thameslink platform (definitely the station with the best view), but I stopped myself in time.

Since I'm on Thameslink platform anyways I thought, might as well go up to St Pancras. For some reason, I've never drawn this station before (I also wonder why). I was going to walk towards the front entrance for a grander view, but the view from the back entrance (Midland Rd) was really too nice to pass up (and I'm an opportunist) so I decided to just start sketching. Turns out that not only is this street relatively quiet and free of traffic, it is also the prime lunch/cigarette break location for station/hotel staff. More than 3 groups were out when I was there. One group consisted of a chatty Italian lady who gave out a constant stream of work and personal gossips to her more reticent male colleague and broke into Italian phrases when excited. I felt like I experienced a more authentic slice of Italian life than being in most Italian tourist cities.

Maybe next time I will do the actual famous clock tower of St Pancras

Then I wondered up to Regent's Canal. This part of the canal seemd to be completely renovated and there wasn't any interesting old buildings, so I just picked a place with some boats and focused on the water itself. Just as the sun was disappearing, a nice older couple stopped by to chat and noticed my tote bag. They told me they've also been to Granville Island, but probably before I was born. They complimented Vancouver and I told them "There is no job there, other than that it's pretty good" with a huge smile. They seemed to enjoy this comment very much and asked "is that why you're here?"

Day 3

Nothing to write home much about Canary Wharf, I was never a good steel n concrete sketcher (and never intend to be!) But as I was doing this one at Eden Dock after eating at Din Tai Fung, 2 young people sat down in front of me. The guy had a take out lunch, while the lady wasn't eating anything. Their conversation was far more interesting than the scenery I was sketching. I really couldn't pinpoint their relationship in the 10 minutes they chatted in front of me. If they were colleagues, they never brought up any work topic. If friends, why isn't the lady eating, or why aren't they eating at a restaurant?? In the beginning the lady was asking if she can take a picture of the guy's lunch. (I was so confused) Then they talked about which area they each plans to settle. And at one point, the lady said she had a huge row with her dad the previous week after he accused her of keeping money away from his new family, and she said "and I told him thank you for cheating on mom for 20 years". All through this the guy seemed to be more interested in his lunch

 

The Correct Italian Riviera Town - Sanremo

So yes, I did make the mistake of going to Genoa thinking that it is the Nice of Italy, aka, the natural equivalent resort town on the Cote d'Azur. Although the working port city of Genoa did have enough charm of its own, this time I'm certain Sanremo fits the bill much better.

I landed in Nice, which is technically the closest big airport, despite being in the wrong country. Rented a Monaco plated car from possibly the happiest guy in France on a Friday 9pm. Maybe it has something to do with the sun. After I asked for a smaller car, the guy was super excited to offer me "a very special car" and told me nobody would dare touch a Monaco plate car because of the high insurance premium. The plate only had 4 digits and no EU flag...very exotic.

And so I drove out to the darkness onto my 1 hr commute to Sanremo. Although I was mentally prepared, it was still annoying to have to go through toll booth >4 times for a 1 hr journey. The highlight was definitely crossing the land border with Italy (A big sign with "à bientôt" followed by a small "Italia" sign) and then immediately getting hit with roadwork and lane closures. Thankfully there were experienced truck drivers in front of me all the time, or else I would have definitely hit something. 

I specifically chose the AirBnB because of its sea view from the balcony...which was in complete darkness by the time I arrived at 10:30pm...so I fell asleep with excited anticipation

Day 1

I did a warm up first in Villa Ormond (almost a a month since I last sketched) before heading to the old town. The sun was really heating up the city, but I found a recess on the sidewalk with opening to the underground parking lot. It was like having my personal AC!

Did the next one at Piazza Cassino, at the entrance to old town "La Pigna". (After seeing Cassini's name popping up everywhere in this town, I finally learned that Cassini was from a small city not far from here) The houses already felt super organic at this point. Apparently the seemingly spontaneous walls are results of multiple expansion of the old city at different times in history.

Even though twisted and winding, there were actually surprisingly many places I could duck out of traffic and settle down to sketch. There weren't many ppl (resident or tourist) coming or going, so it was a very serene experience to sketch just under windows and porches and overhear the occasionally chatters bouncing off the walls. I decided to do this one because of the arches jetting out in spontaneous yet harmonious directions. There was a cat that was hanging out the whole time when I was there. (I think it was trying to get into a building next to me, but nobody was there to let it in). So much so that I think some of the passer-bys thought the cat was with me. I overheard somebody commenting "elle écrit avec le chat!"

I did a final one of the day from the balcony of the AirBnB. Definitely a 10/10 view

Day 2

It was a bit clouded the next day and I decided to check out the old port. It has a super long pier (to serve the many yachts I guess) and I can basically pick wherever I wanted to sit. It was super interesting to see the little canopy of the old town pop up from the back.

I couldn't help but return to La Pigna in the afternoon. It is definitely the most interesting old town I've ever been to. Like a dungeon and castle combined, a choose-yourself-adventure. (maybe even like an Italian Kowloon walled city?) Plus it was mostly quiet and empty. A pigeon has its spot on the inside of this arch and eyed the invader (me) with suspicion.

I realized I missed the west side of the old town the previous day after doing some readings in the evening, so I found my way into the famous Piazza Cisterna after getting lost a fair few times. The sense of place was mesmerizing: the huge drop in elevation, seemingly random pathways intersecting at the water basin/cisterna, arches, plants, and laundries! What more could I ask for?

By this time the sun finally came out again, so I finished off the day at one of the classic Sanremo locale: the Casino. As I was doing some finishing touches, 3 older Italian gentlemen came over and one asked "How much?" Usually I would be alarmed, but maybe because of his accent or the way he said it, it came off as charming and a little goofy. So I just started starting laughing. They were very amused and the same man asked "what's your name?" I thought it was just one of those cliche lines, but to my surprise he then proceeded introduce himself and his 2 friends. As they walked away, I still couldn't believe how wholesome the whole interaction was. Definitely a highlight of the trip

 

Getting Told Off by Temple Staff - Encore in Kyoto

Boy were we unprepared for the heavy snow in Kyoto. Technically it is already supposed to be least snow-affected region in Japan, but when we saw the huge snow flakes drifting by in front of our 10F restaurant window on the night of our arrival, we knew we were in for some surprises the next day. The next day (Saturday) Kyoto basically shifted through bouts of warm sunlight and windy snow drift, at 30 mins intervals. We accidentally, or not accidentally chose Kinkakuji as our first destination, totally unaware that the snow has brought loads of spectators to see the snow decked golden temple. We were fortunate to see this in person, but unfortunately the temple staff basically kicked me out for "blocking traffic" and "contaminating temple ground" with my watercolour. And that was after I specifically found a quiet corner that was out of the way of foot traffic, where several other people were also standing still and taking a break from walking. I had barely opened my palette when the closed wooden counter shutter slid open and a man poked his head out. Another guy who had his water bottle on the counter and I both thought he was asking us to move our stuff off the counter, but he only turned his attention to me and started dictating in this I-hate-tourists-and-my-job semi-condescending voice that I am contaminating their temple ground with my paint. So I said, okay then can I use pencil-only? He said, oh definitely not, I'm blocking traffic flow and it is not allowed, and pointed towards the non-existent crowd that I was definitely blocking. It was only too reminiscent of my last similar encounter, which just so happened to be another temple in Kyoto! I mean, that really says something. I'm pretty sure I managed to get more sketched at god damn Hankyu Umeda Station before a station staff approached me.  After a few back and forth, I gave up the fight and just left. Only then did I realize the plethora of surveillance cameras scattered through the premise, which was probably how they spotted me through a closed wooden shutter. They really are only interested in moving the cattles, I mean, the temple patrons, along as fast as possible. But come on, people who were hogging the front row viewing deck taking photos were okay, but me with a brush and sketchbook staying all the way in the back bothering nobody had to leave??

Anyway, when we were taking a quick break waiting out the snow in the resting shed (?), I did a quick one with the now ever increasing number of visitors and a guard managing traffic. Overhearing us speaking English, a girl from New Zealand who was traveling solo asked us to take a photo of her. While my friend was taking the photo, I overheard a Japanese couple saying "oh dear, I had no idea what she just said meant she wanted a photo taken. I would only understand 'photo, okay?'" Which was hilarious because the girl used very polite language to ask, precisely because she noticed we were fluent English speakers. And of course, more polite = more complex sentence construction. 

When approaching Yasaka Shrine, I noticed a strange no-man's land encircled by the edge of the sidewalk, the traffic light pole, and the sidewalk fence. It was also situated at the perfect spot for viewing the front of the shrine. Perfect view + no risk of blocking foot traffic. I really couldn't pass up this opportunity!

 I also did one in Kiyomizu-dera, but the weight of my experience at Kinkakuji was definitely hanging over my head, so it didn't turn out really well (plus the crowd size was much much denser than Kinkakuji)

A Sampling of Andalusia

The second Christmas I spent in Europe. Using my improved understanding of European climate distribution in Winter, I convinced my parents to choose Southern Spain (having scouted out Malaga myself in March) as our Christmas destination. Fuengiralo turned out to be a good choice to stay, not big enough to sprawl, but also big enough to have every shop we needed in walking distance. The only downside is that its main attraction is the beach, with mainly modern condos and not much historical heritage left. (as befitting of an area Rick Steves once suggested to skip over) And so we broke up the 2 week holiday with rest days intersected by day trips to neighbouring cities.

Granada (1hr40mins drive)

The Alhambra was the planned highlight of the trip, the hook. Although to be honest I only remembered to book tickets for it 1 week in advance. I also panicked when I saw that no tickets were left during our stay, but thankfully when I (wisely) checked again the next day some more tickets popped up! Thank you Winter, I can't imagine fighting for this ticket in summer. There were some convenient director's chair (or Savonarola chair) facing the fountain so I took a seat while sketching (also kept me away from pedestrian foot traffic) 

 

There were lots of people taking photos around the water, so I hid myself behind a hedge.

Fuengirola (home base)

Nothing of the sort I usually sketch, but the beach was indeed fantastic. Although I did almost leave my sketchbook behind when trying to get sand out of my shoes. Thankfully there weren't much foot traffic at that specific bench, so my sketchbook was still at the same place when we went back 20 mins later.

Mijas (15 mins drive)

A nice village up hill from Fuengirola, with a brand new multi-level parking lot that only charges 1 Euro max per day (and a lot of donkey pimps)

Ronda (1hr30mins drive)

Absolutely the best sketching experience. There was a lookout platform that was popular with tourists posing for photos, but, under the platform there was enough space to sit with open view to the canyon, yet unseen by the tourists on top. As I was doing the finishing touches, 3 little children decided to sit down to my right on the steps that lead down to the canyon and watch me work. Which was interesting because I myself usually choose places that don't block traffic flow, but they were definitely blocking normal traffic. But again, I'm not their parents so...whatever. They were watching so intently and silently I felt kind of awkward packing up and leave. But there came a point I really can't pretend to put more stuff onto the page, so I had to pack and leave. The kids, again, said nothing when I left. Nor did their guardians show up (strange)

Gibraltar/La Linea (2hr drive)

New Year's Eve in La Linea, with the Rock of Gibraltar half visible from the hotel balcony

Tarifa

Only by divine intervention did we manage to find a parking spot here. It was pretty crazy to see the African continent so close.

Winter Sun - Berlin

A rare sunny December weekend day! But, I still need to get my exercise in. So I went over to Museuminsel first. The sun was casting a very dramatic shadow on Alte Nationalgalerie, my hands were shaking (because I'm absolutely rubbish with columns) but it came out much better than I thought! Definitely better than my first attempt of the same subject. (Also was somehow recognized by a colleague who was walking by, even though I was in my cycling gear, which was totally different from my bookish office outfit) Well, I guess everyone in Berlin was out strolling around on this nice day.

 

After doing my rounds, I came back to the same area and parked myself next to a bustling Christmas market. By this time the entire street was in shadows and only the taller buildings had light left on it, so I quickly scribbled before speeding off to warm up at home.