mmmmmm reading THIS in the park this morning. then home to work/play in travel journal. i did the page above in amsterdam. i can't imagine a trip abroad that didn't involve a mini art retreat every night. how i loved sitting in front of the tall canal windows and writing/painting in my book.
here are the houseboats i mentioned yesterday. sometime it would be v. fun to rent one of these instead of an apartment.
it's easy to imagine drinking a mug of coffee on deck each morning.
there are so many varieties. from quaint & quirky to ultra modern with walls of windows. i'll have one of those please!
this elevated patio deck is enticing.
have i mentioned the indonesian food yet? excellent! good article HERE about dutch colonization of indonesia in case you're in need of a brief history lesson like i was. we ordered a la carte at one place and enjoyed the rijsttafel at another. i highly recommend the latter if you are headed to amsterdam.
just one of the bazillions of design worthy shop windows. i was REALLY glad that melinda was not a shopper. everything is fabulous, but i would really hate to be dragged into so many stores. oy! my idea of a nightmare and too much visual input gives me a headache. but i liked looking through the windows! i think those cups and half&half plates would be fun to draw/paint.
back tomorrow with another installement!
Experiencing extreme boat envy. 🙂
I like your style, Mary Ann, and taking part in your travels has been a real bonus. Now that we’re spoiled, what will we do when you go back to work? Heck, I need a steady diet of those journals and posts. Awesome stuff. You keep me motivated, that’s for sure.
Awesome pucs and beautiful page! Love love!
I am so glad you got to enjoy the rijstaffel experience. I knew you would find it interesting and probably tasty, too! If I ever get back to Amsterdam (fingers crossed) I will definitely be doing that again.
I agree with other people who commented that your photographs are really interesting and do a great sales job to entice people to travel to the Netherlands. I am sure you might collect a commission. 😉
Your way of documenting your trips have given me some things to think about when it comes to documenting my own travel. I see brochures, post cards, ticket stubs and other things in a slightly different way. I used to scrapbook those things pretty faithfully but kind of drifted away from that. Now, I might have to think about journaling them, as I have kept travel journals with narratives for a number of trips. I think those things and maybe some sketches might just be a great new twist on them.
By the way, my niece and I have traveled together to a number of places together with our spouses and have kept travel journals. One time not too long ago we read one aloud that I had done from our trip to Italy in 2000. We laughed so much and it was fantastic to relive those happy memories together! I highly recommend travel journals to anyone who ventures beyond the garden gate. You will be amazed at the details that will evaporate into the mist if you don’t write it down. WRITE IT DOWN. And thanks to you, Mary Ann, I think drawing sketches, putting in photos and ephemera from the trip will now be included. 🙂
Some of your photographs look like paintings. Thank you kindly for taking me along on this journey!
Love those halvesies plates!
It’s made me deliriously happy to travel vicariously with you on this latest trip! The inside me is jumping up and down, remembering being there in Amsterdam too, and remembering other trips taken to Europe over the years. I love how you relish every single moment, and experience it fully. Thank you so much. Travel is the very best kind of accelerated living (to borrow and modify a Rick Steves quote).
I had to go out and buy the Vincent bio too, and it’s supposed to arrive tomorrow. Can’t wait!
When I was last in the UK about 5 years ago, we spent a good bit of time near all the “narrowboats” (am told that if you live on it, it’s not generally called a barge) in NW England near Wales, and it was pure magic. I do hope you get to experience life on board one day soon.
You absolutely made my day. (you can see some of my fave narrowboats on flickr below)
Alas I am returning to school/work in January Kate, but have decided to take another leave of absence beginning June 2015 for a year! These will become permanently woven into my working life
This is such a splendid arm-chair travel adventure. I’m floating and boating and taking it all in with a smile on my face. Great reflections….all.
Oh I’d give anything (almost) for real city living again, and Amsterdam would be great…except for learning to speak Dutch. I have an on-line friend who did it and twasn’t easy.
I can imagine sipping coffee each afternoon on the deck of one of those houseboats. With a coffee and my journal. Did you have a reference book on Amsterdam that you’d recommend?
half and half plates! my jaw is on my chest – I want to break all my plates in half now …… I love it when an idea is so simple and so beautiful at the same time. Really really want to visit Amsterdam again now! I’ll take a house boat with you next spring? tell me you’re not going back to work and you’re going to continue your mission to shine a bright light into corners of the world to inspire us all? please? oh go on……
Ooh rijsttafel! Yum! A coworker of mine lived in Indonesia during his twenties and now every few years cooks for all us colleagues and their significant others (about 50 people). About four to six of us act as his assistants and do a lot of cutting and preparing while he does all the actual cooking. It takes two whole days! But it’s absolutely delicious!
those houseboats are friggin amazing Mary Ann, and the thought of being rocked to sleep every night…the water sounds and all of it sounds perfectly magical..I think I must trade in my extra large wings for a pair of extra large fins and one extra wide out board motor and head for the nearest water; which won’t be hard here…lakes are a plenty, rivers too for that matter….hmmmmmmmm ponderin’ all of this..I’m going back to look at the pics again…
We’re those broken antique china plates that were re-attached to a different pattern? How clever. You can go to Goodwill and ask for broken pieces….I bet they’d be happy to give ‘me to you….and you could sketch in your backyard with Indonesian take-out….and transport yourself back to Amsterdam…..
Thanks for giving me some indelible memories to last a life time,
Love all of your photos and sketching. I love the water, boating, and the water all in that order. You have inspired me to go and visit this magical place.
Your teacup painting is awesome, Mary Ann! Love the black background. And the houseboats – if seasickness is not an issue from swaying in the water, that would be quite fun! Looking forward to more sketches.