Monday 21 May 2018, The Elbe and Bad Schandau, Germany

Cruising along the Elbe River in Saxony, Germany

Today we sailed along the Elbe River from the Czech Republic into Germany, arriving at Bad Schandau, just below the Bastei Rock Formation in the Sandstone Mountains. We hiked to the Bastei, and here is our view of the Elbe. The name Elbe means "white and shining". Nearly 800 km north is Hamburg and Cuxhaven, where the Elbe flows into the North Sea, and where we will end our trip in about a month.

View of the Elbe from the Bastei, a fort above Bad Schandau, Germany

View from The Bastei

Climbers at the Bastei

Picnickers along the Elbe

Cruising on the Elbe, under the Bastei

Sunday, 20 May 2018: Prague, Czech Republic

Today we are in Prague in the Czech Republic, and we are about to embark on a river cruise along the Elbe, followed by a three-week driving tour of Germany.  Yesterday we took a short city bus tour of Prague, and then spent the rest of yesterday and today walking along the Vltava (Moldau) in Prague, sampling the local food, and trying to recover from a missed night of sleep and jetlag.

The Vltava River, also known as The Moldau

Svickova: Beef in vegetable cream sauce, with bread dumplings at The Gate

On one of our walks, we found a wonderful concert to go to: The Josef Suk Piano Quartet at the Rudolfinum.  The quartet is named after Josef Suk, the great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák.  The quartet consists of piano, violin, viola and cello, and they played pieces by Mozart, Bach, Dvořák, and Suk. The venue and the performance were perfect!

Josef Suk Quartet Concert at the Rudolfinum in Prague, Saturday, 19 May 2018.

After our cruise, we are going to visit the towns rom which our ancestors emigrated. Dan's mother's family, the Buchners, came from Schmidühlen in Bavaria in 1885.  My father's mother's family, the Schmidts, came from Elmshorn in Schleswig-Holstein) in 1872.

We will also attend the 2018 Bach-Fest in Leipzig in mid-June and visit significant places in Johann Sebastian Bach's life along the way:

• Eisenach (1685-1695) where he was born on March 31st. He lived here until he was orphaned at age 10.
• Ohrdruf (1695-1700) He lived here with his oldest brother and learned to play the organ.
• Lüneberg (1700-1703) He attended the Michaelis choir school here from age 15 to 18.
• Arnstadt (1703-1706) His first post as church organist. He composed many organ works here.
• Mühlausen (1707) Another post as organist. He married his first wife, Marie Barbara, here.
• Weimar (1708-1717) A major post as organist and concertmaster at the courts of Dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August. He composed organ works and his first cantatas here.
• Köthen (1717-1722) Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold. He composed the Brandenburg Concertos here. His first wife died here in 1721. He married Anna Magdalena in 1722.
• Leipzig (1723-1750) Cantor at the Thomaskirche from 1723-1750. He composed his greatest works here: the Passions, the B-Minor Mass, Well-Tempered Clavier,  Goldberg Variations, The Art of the Fugue, the Orchestral Suites, and my two favorite Cantatas, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (BWV 147) and Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott (BWV 80). He died in Leipzig on the 28th of July 1750. He is buried in the Thomaskirche.  Anna Magdalena died ten years later, in 1760.

Finally, we'll take a seaside break in Timmendorfer Strand.  Along the way we'll visit friends in Berlin, Rosenheim, and Hamburg.

Relief map of Germany, with a political map overlay

Here is a link to an Interactive map I made, which shows places we will visit, plus significant places in JS Bach's life.

May 18 Map: Walks around Prague

May 19 Map: City bus tour around Prague

May 20 Map: Bus to Děčín, Czech Republic. River cruise toward Dresden.

Waiting for spring....

Based on a tutorial at http://www.letspaintnature.com

Fried Egg, Colored Pencil

Fried Egg. Colored pencil on toned paper by jmb, based on a tutorial on arttutor.com. 

Bug by Tiffany's?

Spotted at the gas station. He looked like he was made of stained glass!

The Cheshire Raccoon

I was walking in Quail Hollow the other day, when a rather large raccoon lumbered across the path in front of me.  I saw him climb a tree, and then perch up where the trunk split. He sat for a long time, keeping a sharp eye on me. I fumbled for my camera, only to find its battery was dead! (If only I had taken a few less photos of woodland flowers that day!)  He looked so like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat--like a disembodied face up in a tree!

Sun lingering in the sky this evening...

29 December 2016: Fungus spotted in Quail Hollow

Fungus spotted in Quail Hollow, December 2016

Every Day in May 2016 #3: A Hammer - Piano hammers

Every Day in May Facebook Group #3: A Hammer, in this case piano hammers.

Every Day in May 2016 #2: Something Folded - A Paper Fan

Every Day in May Facebook Group Sketch: Something Folded - A Paper Fan.  When I was little, my grandmother used to fold our church bulletin into a fan, and we would fan each other during the Sunday service in the summer. A game of tic tac toe also helped to keep me still.

Every Day in May 2016 #1: A Toy - Catnip Bubbles

Every Day in May is a Facebook Group of over 1,000 artists who share a sketch of the same subject each day in May.  Day 1's assignment was to draw a toy.  I'm not sure who has more fun with this toy: Bojangles the Cat or my daughters.

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach, Florida

Sparrows in our room

Two sparrows flew into our hotel room while I was writing a card to my mother. They didn't stay long enough for a photo, so here's a quick sketch instead.

Wild Parrots

Nap among the Hibiscus

Gecko

He was very cooperative about being photographed, unlike Sailor the Cat.

Sailor the Yacht Club Cat

Sailor says "Hey!" to Sonny, Cher, Bojangles, Lili, Lulu, and even Bosco the Dog!  Any other cool cats or dogs out there that want a hello from Sailor the Yacht Club Cat?

Lamppost in Winter

Just had a wistful moment for Winter (believe it or not) - but I do love winter nights with a silent, light snowfall and maybe waking up to a snowday for the kids.  I had a message from my students at Frazer Elementary, and they were so excited about having a snow day!  I miss the 10-yr-old "Eagle Eyes" students with whom I work as a volunteer. They are such nice little people.

Florida Fighting Conch

The Lucky Ducky

Actually, the name of this boat (moored at the marina below our room) was the Lucky Lucy, but without my glasses on, I thought it said Lucky Ducky, and rather liked that name!

Flowers on the coffee table

Drink more water!

Seahorse with two little seahorses

Did you know that it's the male seahorse that carries and gives birth to the baby seahorses? The lady seahorse just deposits the eggs then swims away!  I painted this postcard for a friend's grand-child -- he will be getting a new brother or sister in August.  I imagine by then, his mother will be wishing she had been born a seahorse!  Watercolor pencil on 4x6 watercolor card.

Hibiscus

There are lots of hibiscus plants of every color by the Old Captiva House, where we have breakfast every morning.

Sie schläft wie ein Murmeltier...

A friend from Germany wrote to me that her grand-daughter "schläft wie ein Murmeltier." Literal translation: sleeps like a groundhog. We'd say she sleeps like a log.  Not sure which one is stranger -- probably ours!  Anyway, I painted her a postcard of a baby groundhog and explained our Groundhog Day tradition.  On Groundog Day, February 2nd, Buckeye Chuck, in Ohio, predicted six more weeks of winter. Punxsutawney Phil, in Pennsylvania, predicted an early spring.  I wish Phil were right, but my money is on Buckeye Chuck.

Snowy the Bunny

Snowy the Bunny (Adorabelle the Cat's new friend), after January's big snowstorm (approximately 30") in Central Pennsylvania.  From a photo sent by Wanda Nitterhouse.  I'll get around to painting scenes from Captiva, Florida, as soon as it warms up here!  It's in the 50s and 60s right now!

I'll meet you for a swim!

I've been learning German lately, and I'm finally able to correspond a little with a penpal in Germany.  During a recent Skype, we discovered that we also share an interest in swimming. We were both lamenting the fact that we didn't live closer, since neither of us knows anyone local that likes to go swimming.  At one point, Beate said something like, "Vielleicht können wir auf halbem Weg treffen!" (Maybe we can meet half way!)  So I painted her a watercolor postcard with my concept of what that meeting (somewhere in the Atlantic between Spain and Maine?) might look like. Yesterday, I got an email back from her saying that she just got the postcard, and I've learned a new German idiom: Ich lache mich tot!  (Literally, I am laughing myself dead!)

New Sketch: Tea for Two

Watercolor pencil and micron pen

Covered Bridge near Ludlow, Vermont

White Cedar

Crocheting

Vermont Country Store

Dinner with Cheryl, Chris, Stacy, Olivia, Michelle, Sarah, Breidy, Vicky, and Betty at the Bryant House Restaurant in Weston, Vermont.

Star Anise

I just discovered the spice, Star Anise.  It smells so good!  As an alternative to hot coca, you can place a star anise in a mug of skim milk, add a packet (or less, to taste) of stevia for sweetness, and microwave for 2 minutes.   Or try adding a Cardamom pod (or both!).  Very relaxing and comforting.

Northern Red Oak (Quercus Rubra)

We were in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania this past week to hear the third Festival Chamber Orchestra Concert at the Shippensburg University Luhrs Performing Arts Center.  On the program was Mozart's Requiem and Schubert's 3rd Symphony, both performed magnificently!

We had stopped in Shippensburg on the way home from visiting family in New Jersey, and as soon as we got to the hotel, Dan got a call from work and found he needed to spend a couple hours reviewing a contract proposal. So I went up to campus to get a better photo for a blog post I made last December. The weather was so comfortable -- 70 degrees and sunny, so I decided to sit awhile and do some sketches. 

Feeling at home in the Cumberland Valley again

We are passing through Shippensburg again.  Tonight we had dinner at the Boiling Springs Tavern up near Carlisle, and after dinner, we finally found the spring that the town is named after. It's right behind the tavern! 

The water actually does seem to bubble and boil right out of the ground:

Afterwards, we drove back to our hotel in Shippensburg and took a stroll up Orange Street.  The Martin Luther stained glass window at Memorial Lutheran Church was especially beautiful tonight, because I am in the midst of reading Here I Stand, a biography of Luther by Roland Bainton.

I can't decide if I like it better from the outside or from the inside (photo below taken in May 2014).  I will have to get better photos next time we are in town.

Martin Luther window, from indside, at Memorial Lutheran Church, Shippensburg, Pa.

We passed by this sign at Messiah United Methodist Church.  Sounds like good advice!