To Bremen We Will Go!

If you are ever here in the North of Germany, then pop in and visit Bremen, city and state on the Weser river. The first settlement here dates back to the first century AD, the city became a bishopric in the 13th century and was a Hanse free trade port, bringing wealth and prosperity to the city. The "must sees" are the historical town hall, the Roland and the charming "Schnoor Viertel", Bremen is also famous for  Becks beer, no visit would be complete without a cooling glass of liquid gold, (the ship seen in the Becks ads is also anchored here and you can slurp your pint on deck!). Here is a photo of the Unesco World heritage site with the town hall! Just wondering if that wouldn't be a great image for a bit of Grisaille work. 

The so-called "Schnoor Viertel" is the oldest part of Bremen and is a collection of houses dating as far back as 1401. Wandering through the tiny alleys and narrow wynds you certainly get a feel of how life would have been back then, (bet the weather hasn't changed much from that time either). 

Inspired by a caryatid figure found on one of the buildings there I designed this postcard for the Schnoor Viertel, perhaps doing one after city tours would make a great keepsake, don't you think? Or you could even pop them off to friends.

I found this nifty little tin of postcards while foraging in our local art supply shop, there are thirty cards in the tin, 

from Hahnemühle, the paper is textured 230g watercolour paper and as you can see from my design the paper is textured. 

I like the idea of carrying drawing paper in a tin as an alternative to a sketchbook, it might also be practical as a kind of easel, paper in the upper lid protected from wind and rain, mmmmmm!!!! I have to examine those possibilities. The Schnoor Viertel is inspiring a sketchbook page at the moment, so another post in more detail will follow at some point.