Over Thanksgiving, my family and I traveled to Paris to spend a few days in the beautiful city. Being the renegade that I am, I planned my own solo side trip to city of Köln, to complete part of a project for my advanced drawing class as well as to see the museum of one of my all-time favorite artists, Käthe Kollwitz. Thus, I present an overview of the trip in pictures:
The first night in Paris, I got up at 5am to roam around the city (as is usual for me) when no one else was out. This picture was taken from the footbridge looking toward Notre Dame.
Next I visited the deserted Louvre, and this is one of my favorite pictures of my morning stroll.
Later in the day, I caught a picture from one of my favorite points on the footbridge over the Seine.
That evening, I met a charming Frenchman who took me to an American bookstore frequented by the likes of Kerouac and Hemingway in their heyday. I was in heaven! I especially loved their form of organization:
While I personally loved the chaos, I could feel my alphabetized bookshelves back home in the states cringing.
Over the weekend, I took the train to Köln. Upon my arrival at the Hauptbanhof, I was greeted with one of the most breathtaking churches I'd ever seen. Prior to seeing this church, my favorite was the Frauenkirche in Munich which I visited a few years back, pictured below.
The view from the Frauenkirche in Munich (I'll get to the Kölner Dom in a minute):
Those churches kind of make "majestic" Notre Dame look a little pathetic, no?
My first order of business after arriving in Köln was to make my way to the Käthe Kollwitz museum.
Some Käthe prints with matching sculpture in the foreground.
This is my personal favorite picture from Europe... my reflection in a print Käthe made for her self portrait.
View of the Christmas Market from atop the 510 stairs reaching the peak of the Kölner Dom (at one point, it was the tallest building in the world.)
Another view from the top of the Kölner Dom.
The next morning, at my usual time of 5am, I took out to explore one of Köln's bridges.
AMAZING view from the far side of the Deutzerbrücke, looking back to the Kölner Dom.
My pack of animals, acquired from the Christmas market, made appearances in many of my photos.
Later in the morning, I stopped by the Christmas market to get some traditional glühwein, which I was told not to leave Köln without trying.
View from the train station as it snowed nonstop on my way back to Paris.
The altered book I created for my advanced drawing final, made from a German copy of The Wizard of Oz.
The second piece for my advanced drawing final.
Here are some prints I made for different parts within the final. Copper etching printed with oil ink and colored with watercolor & inktense pencils:
Such a great trip. Wish I'd never left...
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