The cure for hiccups

The cure for hiccups

4:30 a.m.

Nicholas, day 20

Bucharest, Romania

Pregnancy: 39 weeks

Leiden, Holland

Painting for a friend's kitchen

San Diego, California

California Poppies

Painting for a friend's kitchen. The top part of a vertical series.

Sorrento, Italy

A sketch study for a watercolor. We made a trip to Sorrento a few years ago and was a great trip. We love southern Italy. We found this small entrance into a little courtyard for some apartments, with a little grotto in the courtyard.

Piata America Latina, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Simon Bolivar, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Charles de Gaulle, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii - View looking East.

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucuresti - View looking North.

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucuresti - View looking West

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucuresti - View looking South




















Piata Unirii, Bucuresti - View looking South - cont'd.

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucuresti

Webcam of Piata Unirii

Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Unirii, Bucuresti

Piata Alba IIulia, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Alba Iulia, Bucuresti

Piata Eudoxio Hurmuzachi, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Eudoxio Hurmuzachi (Piata Muncii), Bucuresti

Piata Muncii actually has two names...... the other one is the new name after a historian, Eudoxio Hurmuzachi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudoxiu_Hurmuzachi). Piata Muncii is the communist name "Worker's Square." Throughout the square are various signs saying either Piata Muncii or Pta. Eudoxio Hurmazachi. If you travel by bus 104 in one direction, (from Eroilor), the bus announces the stop as Pta. Hurmazachi. If you travel by bus 104 from the other direction (from Pta. Iancului), the bus announces the stop as Pta. Muncii.

Piata Iancului, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Iancului, Bucuresti




















Piata Iancului, Bucuresti

Piata Foisorul de Foc, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Foisorul de Foc, Bucuresti
(Fire water-tower Square)

the way it used to be:




















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foi%C5%9Forul_de_Foc

Now the building for the tower is the Fire Museum.

Romanian band "Foisorul de Foc" with a pretty nice tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XluaDgJiY0

Bucharest, Romania

Piata Pache Protopopescu, Bucuresti




















Piata Pache Protopopescu, Bucuresti

Piata Rosetti, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Rosetti, Bucuresti




















Piata Rosetti, Bucuresti

Piata Gheorghe Cantacuzino, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Gheorghe Cantacuzino, Bucuresti



















Costa Coffee, Piata Romana, Bucuresti

Piata Victoriei, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Victoriei, Bucuresti




















Piata Victoriei, Bucuresti

Webcam:

http://www.jurnalul.ro/webcam/piata-victoriei-11.html

Piata Romana, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Romana, Bucuresti




















Piata Romana, Bucuresti


Webcam for Piata Romana, Bucuresti:
http://www.jurnalul.ro/webcam/piata-romana-22.html

Piata Romana, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Romana, Bucuresti




















Piata Romana, Bucuresti

Watercolor practice - fictional cities

"Daydreaming"


















































































































My beautiful wife daydreaming

Bucharest, Romania

The Porsche stroller




















The Porsche stroller, folded (to fit inside the trunk of our future Porsche).

Eventually someday we'll have a porsche. For now, we have to be happy with this one. But we think it's pretty cool for a stroller..... it even has two brakes (not sure why), convertible, air in the tires, and it can hold up to 100 pounds.

It's amazing the strollers on the market.... McClaren makes strollers. The first line of their website says "McClaren is about Racing." So, I'm sure somewhere there's a "McClaren Club" that has races on the weekends. We saw one in one of the stores the other week called "Mars Attack", and it really looks like you could make the assault on Mars with it. Jeep Wrangler makes a stroller, but it looks alittle more road than off-road. not sure exactly about the "all-terrain" strollers. Anyway, our Porsche is just fine for what we need. Maybe we can find a Porsche now to fit our stroller.

Piata Haralambie Botescu, Bucharest, Romania

Piata Haralambie Botescu, Bucuresti (Piata Matache)

There's an interesting antique abandoned building at the large intersection near Piata Haralambie Botescu. Abandoned and crumbling for decades, there's a law here that forbids the demolition of buildings. So, buildings like this sit with plants growing up through their empty interior through the arch windows.



















Piata Haralambie Botescu, Bucureti (Piata Matache)



















The market building at Haralambie Botescu is an interesting building by itself. Despite the name on the map, the building says "Piata Matache".

Piata Sergiu Celibidache, Bucharest, Romania

The rose garden in the median strip



















Rose garden in the median, Drumul Taberei, Bucuresti

Went over to Piata Moghioros (Piata Sergiu Celibidache on the map) yesterday to go get a few things, and saw that now there are a bunch of flowers planted in the median, but not just flowers... roses. All along Drumul Taberei in that area, are roses after roses. Couldnt stay too long, but thought it would make a nice sketch.

Bucharest, Romania

The bridge to nowhere



















Pasajul Pipera-Tunari, Bucuresti



















Pasajul Pipera-Tunari, Bucuresti

Every place has it's own "bridge to nowhere." In the headlines this week, it came out that a new bridge, which doesn't yet connect anything, was suddenly put on hold when, upon reaching the train line that the bridge was to cross over, it was discovered that the high voltage overhead lines for the train coincide exactly with the height of the bridge. So, we had to go over there in the morning today and check it out. From the ground, it's somewhat difficult to say exactly whether the lines cross or dont cross. A followup article indicates the bridge does clear the overhead cables, but that there are other problems with the supports for the cables, and other conflicts between planned work for train line and planned work for the bridge, neither of which were coordinated with each other, and that the project involves the other infamous phrase "EU funds." So, we had to check it out for the sketchblog.

Pipera is an area under construction; on the edge of the city, the area is full of small 1-1/2 lane roads. So, driving over to the famous intersection at the rail line via one of the 1-1/2 lane roads, you suddenly come across the giant concrete bridge springing out of a field in the middle of nowhere but not actually connecting to the street. As I was sketching there, a train actually came through the intersection, probably carrying some of the tourists from the city on their way to the seaside. The line is the main line that goes to the seaside, and right now is the start of the tourist high season, so it'll probably be a while before the various parties can agree on and implement a solution to the problem.... probably at least until the end of the tourist season.

http://www.realitatea.net/cfr--lucrarile-la-pasajul-pipera-au-loc-fara-avizul-companiei--mai-mult--nu-s-au-respectat-dimensiunile-necesare-securitatii-cailor-ferate_521952.html

http://www.tykryt.com/2009/05/21/pasajul-pipera-povestea-continua/

http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/pasajul-din-pipera-o-iluzie-optica.html