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I tend to forget how remarkable it can be for tourists, how we Amsterdammers do most of our traveling through the city by bicycle. Just the other day, I talked about this with a friend who lives in Texas. There, even if you wanted to, its just something you dont do. Not just because of the large distances, but also because of crime. Huh, I have to say Im a happy cycling Amsterdammer, even more now.

Although I dont even need to get onto my bike when I have to get groceries. Just around the corner there are many shops with lovely stuff. Like this pomegranate. Makes my mouth water just thinking of it.

And what about all the bicycles in Amsterdam? Many people say its the hardest thing to draw. But really, its just shapes and lines in the end. I find it very meditative to sit down and peer at all those tangled shapes of the bunches bicycles that are randomly parked in Amsterdam. For the drawing below, I sat on a bench next to a herring vendor and his stall. I started out drawing my own bike, since I was sure nobody would remove it, then drew more bicycles in the background - sometimes I had to be quick, as the owner of one of the bicycles would unlock a bike and leave. But, as the herring vendor said, as he sat down next to me on the bench to chat and have a look at my drawing: "You could go on forever, they keep parking more and more bikes in front of you". True. It was a lovely sketchtime, and if I wouldnt have hd to leave for an appointment, I could have sat there for at least another hour. And buy a herring as a reward.
Of course I showed the herring vendor this drawing in my sketchbook:

Then we fuelled up with coffee and a bite to eat at a cafe with a great peaceful terrace. On the right there,  you can see the concentrated way we all worked in, by just looking at the slightly hunched shoulders of Joke, who is a student in Sketchbook Skool and came over for a few hours of sketching with her husband and their 2-year-old daughter.

Joke and I looking at each others sketchbook pages

We moved to the science Museum, which is in the harbour, and I sat down to draw the historical boats.

Great group of Amsterdam sketchers!

After taking a break to awe at each others sketchbook pages and make a group photo we walked to the park, to join a hippie-like small festival, where everyone was invited to bring their instruments to jam, and their art supplies to make some art. So thats what we did, we made some more art. After a bite to eat, sitting in the grass and chatting to the other sketchcrawlers, I made this last sketch before heading home.