Portsmouth to London to Belfast to Dublin to Gothenburg

On to Portsmouth. Had a nice blether over my coffee & eggs with a friendly Portsmouthian (?)  whose dad was from Glasgow, mum from Loch Lomond. Then I wandered off to the local Art Gallery & Museum where they are quite big on Conan Doyle...

He seems pleased with himself...

I picked up book of actual letters sent to 221b Baker Street, London. Exhibit A:

You know it's a posh burger and chips when you have to use a knife and fork on one chip...

Got laundry done (Hallelujah). Gig was fun. 

I've kept at the drawings. Try and spot Paul Merton, Alan Moore, Arthur English, John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Benny Hill:

On to London. Visited the National Gallery:

Met Harry Pye and his pal Derek for a pre-gig Italian.

Thanks for the badges, Harry...

Francis And Tiramisu by Harry Pye

I've seen both Laura Cantrell and Julie Fowlis perform at the beautiful Union Chapel in the past. Teenage Fanclub had a ball. Norman dusted down "Broken" for the occasion. Seemed to work well.

Photo credit - Harry Pye

Photo Credit - me

I met a Brazilian pal, Pedro, after the show, inspiring me to draw Chico Buarque...

We had to play Belfast and Dublin without Euros who was taken unwell. The shows had to go on - and they did.

Scampi and chips and guinness in the rare old Crown Bar...

I helped an older US couple who wanted a holiday snap outside The Crown. Then the woman wanted a photo with because I was "so stylish" and had "got it going on".  Sounds better in an American accent.

The Empire Music Hall is a fine venue as not evidenced by my uninspired photo...

Drew Jim Dale.

To Dublin by train for another 4-piece show. Me guessing at harmony parts and lyrics. What larks.

Had a go at sketching Seamus Heaney on the way...

Visited the National Gallery of Ireland....

Ate (supposedly) the best fish and chips in Ireland.

The best fish and Chips in Ireland, the other day.

Drew Samuel Beckett and George Cole

Samuel Beckett

George Cole

The good punters of Dublin spurred us on for another fun show.

We found a bar for some post-gig Guinness/Bushmills with a live session in the corner. Who was on guitar but Tony Byrne who plays with the wonderful Julie Fowlis. You can hear Tony backing Julie here.

Flew to Copenhagen. En route to Gothenburg I drew Danny Kaye (probably came into my head cos he played Hans Christian Andersen), Nicholas Lyndhurst and Humphrey Lyttelton.

Found an Italian restaurant that was about to close the kitchen - but they obliged us. Splendid grub, wine and guess what I had for dessert...

A tiramisu in Gothenburg recently

Looking forward to the show.

Tinkety-tonk x