A journey through time at the Tramsmusée

When you look at old photos of Luxembourg-City you may be surprised at finding out that there used to be trams all over the city. Unfortunately they were completely removed in the 1960s in favour of buses, which were more fashionable and more economical at that time. I love trams, so I can't help feeling that the city lost part of its character in favour of being more mainstream and modern.

So it was with some curiosity that I participated to latest urban sketching session organised by LUCA at the museum of public transportation, commonly known as "Tramsmusée".

In a small room, you can go through the evolution of public transport in Luxembourg, with one example of electric tram, horse tram, tram coach, bus, etc. on display. There was even a bus just like the old school buses that used to take me to highschool. The common colour to all is a dark, almost indigo, blue with creamy yellow borders.

Nowadays there is not just one colour of bus. Depending on the model, the operating company and even possible advertising they can range from white to red to rainbow-coloured and the occasional old-fashioned dark blue reminiscent of the ancient trams. 

 

At the moment there are construction sites all over the city, the biggest project being... to reintroduce trams to replace a big part of the buses. They say that only idiots don't change their minds, but I find it a pity that we lost the historic trams and their charm, which cannot really be replaced by modern models. 

 

It would be quaint to see a few old rickety trams run through the city, like Lisbon and its yellow trams. Maybe they will use the old carriages on special occasions. I would definitely be in line to take a ride in one of them.

December sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

For our December sketchcrawl, let's go sketch at the Christmas market in Luxembourg city.

If the weather is too bad, we will find refuge in one of the cafés in the centre.

Let's meet in front of the Cercle Cité (Place d'Armes) at 14:00 this Sunday 4 December 2015.

Don't forget your gloves, scarves and anything that can help to fight the cold ;)

See you on Sunday!

USK + LUCA at the Luxembourg Trammusee

It was a great session last Saterday afternoon at the Tram Museum of Luxembourg with a nice group of fellow sketchers.

November colours

For our November Sketchcrawl we met at the Notre Dame cemetery in Limpertsberg, Luxemburg.

With its beautifully carved tombstones and funerary sculptures it is a place of meditation and calm. And especially in November, after the visits of the families, the chrysanthemums, the autumn colours and the monuments make for an interesting painting palette.

We were happy to welcome two new members, Nico and Manon (our youngest urban sketcher).

We were lucky that it did not rain, but there was a cold wind and you could feel snow in the air even if it was only the beginning of November. But the November light was beautiful, so we were courageous and we sketched for about an hour in the cemetery.

We made the traditional ‘family photo’ of our sketchbooks:

With the cemetery as background it has a special melancholic ring to it:

Here are my own sketches - I focused on the ‘Angel of Grief’, a replica of the Rome sculpture by the American sculptor William Wetmore Story.

Afterwards we went for a hot drink in the Hitch on the Glacis. When our fingers and toes were warm again we could go on sketching in a drink&draw session!

Manon sketching

Maria Grazia

Nico