Ilaria and Om in Portugal: Porto (2)

...here is one more pic of Ilaria doing the first sketch!

So, Porto was so inspiring! We saw so many interesting things- one that surprised us is this series of masks we found in a small exhibition inside the Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, in Vila Nova de Gaia:

I think they´re traditional masks from the ancient peoples of the North of Portugal (can someone confirm?) and what we found surprising is that we found VERY similar masks in the Taranului Muzeul (Museum of the Farmer) in Bucharest! (also check this blog!)

Speaking of Bucharest...it was maybe not a coincidence that a wondeful Romanian guy hosted us in Porto! Marius showed us some amazing, uncommon views of the city, filled with poetry and accompanied by his interesting talks about a wide range of topics.

In the pic above you can see Marius on the left, near his friend Marco, and Alina on the background. They´re three of the seven authors of this nice jam we made in the evening after a dinner in Marco´s and Joana´s place:

Summarizing, the seven authors were: Ilaria, Om Sharan, Marius, Marco, Joana, Alina and an Israeli guy whose name we really couldn´t understand! (sorry!) Joana is on the left on the first of the following pics, while the mysterious Israeli guy is wearing a green t-shirt on the second :)

We´re especially grateful to Marius for his warm hospitality, and to Marco and Joana for their generosity. Thank you all for taking part into the jam and giving your contribution to the Flying Sketchbook!

Ilaria and Om in Portugal: Porto (1)

Hi there!

Here are we: in Porto! This wonderful city in the North of Portugal readily welcomed us with its colored buildings covered with tiles ("ajzulejos") and with its streets filled with silent people - it seems they're always whispering rather than talking, not to disturb the breeze of the ocean that sings from a few miles away.

After our first lunch in Porto, the smell of the "bacalhau" and the beer inspired Ilaria the very first sketch of the Flying Sketchbook:

The lower part of the sketch was completed after seeing the nice Ponte Dona Maria bridge, built by Gustave Eiffel in 1877. (errata corrige: It is actually Ponte Dom Luìs, built by Téophile Seyrig - formerly a collaborator of Gustave Eiffel. Thanks to Geooorge for pointing out the mistake).

Nearby the bridge lie some old abandoned houses, which were covered by these wonderful violet flowers that can be found all the way through Portugal...does anybody know their name?

Ladies ans gentlemen: The Flying Sketchbook

Hi everybody!
Today Ilaria and I are packing our baggages for our trip to Portugal!

We're so excited, thinking about all the colors our eyes will see, and the eyes we will meet - everything will be a story, told to us and by us, an exchange and an enrichment.

We bought a sketchbook for the trip:

Ok, I know it looks a bit serious, but we're going to decorate it outside and inside!

So, this is the plan: we're going to enjoy the sketchbook and fill it with our drawings and ideas during the trip, and at last, before taking our flight back, we'll give it to another traveler, and he or she will do the same, for it to continue in its endless trip around the world!

There will be some rules that each of the sketchers will have to follow: