Ilaria and Om in Spain: Seville, with an Epilogue

So, the last day of our trip has come.

We gathered our last energies, we put a lid on the jar of sadness, and we went out to fulfil some important missions.

Mission #1.
The day before, we recovered a "traveling guitar": it is a guitar that travels the world, goes from hand to hand and plays always different music styles. A friend of Om left it in Seville some time before, so that we could take it, enjoy it and then hand it over to the next traveling guitarist.

So, the mission was to find this guitarist.


Mission #2.
To find the new sketchers that will keep the Flying Sketchbook flying!

We also didn't want to waive some tasteful touristic wandering, so first we went to a must-see of Seville: the Giralda tower - where the wind sang along with Om and the traveling guitar.

After that, we were ready for our missions. We first thought that we could try to attract the fated sketcher and guitarist just by sitting in the street, playing and drawing. Nearby, a flamenquero pinched the strings of his guitar. Listening to these notes, Ilaria began a new sketch - she finished it later, with Om playing and singing, both still thinking at the night before in La Carbonerìa.

Music and color: the former conveys the inspiration, the latter comes and creates the shape - so, colors came also on Om's "elephant" sketch, and finally completed it.

The drawings in the sketchbook sometime influence each other...

Eventually, the mission had to be accomplished, and we still didn't find neither sketchers nor guitarists. It was time to pass to the action - so we started to try to individuate the right people and ask them directly if they felt like to take part into the project.
It wasn't easy, because we needed someone who was enthusiast about the project, but also who was going to go on traveling. After some attempts, the fado decided to help us! Here is the result:

We met Sophie and Shiney near the Real Alcazar: they came from Germany, and they were going to travel to Morocco! When we first talked to them, probably they thought we were mad, but when they saw the sketchbook they got it, and their eyes smiled.
And they accepted! We were so happy and we felt that the fate was really watching us.

* * *

So, we separated from the Flying Sketchbook. It was both exciting and sad. The sketchbook had been part of our trip, it retained part of our emotions and of our impressions...but knowing that it will keep on flying was very intense! And knowing that it will reach places that we have never seen, and that it will be part of other travelers' experiences really made us feel amazed.

We wish the very best to Sophie and Shiney, and we're so thankful to them and to their will to participate.

Now, it's their turn to tell us about the neverending trip of the Flying Sketchbook!

Ilaria and Om Sharan

P.S.: the mission #1 was later accomplished too! We found Bruno, a Portuguese musician, who was going back from Morocco to Portugal together with his wife, and he accepted to help the traveling guitar to fulfil its destiny. But that's another story...
A big hug to him too, and the best wishes!

Ilaria and Om in Portugal: Zambujeira do Mar

So, in the end, we had to leave Lisbon too. It was very hard, and to pass the bridge on the Tejo filled us with a melancholic mood and the wish to come back soon.

But our bus was taking us on the way to a new, very exciting experience: to finally meet the Atlantic Ocean. Ilaria already came across its breeze and waves some years ago, in Senegal, while Om Sharan never saw it before.

The first sight of the shore in Zambujeira do Mar was amazing, just before the sunset.

Om Sharan felt like a child who discovers Nature for the first time...

...and the day after he wrote a song, called "Ocean for Two".

We found a very nice beach nearby the town of Zambujeira do Mar, called Alteirinhos, where we could finally get sunburnt like any other respectable tourist :)

Here, the breeze first sang the notes of "Ocean for Two".

Ilaria had her inspiration too, and her feelings took the form of a fish, which promptly swam to the Flying Sketchbook!

We also forgot to show you a picture of another sketch, which is still unfinished: Om Sharan drew it on the bus from Serra da Estrela to Lisbon...colors will come, sooner or later, to complete the picture.

Ilaria and Om in Portugal: Coimbra

So, after leaving Aveiro and the enchanted house of Lua de Sol, we headed to our next stage: Coimbra.

Coimbra is especially famous for its very old University (it was established in 1290!) and for the curious habits of its students: they wear fancy black clothes (regardless the temperature)...

...they are organized in "republics" that reside in some houses nearby the university...

...and they do strange things with black paint and bare feet in the night!

Coimbra streets and alleys were not stingy with colors, too:

So in the end Coimbra deserved a page of the Flying Sketchbook, and after drinking a cevada (barley coffe) Ilaria's eyes and hands had the right inspiration!

Ilaria and Om in Portugal: Aveiro and Lua de Sol's house

Here we are!

So, Porto was a great experience, and we really felt like being embraced by its beauty and its simple and welcoming atmosphere.

To travel is to come and see, but it is also to leave and to remember: so, in the end, we had to take our train towards the next stage of our trip, Coimbra.

As a cheap solution, we took a local service train (comboio urbano) to the small city of Aveiro, and then an intercity train to Coimbra.
On the comboio urbano Ilaria felt a bit sad about leaving Porto, and she had an inspiration: she wanted to draw an "azulejo on paper" - but the result went out of control quickly!

To use the black wax crayon is nice, but has some disadvantages :)

We had three hours to wait in Aveiro for the connection, so we decided to wander a bit around this cute place.
Portugal seems to be very generous, and the colors used by street artists in Aveiro are an example of that :)

While we were wandering in the narrow streets surrounded by houses covered with azulejos, we noticed a house which looked very different from the others: it was all blue and turquoise, and we were fascinated by some drawings we saw through the open window...it felt like it was an enchanted house!

Om couldn't resist the temptation to ring the bell, which appeared as a white string leaking from a hole in the door, near the sign "Lua de Sol"...

A black haired portuguese man with deep black eyes opened after a while, and stared at us with a questioning glance. Aware of our uncommon behavior, we tried to explain that we were fascinated by the house and we were too curious about who painted it. He hesitated for a moment, then called the artist: his wife! A cute, smiling woman in coloured cloths, who invited us to enter and offered to show us the house...what a privilege! And what a discovery! The internal walls were completely covered with paintings, drawings, poems...it was the perfect nest for a wonderful family as they were! The couple introduced their son Leonardo, whose lively eyes, even if a little shy, looked at us with curiosity.
The house also hosted some cats and two little parrots, and a small garden on an interior terrace on the second floor.
The house had a name: "Lua de Sol", Moon of Sun, shining of each other's light, forming a small colored universe together with their little star Leonardo.

We told them about the Flying Sketchbook, and we agreed that jamming on it would have been great! Here is the result:

Another universe! With a flower of life too...
Shortly afterwards, sadly we had to leave - our train to Coimbra departed in half an hour, and we took it on the last minute! :)
Hugs to Lua de Sol e Estrela!

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: