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: Serra da Estrela and Lisbon

When we left Coimbra, we really wanted to get in touch with a more rural, naturalistic part of Portugal. We were reasonably close to the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela:

 The weather was hot and we walked a lot! We didn't have energies to dedicate to the sketchbook, but Nature painted for us some very nice works :)

When we left the Parque, we took a bus to the next, fundamental step of our trip: Lisbon! We had the chance to get in touch before with a wonderful person who hosted us in Lisboa: Sofia!

We got in touch through the Couchsurfing community, and when we met her we found out that she was a multi-talented, explosive and super-hospitable host! Her house is colored and her flatmates are furry! They're two dogs - Ibisco and Shaun - and three cats, of which the little cappuccino-colored Guinjo made us fall crazy in love at the very first sight.
We spent three days with her and her pets. On one evening we shared with Sofia the Flying Sketchbook idea and we jammed together on two pages:

Sofia put on an album by Ravi Shankar as a perfect accompanyment to this jam. We're sure it had a good influence :)

Lisboa won our hearts with its characteristic neighborhoods, with its tiny vintage trams that climb the slopes of the city...

...with its Fado culture...

...with its river, the Tejo...

...and with its nice flea market, the Feira da Ladra.

After visiting the Museu Coleção Berardo in the Belém neighborhood (the museum was much bigger than we expected, the entrance was for free and the works inside were very interesting!), we found a small churrasqueira where we had time to rest, eat something and to find the right inspiration for a small present to give to our wonderful host, Sofia:

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!