Fourth Week of July 2018: Thursday

Thursday, July 26

Mom's 81st birthday!  It was great to be there in person and to celebrate it with the family.  No fancy dinner.  We just stayed home.  Youngest brother, Jonjon, stopped by for a quick visit.  

Earlier in the afternoon, Mom and I went back to Madrid for some more errands.  Of course, it was after 3:00pm (siesta time) and the store I wanted to visit near Plaza Mayor wouldn't open until after 5:00pm.  To pass away the time, I sketched the statue of King Philip III from the other side of the square before heading home with Mom.

Fourth Week of July 2018: Wednesday afternoon

Wednesday, July 25 (Afternoon)

I made sure I wasn't late to a lunch with a very dear family friend, Yolanda Luna.  She suggested we try a Vietnamese restaurant not too far from the SOL Train Station, near the center of Madrid.  Food was good, not great, but the place is nice.  I love exchanging stories about travel experiences with Tita Yoli.  There never is a dull moment with her

Aside from a 12 oz bag of Pete's Dark Roasted Coffee beans from the US that I want her to try, I wanted to gift her something else.  She seem to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden sketch from last spring.  I happily tore it out of my sketchbook and gave it to her before we parted ways.

I waited several hours for my next appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Levine.  We had planned on doing something together in Madrid after Porto and this was the day.  It turned to be a great and fun time sketching the Plaza Mayor scene with Jeff from 7:30-10:30pm before dining at this wonderful restaurant.  

Food was great and it did not disappoint.  It was already past midnight when Jeff and I said our goodbyes.  Darn, I missed the last train to Parla by 20 minutes!  Anyway, I learned of the bus N806 route that operates once the train shuts down for the night.  It left Madrid at 1:30am.   Now I know how to get home by bus after midnight!

  

Fourth Week of July 2018: Wednesday morning

Wednesday, July 25 (Morning)

I enjoy the leisurely morning walk with Dad because of our conversation.  The stories told along the way, both old and new, are all equally interesting.   We made a stop at the bank for an inquiry that took a long time, then at a cafeteria, and lastly, at the carniceria, before making our way back home.  Using the down time at each of those stops, I sketched what was before me.  

A quick sketch at the cafeteria

At the El Mercadito Carniceria

Sketches of people waiting for their turn at the local bank.

Fourth Week of July 2018: Tuesday

Tuesday, July 24

Dad and I took a morning walk at the nearby park but we had a late start.  The intense sun and dry heat greeted us.  It felt hotter here in Parla, Madrid than it was in Porto, Portugal.  We should have left the house much earlier in the day.

Walking in the park with Dad.

In the afternoon, Mom and I did some errands in Madrid (about 30 minutes train ride north of Parla).  She also took this time-lapse video of me doing the direct watercolor sketch of Iglesia de San Andres Apostol in the old district of Madrid not too far from Plaza Mayor.  Thanks to Mom, I've a short video to share with you! 

Waiting at the bus stop with Mom.

Fourth Week of July 2018: Monday

Monday, July 23

My flight to Madrid wasn't until 3:40pm so I had all morning to do several things:  finish the sketch I started six days ago and mail the notecards at the post office.  I even found time to sketch the altar of the Se Cathedral.  

With all last minute errands done, I walked back to check out of the AirBnB apartment.  There was only one more thing to do before heading to the airport: sketch that cute cottage with a fantastic view of the Ribeira. 

A fantastic view of the Ribeira from the bedroom of our AirBnB apartment rental.

Sketching the cottages on Calcada da Serra.

#114 is the second cottage from the left.

After sketching this scene, I left for the airport and saw that Eduardo Bajzek, one of the workshop instructors from Sao Paulo, Brazil was on the same flight as mine to Madrid.  I first met Eduardo one evening at the Ribeira.  We invited him to come and join our small NYC group and have dinner together.  That was how I got to know him.  The wait time at the airport seemed a lot shorter as we traded anecdotes and personal stories.  Soon they called the boarding process and Eduardo's group went on first.  My assigned seat was further back.  As I passed by him, we shook hands, and that was the last I saw of him that day.  

Third Week of July 2018: Part II

Saturday, July 21 (Final Sketch Walk & Closing Ceremony)

No more workshops for me, just the sketch walks.  Somehow, I ended up going with the limited group of sketchers on a bus ride to the Municipal Cemetery instead of the large group hiking to the Miradouro das Virtudes that morning.  

In the afternoon, Lois Bender and I found a nice table at the Estambul Doner Kebap facing the Avenida dos Aliados.  I would later find Samuel Berner in the crowd.  He's from Zurich, Switzerland, a friend I made last year from the Chicago Symposium. I briefly sketched with him for the final sketch walk in front of the "Fonte da Juventude/Menina Nua".  Too bad, we didn't find time to hang out here in Porto.

My favorite of all the sketches I made during the Symposium.

A few minutes of sketching with Sam.  

How could the Symposium be over so soon?  It was only like yesterday when a crowd of 800 attendees from 46 different countries descended in Porto for four days of fun and excitement.  Now, in front of the Porto City Hall, all of us smiled at the camera for one memorable group photo of a lifetime!  See the red arrow pointing to me.

The NYC USk banner and delegation.

A friend, Mark Leibowitz, wrote on FB saying "Loved the picture of everyone at the Symposium. Showed it to my wife and said it was a picture of me and 800 of my closest friends."  How very true!!!

Later at the closing ceremony, I won a prize bag for the Yellow raffle ticket# 48.  I kept some items and later gifted the rest to a young family friend.

The raffle prizes I kept.

A bitter sweet ending for the four day event filled with memorable experiences with my "tribe".  I picked up my symposium certificate of attendance and waited for THE announcement.  And waited...and waited...and waited.

It was a little past 9:00pm.  I couldn't wait any longer to hear the announcement for the next symposium host city.  I hurriedly left the venue for the Ribeira.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed and the screen lit up.  Mark was live texting the countdown.

God willing, I hope to attend next year's symposium in AMSTERDAM.

Third Week of July 2018: Part II

Sunday, July 22

Anne's flight back home was at 10:30am so we left early for the airport.  It was an easy train ride with only one transfer at Trindade station.  On the way back, I got off at the Sao Bento Station, took some photographs before starting to sketch at the front entrance.

The chance encounters and conversations outside of the Sao Bento Train Station.

I was just a few lines into my planned sketch when a lady asked "Still sketching?".  I lifted my head, stopped what I was doing and chose to have a conversation with this lady named Anne Rose Oosterbaan, "a passionate sketcher from the Netherlands", as her card says.  I reasoned that I will never have another opportunity to have a conversation with this lady but I can always come back to this same spot and sketch again another time.

Next came Inger Viklund.  She was waiting for Lars Nydahl who showed up not soon after.  Then there was Emma Fitzgerald who somehow got lost using Google Maps and showed up late for a sketch meet at this station.  Then Damaris Williams from NYC showed up and we too had our conversation.  What a productive interaction with other Urban Sketchers at this spot!  

Not too far north of Sao Bento Station is the Praca da Batalha where I made a couple of sketches.

I love this bookstore near Praca da Batalha!

The retail store across from the bookstore.  The Clerigos Tower at the distance.

Later in the afternoon, I went to the Miradouro da Serra do Pilar looking for something to sketch.  Found the cathedral to be a good subject, made the watercolor splash on my Moleskine then started the grey lines.  Guess who would show up there not too soon after - Julie Kessler and Joan Zsalay Tavolott, followed by Shawne Cooper and Marcy Singer!  Never mind the cathedral sketch I started. Instead, we waited, watched, and sketched the beautiful sunset from this great spot in Porto.