A lazy Sunday morning, enjoying coffee and the view.

Shortly after I arrived in Lisbon I decided that Sundays would be my museum day. I had never thought of Portugal as necessarily a destination for museum touring, however there are several and their collections, though relatively small, do include some gems.

Last Sunday I visited the Colouste Gulbenkian Museum. Small. It took me less than 90 minutes to peruse the entire collection, albeit moving quickly through the furniture. The museum holds a few Rembrandts, the most impressive being "Portrait of an Old Man" and a few Monets. Though I appreciate Monet, I can't say I've ever been overly excited by his pieces. The painting that I most enjoyed was by an artist I had not heard of before, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and his piece "The Mirror of Venus".

However, the items that I may return to the Gulbenkian to appreciate again are two sculptures. One by Rodin and the other by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. The Rodin piece, "The Blessings", is amazing. The photo below doesn't do it justice. The detail of the wings is extraordinary. It's hard to believe the downy looking feathers are stone.

The other piece that I found enchanting was Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's "Flora". The photo below does not quite capture it, but that smile made me smile. Beautiful.

Today is Sunday, but instead of a museum I will be going to IKEA to get some essentials for my new home.

Next week...Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga!