It's the end of May, and the jacarandas in Lisbon are once again covered with clusters of blue tubular flowers. One of my first memories of being in Lisbon, as a kid, was of walking down the Avenue 5 de Outubro, with the pavement covered with these blue/lilac flowers, that kept falling from the trees as I walked. I remember my mother telling me of its name and of how it was common to see them in some streets in the colonial East Africa, Mozambique, where she grew up (the trees would blossom in the southern hemisphere around December). Ever since than, my fascination with these wonderful trees, brought from Brazil centuries ago, has not ceased, and each jacaranda in the city looks like a treasure to me, bringing memories of happy summer days...
