Category Archives: Coimbra

One Full Day in Coimbra

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Today began in the breakfast room, since this hotel comes with breakfast (I very rarely would pay for breakfast since we don’t need as much as they serve and the prices are usually outrageous).

From there (after getting things from our room), we set out, following a Rick Steves walk. We first went to the Santa Clara Bridge, walking across that.

After the bridge we landed at Largo da Portagem. If we hadn’t eaten we might have been tempted by the pastries, but after our breakfast there was no need. So on we walked.

We continued down a main drag, heading to the Church of Santa Cruz. At some point (I can’t remember exactly when) some female students in their robes came up to ask us something … but (I forgot to write about this last night so I’ll write it now) we shook our heads and walked on.

Soooo … the story from last night: prior to our dinner a young male student came up to us. The story as he told it was as a newbie (well, he didn’t use that word) they had tasks they had to do. One was to sing a song to a tourist and then get us to sing it back. So, while we weren’t all that jazzed, we let him sing some of it to us. “La la la la la” it began, then a few words in Portuguese, then more “la la la la la la la…”. Finally I said, can you show us the words to the song. And there were a LOT more words and NO “la la la”s there. But I immediately noticed one word that was the same as an English world that immediately made me understand what was going on. What we would be singing would be a song that was quite sexual in nature. At that point I said, without letting on that I understood the game, that we really couldn’t do it — that the Portuguese was just to difficult for us. I do wonder if all English speaking tourists would understand, or if he’d get a video of someone saying who-knows-what so he and all his friends could have a good laugh! In any case, when the young women came up to us today we quickly waved them off! Silly kids!

We continued on our way, and arrived at the Cafe Santa Cruz (a former church) and we did decide we had to have a coffee and small treat. (I mean, the Rick Steves’ instructions sort of told us we should.) OH … and it should be noted that the women’s bathroom used to be a confessional. Heh.

Next door was the Church of Santa Cruz (Mosteiro de Santa Cruz), and we opted to pay the 4€ each for a ticket to see more of it. There was a lot to see …

The our friend Rick told us to go on to the Jardim da Manga. I had expected some sort of large garden since I hadn’t read his description yet, but it was not a huge thing, and we too quick photos as we passed by.

Then it was the Mercado Municipal. Turns out much of the market was closed or in the process of closing, so not much to see, but we did get pastel de nata there. Because.

Rick’s next instructions were to take an elevator and the funicular to get closer to the University. Um. Maybe not. Both were not working! So we had a climb to do … but nothing we couldn’t handle!

We arrived at the university courtyard we were at yesterday, and when it was time we went to see King João’s Library. First we saw the prison, then a library before the Baroque Library, and finally the amazing library itself. I took photos of the library before the Baroque Library, but no photography was allowed in the latter. Too bad, but I guess readers will just have to visit it to see what it was like.

We also saw St. Michael’s Chapel. There were people working on a statue that had been taken down, not repainting, but just restoring it from what I understand.

We saw the Royal Palace as well.

And we had more we could see with our ticket but didn’t easily locate them, and I think we were just ready to wander back down the hill because we were feeling dehydrated. We did enter the botanical garden, thinking maybe we could get some refreshments there, but after not quickly finding anything we opted to go back to our hotel and enjoy the rooftop while have drinks, olives, and chips. First there was the downhill walk …

Another church…

Then the refreshments (some non-alcoholic … really!) with a view …

… and then one of us started her blogging while another one napped.

It was nearing dinner, so we readied ourselves for one more trip up a hill in search of food. Since I had the Rick Steves Portugal book I just looked things up there. (Last night’s was on his list as well, but we didn’t know it until we got back to the hotel.) We ended up at a nice tapas place, and it was even quiet enough that I didn’t have to worry about my bad ear! I didn’t bother taking photos … no one needs to keep seeing food photos, right? When we finished we went back to our hotel, and hit the rooftop one last time (or at least we think it’s the last time: I suppose we could end up there for a morning view if we wanted).

Tomorrow we move on to another spot. At this point we don’t know if travel will be by train or by bus. I have tickets for either because we’ve received notices that there will be a train strike. When that happens you can’t tell just which trains will be canceled, so I had been advised to buy bus tickets in case our train was a victim of the strike. We just won’t know until I check the train site in the morning, but my guess is we’ll have to take a bus. Stay tuned for that news. In my effort to be more relaxed about “when things go wrong” I am, so far, not stressing. We’ll see how I am tomorrow!

Ciao!

Another Day, A New City

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Waking this morning, we first packed up (well, okay, truth be told I showered prior to that (I’m assuming the people we would sit near on the train might appreciate that), and then we went for a quick bite on a main street just one block away from our hotel. Then it was back to the hotel to collect our stuff after a check of the room to be sure we left nothing behind besides Dan’s torn pants (someone could, if they were up for it, turn them into a great pair of shorts!). We took an Uber to the train station which took a while: it might have even been faster (but more painful with our luggage) to walk!

When we got on the train and were putting our backpacks up above us the four people in our same row asked if that was all we traveled with. They seemed rather astounded so we chatted about how we pack. The conversation continued in other directions as well, and we learned the couple closest to us were from Napa. Small world, as always. We were still chatting when a woman behind and to my right gave me (well, all of us, I suppose, but I was the one who turned around) a lecture on our being too loud. Having heard that we Americans are just too doggone loud, I was horrified and embarrassed. Later Dan said he really felt the lecture was unnecessary and she could have just shushed us. The truth is we were too loud, but the train hadn’t left yet and I’m fairly sure the conversation would have ended at that point. But me being me I felt just horrible for the whole ride, as I tend to see things as my fault. Sigh.

Otherwise the ride was uneventful (and yes, the conversation completely shut down), and we arrived at our next destination only about 20 minutes late. (Not all trains are timely!) So hello, Coimbra.

Our hotel is basic (and I forgot to take a photo which I so often do. Oh well. I’ll shoot one now that is really a nothing photo.

It says it’s a 3 star but it feels a bit like a 2. And who cares? We sleep here. That is about it. We are only here for two nights, so it’s a very brief stay. Outside is a bit grungy, but we are only a few blocks from the old town, and then a good climb up to the Coimbra University. There is a rooftop view, so we checked that out before heading up the very steep hill.

Once we got settled we went out and aimed toward that university. I love the narrow walkways and alleys, and I marvel at the vehicles that can maneuver through some of them. (Later, when we were walking down from the university, cars would race down the small alley we were in and we had to find a safe spot to stand as they passed by. They are not at all hesitant to speed by us!)



But back to the university. I had read we’d see students in robes, and, sure enough, a student soon passed us in her robe.

We went up to the top to find the Baroque Library we’ll visit tomorrow, and we wandered around a bit. I actually hadn’t expected to get to do much today, so I was glad we were able to get out and explore as much as we did.

We finally headed back down (those photos are also above this paragraph), and looked to see where we might eat. I had seen a street on our way up that looked rather nice — a narrow street with a few different colors of chairs outside so I knew there was more than one restaurant. Sure enough, we landed back on that street and started looking. While looking at the first place another couple were peering in as well. The woman had both Canada and an Ukraine flag pins on her shirt and I told her I liked them. I sort of said, apologetically, that we were from the United States. She then said they were from Seattle. They, like us, are rather horrified by our country right now. Go figure. They also said they were on a Rick Steves tour.

While we didn’t choose the restaurant we saw with them, we did opt for one right down the same alley. They took our reservation for 6:30, but it was only 6:10 so we had to kill some time. That meant a wee bit of walking, and a couple of pieces of chocolate at a chocolate shop nearby that smelled amazing. (Yes, we had to suffer greatly while waiting for dinner.)

Dinner was at Fangas Maior, a restaurant that serves tapas — and it was quite yummy. I think we spent 2 1/2 hours there in our typical fashion. We so frequently outlast other diners. Go figure.

Then it was back to the hotel, with a few photo shots on the way.

Tomorrow we have the University visit to do, but otherwise we’ll just have to see what the day brings.