| Nov 22, 2005 - Coimbra
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 | | show all 8 | | view of Coimbra | | plaza in old town | | lone rower on the river | | |
| I arrived in Coimbra yesterday afternoon after a beatiful train ride through the Portugese countryside, passing through little towns, farms and vineyards. Sorry, but for some reason, I am still having problems uploading pictures directly from my camera, so now new pics yet. I continually get messages saying that the computer doesn't recognize the hardware. My camera is only 3 years old, so hard to believe that it won't work, but it has only worked once, in San Sebastian and not since.
The weather has been great here, a little warmer than Lisbon and best of all, no rain. Yesterday I walked around the old part of town and up to the university, which is the oldest and most prestegious in Portugal. It was built in the late 1200's and the library is amazing. Supposedly it has bats that live in it, which eat insects that would otherwise eat the books. I didn't see any bats, but I did see a lot of OLD books.
The walk down from the university through the old part of town goes through some winding and twisted streets with some great views of the town below. I wandered around for hours, exploring small lanes and shops, stopping for a cafe com leitte and pastry now and then. There are so many little cafes and pastry shops, it's amazing they can all stay in business. Later, I had one of the best meals I have had on this trip. I don't know if it was because I was just so hungry, or if it was because it was the first REAL dinner I have had in over a week (I've been living on sandwich's) or if it was simply because it was really, good food. It was an Italian restaurant down by the river, Lasagna, salad and red wine. mmmmm-good. I was the only one there at 6:00, but was glad because it meant no cigarette smoke. Try as I might, I just can't get used to eating dinner at 9:00 pm. Afterwards I walked down along the river and through the 2 main squares of town, 'Largo do Portagem' and 'Praça do comercio'. The whole town is decked out in Christmas lights, wire frame Christmas trees and signs on every square and lots of vendors roasting chestnuts. It's very festive but hard to believe that it's almost Christmas.
Today I am off to explore more of the old town and make my train reservations for Salamanca. I have 2 more days here, then take an evening train back to Spain on Thursday. I may also take a bus ride tomorrow or thurday out to Nazare on the coast, which Rick highly recommends visiting. Ciao for now, miss all of you. |
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