Portugal & Spain

We headed over the river in the direction of the town markets but we were waylaid with a visit to Monastery of Santa Cruz which is in the centre of old town Coimbra. Founded in 1131 by King Afonso Henriques for the Order of Saint Augustine, it was the most influential monastery in the city and in the country. In the 16th century, it went through restructuring works. The best part was that it had a cool cafe next door which was converted from the monastery’s chapel. The cafe retained much of the chapel’s features so it was here that we had our first coffee for the day. Onwards up hill to the markets but by the time we got there a lot were closing. We still hadn’t explored our side of the river so we headed for the Pedro e Ines pedestrian bridge with a stop on the way at a place that only does speciality roast pork sandwiches. Couldn’t walk past that and of course another coffee. Crossing the river we visited the ruins of the Monastery of Santa Clara Verde which is directly opposite our hotel. Commissioned by Queen Isabel of Portugal, the construction of the monastery began in 1314 and was designed to house a convent of Clarist nuns, an order that lived in silence. The waters of the nearby Mondego River gradually encroached on the monastery, which was eventually abandoned in 1677. After the monastery we then back tracked to a little eatery we had passed on the way. There was no one in there so we took a seat and the waiter/cook/dishwasher came out in surprise and asked if we would like to see the other side of his house, so of course we followed him and this is where his customers were all sitting, looking over the ruins of the monastery. Interesting guy who had grown up in Angola until they got independence from Portugal in 1975. As we were leaving he came out with a bottle of chestnut port wine, that his uncle had made, and offered us a small glassful each. He then introduced his 85 year old mother who was in the kitchen cooking. After lunch we dragged our full stomachs up a very steep incline to the Monastery of Santa Clara Nova which was built to replace the flooded monastery down the hill. We jumped on a tour with another couple and enjoyed listening about how this order of nuns lived in silence. We also saw the gothic tomb of Queen Isabel, the patron Saint of Portugal, which was amazing. and the ornate church and cloisters. We then decided we had had enough up and down hills for one day, so we called it a day.Read more