Day 13 - Good Friday in Coimbra

“May Good Friday wrap you in peace and hope”—-common saying

Today was a much needed rest day and after a hearty breakfast made a quick stop at the pharmacia to get cold medicine.

Coimbra is a beautiful city and we visited the Se Velha Coimbra, Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of Coimbra. The cathedral is beautiful and while I’m not a catholic, I do appreciate the spiritual nature.

My lead photo is from the Monastery of Santa Cruz. The shadow that Mary cast was poignant. While Mary’s arms are outstretched as if offering comfort and love, her shadow (to me) looks sad, as if she is dejected by man’s refusal to seek peace and treat people with respect and dignity.

Walking through the cobblestone streets we heard the sound of fado music, a soulful and melancholic Portuguese musical genre, waffling through the air. It was beautiful

I also visited a Portuguese ceramics shop with pieces from a local artist. It was torture! Torture in the sense that there were so many beautiful pieces: large bowls, serving dishes, olive bowls, etc. that I would love to have, but no way to carry them on my trek and they don’t ship to a the U.S. 😟. Maybe I’ll find something as nice at the end of my journey

Tonight we returned to the same little restaurant that we ate at last night. While we looked at other places, the menus were just not as appealing as the Restaurant Maria’s. I dined on a spicy chick pea salad and Picanha, a cut of beef first made popular in Brazil, and later adopted in Portugal. Another bonus is it is right up the cobblestone street from our apartment which was a blessing considering it started raining hard by the time we left!

Tomorrow we continue our way to Porto and then Santiago!Read more