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Portugal Coimbra

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  • Jzionna's WanderingsPortugal 2025
    2111
    Day 5

    5/9 One more night in Coimbra

    May 9 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The set schedule cracks,
    Sometimes, we should stay longer
    To catch the magic.

    I stayed one more night to get my bearings and make some connections before I began walking. I stayed in the Albergue "Rainha Santa Isabel. " it's good to connect with other pilgrims before the journey begins. Now I have names and faces of those who will be part of our camino family for the next few weeks. I entered an old Renaissance church today, which is not used any longer for holding services. But there was a showing of the works of two Canadian artists who have fascinating displays there! Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller collaborate in setting up multimedia sound installations all over the world. Look them up, it's very interesting work. I only have a video of their hanging carousel of mirrors. But there was a lot displayed that tickled my senses.
    In the other video, I'm walking through water with rain boots on, in an old stone basemen. Once upon a time in the late 1500s, this place was a holding tank for rain water. Imagine having a well down in your basement? Now it's a novelty bar. Only open for happy hour at the end of the day. Some people walk down oodles of steps to have a drink while standing at the bar in rain boots. I wonder how coming back up those stairs after a few drinks look? 😬. The cat above the albergue. It's too far for her to jump, so she watches the world from her sill. I call her Rapunzel. This town has been fun. Fourteen miles to the next town tomorrow.    Read more

  • Jzionna's WanderingsPortugal 2025
    4
    Day 4

    5/8 Coimbra (first stamp!)

    May 8 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Rio Montego
    Winds beside me as I walk
    Coimbra Evening.

    This is my starting point. I'm not quite sure where I go from here, but I'm figuring out as I go. While walking along the river, I found the declathalon store on top of a hill! How would I ever manage without google Maps? I bought a set of trekking poles, and now I'm ready to go. While walking back to my lodging this evening, I met a young man from Turkey who asked me to take his picture against a view of the town with the sun setting. He was bursting out of his seams with the exciting life he is living and went on to tell me of all the places he's been sent around the world installing software. Young, excited, and the world is his oyster! I wished him well for the rest of his life, and I continued to walk up the hill. His youth, joy, and zest for life are so refreshing! Coimbra is a lovely place, but I'll be on my way first thing in the morning.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Portuguese 2025
    1
    2
    Day 14

    Camino Day 11

    May 7 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Conímbriga to Coimbra
    ~17.3 km/11 miles

    Sorry, I'm writing this several days later. My days have been full - walking, sight-seeing and socializing with other pilgrims. I will try to write more later.

    I did meet up with my friend Angie from home - she arrived on the bus just before I got to town. Angie, Kelly, and I walked around the University, the New Cathedral and the Old Cathedral.    Read more

  • Portugal: The Giving Tree Trip
    1
    14221142
    Day 17

    Here Is What I saw in Coimbra

    May 3 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Today, our friends, Judy and Gisela will pick us up here in Coimbra and take us to their home. They relocated to Portugal from Woodland Park Colorado. I’m really excited to see their quiet village. They live in the house they bought and fixed up in their new lifestyle away from the United States so many people are talking about leaving the States but they did it. Coimbra is their nearest city and a great one. I’ve loved our 2 days hereRead more

  • Portugal: The Giving Tree Trip
    1112
    Day 15

    Exploring Colorful Coimbra

    May 1 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    We’ve left the beaches of southern Portugal for the colorful city of Coimbra in north central Portugal, a university town. There is no better way to get to know a place than by walking it, and that’s what we’ve done here since we arrived yesterday afternoon.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Portuguese 2025
    11152222123
    Day 16–19

    Good Friday and a Good Rest

    April 18 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 55 °F

    We stayed in Coimbra today for a rest day. This has been a hard Camino with the first few days excessively hot and humid and all the others with rain of varying lengths and intensities. To make it harder, Jayme has had a cold for days now and it seems to be at its worst right now. And the last two days, I am battling not to get sick also as I feel symptoms coming on. I hope today's rest will give up the strength we need to continue tomorrow with renewed energy.
    We are staying in a little apartment on a narrow cobblestone street in old town, we are in the heart of everything, less than a 5 minute walk to the Cathedral. We had a leisurely start to the day with a real breakfast then a tour of the Se Velha Da Coimbra. Very beautiful as so many of these old Cathedrals are. Being there on Good Friday was especially moving. I lit candles for my parents at the Shrine of the Virgin Mary.
    We then had to visit the tourist info center to get info on an open pharmacy as most places are closed for Good Friday. We bought cough syrup, nose spray, throat lozengers and ibuprofen . This should be enough to kick this cold but the rain we will be walking in again for the next for days could be a challenge to recovery.
    We visited another very old church dedicated to Mary. While not as ornate as the Cathedral it was very beautiful in its own way. We were sitting and looking at a statue of Mary when almost simultaneously both Jayme and I noticed the opposite sides of Mary. Face on, she is loving and accepting and reaching out with such kindness in her demeanor. Then you see the shadow cast but the shadow, and Mary appears so sad and dejected. In that same church, to the left of the altar is buried the first king of Portugal, and on the right side, his son.
    After that, it was naptime. I slept two solid hours and felt I could sleep til morning, but we were hungry. We returned to Restaurant Maria where we had dined last night. Dinner was just as good. We ate a chickpea salad, beef and eggplant. Then walked 3 minutes back to our apartment in pouring rain.
    The only disappointment for me was that I missed the Funeral Procession for the Dead Lord, kind of a reenactment of the procession to bury Jesus. It started at the Cathedral which would have been perfect if it wasn't at 9:30pm in the pouring rain after I had gotten back from dinner and climbed into bed.
    Tomorrow we will take a train to get a bit closer to Porto, and then begin walking again around noon.    Read more

  • Jayme PorkolabJayme’s Camino Portugués
    1
    21425
    Day 16

    Day 13 - Good Friday in Coimbra

    April 18 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 61 °F

    “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

  • TravelerCamino Portuguese 2025
    1
    136
    Day 15

    Its like a smoothie

    April 17 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    The days are blending together with just a small bit of variety, maybe like a strawberry that escapes the blender blade and adds a bit of something to remember.
    Today it was more hills, more rain ( though much lighter), more small villages , abandoned homes, cata, flowers and trees, and ham and cheese for lunch. But each day has its nugget of goodness that sets it apart from the others. Today it was sweet Antonio. He is an old man we ran into somewhere along the path. We were going one way and on the opposite side of the street he was pushing his walker with the little seat rest, going the other way. I greeted him as I do everyone we pass with a " bom dia". He was so excited to see us, or maybe he would have received any pilgrim the same way. He motioned for us to wait and hurriedly (not) shuffled across the street. He doesn't really speak English bit asked "London". I said no, united states. He then asked Santiago? To which we answered yes. He grasped our hand and kissed them, then pulled each of in for the European kiss on both cheeks. He was literally glowing with happiness to wish us " bom viage". This simple act of kindness and recognition truly lightened my spirit and made my walk a bit easier.
    Tonight we are in a lovely tiny rental which gives me and Jayme a bit of private space, something we have not experienced in 2 weeks. The rental is in the middle of old town, a perfect location to explore Coimbra from on our rest day. I look forward to experiencing how the Portuguese honor Good Friday.    Read more

  • Spanien, Portugal
    3111123
    Day 18

    Universitätsstadt Coimbra

    April 16 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Wir fahren der Sonne 🌞 nach. Sind heute ca 300km gefahren. Jan hat ein Gasflaschenproblem. Da wir so oft einheizen mussten gehen uns die gasflaschen aus. Wir haben scho. Die zweite angeschlossen. In Portugal können wir diese nicht austauschen. Jan hat einen Campingausrüstungsgeschäft gegoogelt. Und morgen haben wir um 9 einen Termin dass was neues eingebaut wird und wir immer und überall Gas tanken können. @jutta und Michi ihr müsst nicht frieren und nicht nur kalt essen.
    Coimbra ist wieder eine sehr schöne Altstadt, aber warum müssen die immer auf einen Berg sein. Die armen Studenten müssen zu ihrer Uni ganz schön viele Stufen laufen. Alles nur bergauf. Stellplatz haben wir auch gefunden, aber seltsam war dass die Einfahrt für Womos verboten 🚫 ist. Aber es standen hier schon einige Womos. Eine kleines schnuckeliges Lokal haben wir jetzt auch gefunden mit WLAN 🤣🤣 daher kann ich gleich unseren Pinguin Bericht schreiben ✍️. Bei der Fahrt hatten wir heute nur Regen. Aber jetzt hat noch die Sonne geschienen.    Read more

    See translation
  • Lisa KalettaCamino Portugués
    1
    Day 16

    Coimbra - city, museum & university

    May 9 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    After my long hike yesterday, I decided to take it easy by sleeping long and booking me a ticket to visit Coimbra's university.
    It is known to be one of the most beautiful ones all over the world, especially the library with its "Noble Floor".

    You were not allowed to take pictures in the library but definitely, climbing the insanely steep city stairs was worth it!
    The Noble Floor consists of 3 big halls, each one equipped with book shelves up to the ceilig.
    The shelves have golden ornaments and the walls were decorated with red velvet curtains.
    The atmosphere was magic and it was very interesting to hear for instance how the books and the wood of the shelves are preserved and protected from little insects.

    In general, the whole university area is beautiful and it is amazing to see the students walking over the campus in their Harry-Potter like black capes which is the traditional uniform here.    Read more

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