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Portugal Coimbra

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  • TravelerJayme’s Camino Portugués
    1
    21425
    Day 16

    Day 13 - Good Friday in Coimbra

    Yesterday in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    “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
    135
    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

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  • TravelerPORTUGAL
    2
    Day 5

    COIMBRA

    March 26 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Heute sind wir mit einem Frühstück auf dem Zimmer geweckt worden - das was sehr cool! 🍳🥐

    Unsere Unterkunft lag direkt an der Universität von Coimbra - die älteste Universität Portugals (Gründung: 1290). Man konnte super übers Unigelände schlendern und die alten Gebäude bewundern. Zur Uni gehört auch ein großer botanischer Garten mit vielen Zitronen- und Orangenbäumen, durch den man flanieren konnte. 🧑🏼‍🎓🍋🍊

    Anschließen haben wir uns noch die Altstadt angeschaut ein Pastel de Nata genascht (ein Must! Und hier besser als in Porto). Schließlich haben wir uns auf den Weg weiter nach Süden gemacht und nach einem Abstecher zu ein paar alten römischen Ruinen (die wir dann aber nich besichtigt haben, weil uns 10€ Eintritt für ein paar Steinhaufen zu teuer vorkam) sind wir nun in unserer nächsten Unterkunft in Surferörtchen Nazaré angekommen. 🏄🏼‍♀️🌊

    Morgen werden wir hier weiter erkunden. ☀️    Read more

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  • TravelerCamino Portuguese 2025
    1122111112
    Day 16–19

    Good Friday and a Good Rest

    Yesterday 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

  • Traveler2025 Portugal, Spain, France
    Day 10

    Day 9: Museum and Fado

    March 20 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    I walked back up the hill to see the Machado de Castro National Museum. I wanted to see the Roman ruins as the museum was built and found the ruins.

    The Cryptoporticus and is considered a covered corridor or passageway. I thought - how big could it be - well it was pretty big. Then toured the exhibits of religious sculptures, paintings and jewels. Interesting exhibits but a lot of church.

    After museum time it was beer time - so I found an outdoor area with good umbrellas and had a large beer and French fries. While sitting there I ended up chatting with a nice German couple.

    Managed to get to the 4pm Fado show at Fado Centre. Fun to hear the singers and instruments.    Read more

  • Traveler2025 Portugal, Spain, France
    Day 10

    Day 9-Wandering Coimbra

    March 20 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    After the tour, I wandered around and managed to tour two churches, drink coffee and eat pastries

    The first church and monastery was the Church of Santa Cruz. It was founded in 1131 outside the city walls. Claim to fame is that two of the kings were buried here. Not much exists of the early Romanesque monastery. It is known that it had only one nave and a high tower in the façade, as typical of the Augustinian-Romanesque constructions, but none of those elements subsisted. In the first half of the 16th century, the Monastery was completely renovated by King Manuel's order. Redone in Manuelistic style. The church also had a baroque Iberian organ.

    Second church after chatting with a couple I met from CA was Old Coimbra Cathedral. It is a Romanesque Roman Catholic building. In the 16th century there were many additions to the cathedral. The chapels, walls and pillars of the nave were covered with tiles.    Read more

  • Portugal Pilgrimage
    212
    Day 39–42

    Coimbra

    March 10 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    We made a 3 day detour to Coimbra, home to one of Europe's oldest universities. Honestly, it felt a bit like visiting Hogwarts since the students wore black suits, ties, and floor length capes!

    The university was definitely a highlight, but we also attended both an organ and fado concert as well as visited a Roman archeological site. We slowed our typical pace down quite a bit here because I was a bit sick. Good to get that out of the way before we start our camino.Read more

  • TravelerCaminho Portugues
    Day 8

    Tag 8: Entscheidung getroffen

    March 8 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Strecke: Alvorge - Coimbra, 38 km

    Als ich am Morgen wach werde, regnet es weiterhin in Strömen. Dazu ordentlich Wind. Meine Güte, und in Deutschland soll es warm und sonnig sein?!
    Ich bereite mich auf einen harten Wandertag vor und verlasse die Herberge - nur um nach 200 m wieder kehrt zu machen: Schuhsohlen vergessen😅😂

    Munter geht‘s also weiter durch die Walachei. Das Wetter bittet zum Tanz um die Pfützen, ich meistere ihn, bis auf ein paar Ausrutscher, die prompt einen coldsoaking-Schuh bedeuteten.
    Ich bin sehr dankbar für die Möglichkeit, einfach Podcasts und Musik zu hören, sodass ich den Dauerregen lange Zeit gut ausblenden und der Landschaft trotzdem was abgewinnen kann. Vor allem die kleinen Steinmauern und die alten Steinhäuser gefallen mir sehr gut,

    Nach 23 km mache ich Mittagspause und aß zu Mittag, bevor ich zu den letzten 15 km Richtung Combria aufbreche. Die Stadt war im 12./13. Jahrhundert Portugals Hauptstadt und sieht aus der Entfernung echt schön aus. Ich freue mich, endlich angekommen zu sein und steuere auf die erste Herberge zu. Leider habe ich keine Ahnung, was mich erwartet, sonst hätte ich ohne zu überlegen die 40 km sofort voll gemacht. Doch nun habe ich schon gezahlt…
    Dass man sowas noch an Leute übergibt, ohne sich in Grund und Boden zu schämen. Die Schränke sind halb eingestürzt, kein Klopapier, von Hygiene brauch ich gar nicht erst anzufangen…. Das war ein Schlag ins Gesicht.

    Ich bevorzuge ColdSoaking, als mir die Tütensuppe in der Küche zuzubereiten und telefoniere mit Speedy Sunshine. Sie unterstützt mich in der Entscheidung, ein paar Kilometer zu überspringen, um meinen Wanderbuddy Alex aus Schweden etwas schneller einzuholen, als wenn ich es zu Fuß machen würde. Ich habe noch nie auch nur einen mini Teil einer Route ausgelassen und so fühlt sich das etwas komisch an.
    Trotzdem muss ich mir eingestehen: Es geht hier nicht um Ego pushen, sondern ich will meinen Urlaub genießen. Und wenn das Wetter schon scheiße ist, dann wenigstens zu zweit durchstehen und abends Wein trinken können. Also, morgen wird geflipt…

    …und am Ende, wenn noch Zeit ist vielleicht noch geflopt…    Read more

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  • Portugal & Spain
    2
    Day 20

    Coimbra day 2

    October 15, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    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

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