Coimbra

We cycled from Aveiro to Coimbra today with many a 'up-the-hill' and 'down-the-hill' and 'up-the-hill' and 'down-the-hill'. As much as I liked the descents, I started to dread them knowing that what goes down, must come up.

We arrived with quite a hunger around 2:00 pm and were very pleased to find a fruit store just around the corner from where we're staying. Many of the fruits were on special for 2€ for 2 kilos. For 5.86€, we bought a large melon, a huge bunch of grapes, 6 persimmons, 2 big peaches, 2 nectarines and a plum. This was the best fruit deal we've had since arriving in Portugal.

After lugging all the fruit back up the 2 flights to our little apartment, we went in search of a sit down meal. Our apartment is located right in the historical centre where restaurants abound and luckily, we found one offering vegetarian options within minutes.

We took a seat at one of the outdoor tables at Cafe A Brasileira and we both ordered the "caldo verde", a popular soup in Portuguese cuisine which we had been looking forward to sampling. The basic traditional ingredients for caldo verde are potatoes, kale, olive oil and salt. Additionally garlic or onion may be added. If all caldo verdes taste as good as the ones we had today, I want a caldo verde everyday of my life! What's more, the large and generous bowls at Cafe A Brasileira cost a mere 1.20€ each.

The vegetarian special of the day which we thought was asparagus with tofu was actually a type of pasta with tofu. Boy does our Portuguese suck! The pasta was rather disappointing and the grouchy waiter we had was hardly Mr. Charming... but still, I'd go back tomorrow for another caldo verde!Read more