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Coimbra (Santa Cruz)

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    • TravelerEin Jahr Europa
      Day 314

      Coimbra

      February 13, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Einige Kilometer im Landesinneren, am Fluss Mondego, liegt die Großstadt Coimbra, der ich heute einen Besuch abstatte.
      Sie ist vorallem für ihre geschichtsträchtige Universität bekannt. Hier treffen schöne Barockbauten auf die monumentale Architektur aus der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts und ergeben ein skurilles Gesamtbild. Der sehr schön angelegte botanische Garten gehört ebenfalls zur Universität und auch wenn hier noch nicht allzu viel Grün zu sehen ist, sorgen die Magnolienblüten bereits für etwas Farbe.
      In der restlichen Altstadt gibt es, abgesehen von den schicken Einkaufsstraßen, relativ viel marode Bausubstanz und Leerstand.      Read more

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    • TravelerCamino Portuguese
      Day 17

      Day 13 Rest Day

      September 21, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

      Day 13 Rest Day in Coimbra, Thursday, September 21. 9.5k/5.9m

      Saw quite a few churches today. Most were within 300m of each other.

      Also climbed the hill up to the University. It is the oldest in Europe. Wow, to be able to study in such a historical setting.

      I went on a Food & Wine Tour that included visiting three places.

      Tomorrow I resume my walk to Santiago!

      Enjoy. Photos & some captions. Bom Caminho.      Read more

    • Camino Portuguese
      2
      Day 14

      Day 9 - to Coimbra

      May 4, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

      Another cooler (70s) but mostly sunny day that made it feel warmer. We hiked about 18.75 miles. While there weren't at many elevation changes as the two previous days, there was enough to keep us challenged.

      Our first cafe stop was at the museum at Conimbriga, 7 - 8 miles into our day. There are remains of a Roman settlement there. We stayed at the cafe longer than we should have, closed to an hour - which included a delicious sandwich. While there we spoke with Alex (German) along with Dan and Heather (USA). The Siberians also showed up while we were there. Really haven't spoken with them much and don't know there names - so i (Jeff) decided to nickname them Boris and Natasha.

      Surprisingly we didn't see our Mexican travelers after we left the hostel this morning, and they appeared to be ready to leave shortly after us. Just before heading into our room in Coimbra this evening, we did see one of them on the street, although she was on a phone call so we didn't talk.

      Coimbra is an ancient town with multiple churches dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. Wish we were spending an extra day here to explore.      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelIberia
      Day 24

      Coimbra

      May 17, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Coimbra is a former national capital city that is home to the oldest university in the Portuguese speaking world. Most of its economy is built around the university and its students.
      The town dates to at least the Roman period when it was known as Aeminium. It is a hill town that was encircled by defensive walls, most of which are now gone. The university occupies the hilltop today.
      Starting in the lower part of town and beginning uphill, the 1st and 2nd picture are of old city gates, and the 3rd picture is one of the old towers along the wall. It has been used as housing, mostly for students. The 4th picture is the old cathedral, and the 5th picture is the new cathedral.
      Finally at the top of the hill is where most of the university is located. The 6th picture is the old palace, originally Moorish, then the royal residence after the city was reconquered, and now part of the university. The 7th picture is the new of the academic buildings built in the fascist style during the dictatorship period. Historic buildings were demolished to make room for the new.
      The 8th picture is the old baroque library, said to be one of the most beautiful anywhere. The 9th picture is of what are called the monumental stairs. This is another part of the construction of the dictatorship period.
      The last picture is of the university botanical garden. The garden dates to the 18th century and is still used for teaching and research.      Read more

    • El Camino
      Day 15

      Day 11: Rabaçal to Coimbra

      May 15, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      I started out shortly after 6:00 am from Rabaçal knowing I would have to make up the 3.9 kms that Anita & Ernie had walked yesterday when they continued onwards to Zambujal. I thought I would be trailing them until we got to Conimbriga, the site of Portugal's largest and most impressive Roman site that Ernie was keen to see. As it turned out, they had gotten off to a later start than anticipated so I caught up with them just as they were leaving of Zambujal.

      On our way to Conimbriga, we crossed paths with an oddball barefoot "priest" who gave us our scripture reading for the day. The passage urged us to love our family, love our friends, love the people we work with. In essence, the importance to love others. We weren't sure if this was the priest's shtick to ask us for money, but he continued to say that happiness was found within us, not the outside world, and that we should be tortoises and not hares on our Camino journey. He then got us to each ring a bell 3 times for luck and we continued on our way. We weren't sure what to make of him, but he didn't ask us for anything in return, and his words certainly resonated true with me.

      We stopped at a cafe in Conimbriga for our first break of the day only to discover that we had already overshot the Roman ruins by 1.1 kms. I hesitated to retrace my steps, adding extra mileage to a day that was already proving to be a scorcher. In the end, I couldn't resist, nor could Ernie so we went back to see the ruins while Anita decided to carry onwards.

      When we got to the ruins, we were so disappointed that we wouldn't be able to access the site until 10:00 am so we had to content ourselves by touring what we could from the exterior.

      As a result of our desire to see the Roman ruins, Ernie and I ended up playing catch-up with Anita for most of the day. We finally met back up in Antanhol for the last 6.3 kms into Coimbra.

      We arrived tired and hot and as we walked through town to our accommodations, we saw a sign telling us it was 14:45 and 35 degrees. With the backtracking we did, I walked about 32 kms today. It was a real sense of accomplishment, and the cherry on today's cake was when I saw Roch hiking up the hill to our guesthouse.

      Distance covered since Lisbon: 252 kms.      Read more

    • El Camino
      Day 15

      Francesinha festival, Coimbra

      May 15, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      When we were onboard the heritage train, Roch noticed an outdoor festival taking place shortly after we passed the Botanical Gardens. Curious to know what it was about, we retraced the train route and found the Francesinha festival in full swing.

      The Francesinha is a Portuguese sandwich originating from Porto. The literal translation for its name is 'Little French Girl' but it's only little in name. It’s a rather large sandwich filled with layers of beef steak, cured meat, fresh sausages, topped with cheese, covered with a beer sauce, and typically surrounded by French fries. It is, apparently, the Portuguese adaptation of the French classic, the 'Croque-Monsieur'.

      Since the festival had stalls offering vegan versions, how could we say no? The sandwich was indeed very yummy. The vegan cured meat tasted surprisingly like bacon. It all washed down tremendously well with a cold beer.      Read more

    • TravelerEurope 2019
      Day 32

      Dinner at Fangas Mercearia Bar

      October 5, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      For dinner, we decided to go to a tapas restaurant we had seen in our wanderings, and that some people had told us was very good. Unfortunately, it was booked out so we went to another place that was recommended by our host. It was a fairly quaint place with very friendly staff. We were pretty lucky to get a table, because within about 30 minutes there was a queue, and our American friends from the previous night wandered past and decided to try it out. They were still waiting for a table when we left.

      We had a lovely red from the Douro, and shared a range of tapas plates. It was very nice but not as good as Arcada.      Read more

    • TravelerPortugal and Paris - July 2022
      Day 4

      Off to Porto - Coimbra

      July 22, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Today we left Lisbon behind and headed for Porto. A comfortable coach ride with a “technical stop” at the Portuguese version of an Onroute and a stop in Coimbra for a bit of sightseeing and what is believed to be the oldest university in the world. This university is also home to the most amazing library! No photos allowed of course but trust me when I say I could have spent days in there just looking and imagining the details of those ancient texts – it was incredible. In Coimbra Bailey and I also managed to sneak away from the group to find 2 more Bordalo’s – Gorilla and Baby Owl :DRead more

    • TravelerPortugal 2023
      Day 12

      Igreja de Santa Cruz

      September 13, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Das Kloster Santa Cruz in Coimbra im gleichnamigen Distrikt in der Região Centro in Portugal wurde im 12. Jahrhundert als Augustiner-Chorherrenstift der Regularkanoniker vom Heiligen Kreuz gegründet.

      See translation
    • TravelerEurope 2019
      Day 35

      Coimbra to Porto

      October 8, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      We had a slow morning today as we didn’t catch our train until 1.45pm, so we stayed in the apartment until 11 am. Our plan was to head down to the city centre, have a coffee followed by an early lunch. Once we left our apartment, we had about 200 metres of rolling our cases over cobblestones that were so uneven I was sure we would break the wheels, but the cases survived. We decided to wander down to the end of the mall and then down some narrow side streets to kill some time. We ended up doing this for about 45 minutes, and then chose a cafe for lunch - we had the best coffee so far in Portugal at this place. We then shared a small serve of crumbed octopus, and a chicken salad. Both were excellent, and we then indulged in dessert, which was also very good.

      We then headed down to the Main Street to order an Uber to take us to Coimbra-B Station, where we caught the train to Porto. Our train was running late (which we didn’t realise), as was another train that was also going to Porto via the same platform. A train arrived at the scheduled time, so we got on, but it didn’t look quite right - when checking with a staff member we were told it was not our train, so we got back off the train. It was all very confusing, as the announcements are only in Portuguese and the electronic board provides minimal information. The trains usually only stop for a couple of minutes, and it is then a mad rush for passengers disembarking and those waiting to get on! Our train finally arrived, and the trip only took about an hour. Our Airbnb hosts had arranged a transfer from the station, and our driver was waiting at the exit to take us to our apartment. As we are on the waterfront, he couldn’t drop us at the apartment, so he dropped us off about 200 metres away and the host, Paola, came to meet us and checked us in.

      Our apartment is very nice indeed, with great views of the river and all the activities happening on the waterfront. We are located in the Ribeira district, which is the oldest part of Porto. It has lots of narrow streets and lots of steep inclines, but is so full of atmosphere and colour.      Read more

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    Coimbra (Santa Cruz)

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