Monument to Joaquim António de Aguiar

Day 11, we finished our shortest distance yet at 10.59 miles. It will likely be our shortest distance on this Camino. We strolled through a few small villages before making our way back into the woods up and down some hills once more. One of the highlights of the day was it seemed as though we were being led by floral scents at every turn. I am so thankful we are here in the spring when the flowers are in full bloom! Kevin and I are in awe of all the different types of flowers we see and smell here on a daily basis. We walked under an ancient Roman aqueduct before making our way toward Coimbra, our destination town. Just before crossing the Mondego River to get into Coimbra, we stopped to marvel at a convent built in 1648 that replaced the medieval monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova. The ornate altarpiece inside the sanctuary houses the tomb of Queen Isabel, who was canonized in the 17th Century and re-interred from the old convent. From there, we crossed the bridge into the busiest city we’ve been to since Lisbon and the third largest city on the Camino Portugues: Coimbra. Portugal’s oldest university in the Portuguese speaking world is here. Thus, it is very much a bustling college and tourist town.Read more