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Snowbirds Tackle Europe

décembre 2017 - juillet 2025
  • Betty Foidart
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  • Betty Foidart
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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    1A perfect spot for our picnic lunch
    The bridge is shared by pedestrians and the Metro. Lots of selfies being taken.A view of Porto across the river,Time for a taste of portJoanna demonstrating how not to measure 2 fingers of port in a glassThe 5 varieties of port

    Port Capital of the World

    21 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Across the Douro River is the town of Vila Nova de Gaia where much of the world’s port wine is matured in lodges near the riverbank. The port grapes are grown in the Douro Valley about 100 km upstream. It was a long walk from our apartment and then across the .5 km bridge. We stopped to have a picnic lunch with a great view of Porto.

    There are 18 port lodges in Gaia, all offering port tastings and some with tours. Which one to pick was our biggest dilemma. We ended up in a small, private, family run business that does not export their products. The guide was entertaining and outgoing. The tastings at the end of the tour were generous. John ended up buying a small, but expensive, bottle of 20 year old port which we now have to find luggage space for.

    Notice the blue, cloudless skies. We’ve had 3 sunny, 15 degree days which made our walking tours so much more enjoyable.    En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Porto Cathedral
    Rather gloomy and stark interiorSao Francisco Church - €4 admission fee so we didn't go inCity of Gaia across the Douro River - a contrast of old & newThe Ribeira riverfront districtPorto

    Churches and Bridges

    21 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Porto has a lot of beautiful churches and cathedrals. John refused to go into the huge Porto Cathedral because he said the images in his brain were getting blurred after being in so many of them. Porto is the only city in Europe with 6 bridges, which connect Porto to the neighbouring city of Gaia.En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Sao Bento Train Station
    A fancy Hard Rock CafeJohn found a good resting spot near a talented buskerTwo of my favourite coloursWell maintained historic buildings1The colourful buildings are endless

    The Colours of Porto

    20 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Azulejo are the colourful tiles that cover the exterior or interior of homes and buildings. They originated in the 13th century. In 2017 the Portugal government passed a law to prevent the demolition of any tile-covered building and the removal of any interior tiles throughout the country. They are also trying to prevent the theft of tiles that are later sold to foreign tourists in street markets.En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Henry the Navigator is back! He was born in Porto.
    The Stock Exchange PalaceWines of PortugalPorts of Portugal1A glass of wine to end our dayA relaxing view from the cafe

    Steps and Hills

    20 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Each day we walked an average of 8 km, with much of it going up and down hills or stairs. There was so much to see everywhere we went as Porto was spared from the 1755 earthquake that caused major damage in Lisbon. We did our old persons version of a pub crawl, all within one block. First we stopped at the Wines of Portugal Tasting Room. For €3 you could try about 30 ml of 2 different wines. They use an automated system which seemed a bit impersonal. Next stop was the Port and Douro Wine Institute that had a small museum explaining the industry, followed by another automated tasting. I passed on this one but John tried 3 or 4 samples and found a new, expensive liquor to love. Our 3rd tasting was at Oliva & Company where we got to taste 5 different olive oils. The shopkeeper had a wealth of knowledge about olive oil which he was excited to share with us. He was very interesting and the oils were tasty.En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    The City Hall at the end of a picturesque plaza
    A concrete garage covered with grass & olive trees...smart urban plannerTwo churches, one for monks and one for nuns, joined by a very narrow houseJK Rowlings worked in Porto for a year and was inspired by this bookstoreMcDonald's....is that really you?1The menu looks the same. Known as the Imperial McDonald's.

    A Walking Tour of Porto

    19 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    We had 3 full days to discover Porto, the 2nd largest city in Portugal with a population of 1.7 million people in the Metro area. Once again we used Rick Steve’s Tourbook as a guide because it has good descriptions and explanations of the sights along the route. Porto has many steep hills so we paced ourselves.En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    The hill I meandered up after dark
    Fernando Tomas apartmentI love the 5 shuttered windowsA musician on the street below usView from our apartment

    Travel Day - Coimbra to Porto

    18 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then got a taxi to the train station. That is where our travel day problems began. You would think that we would be experts at this by now! Coimbra has 2 train stations....1 in the centre of town and 1 about 2 km north at the edge of town. Since our train wasn’t leaving for 2 hours, our plan was to go to the central station where I could go for a walk and John would stay at the station with the luggage. They have a free shuttle train that runs between the 2 stations. I specifically told the taxi driver we wanted to go to the central station but he thought he knew better or could make more money by taking us to the station on the outskirts of town. I didn’t realize it until after the taxi drove away. I wasn’t going to sit at the train station so I walked to the centre of town and returned 10 minutes before our departure time, as the walking distance took longer than expected. European trains are very efficient as they never depart early and are rarely late. My big problem was that I couldn’t find John anywhere. When a train pulled out of the station there he was on the other side of the tracks, blocked from my view by the train. I called him over as I believed our train would be departing from my side. Oops! Big mistake on my part as I didn’t translate the Portuguese departure sign correctly, nor did I understand the announcement in Portuguese. So we missed our train, had to pay a €8 fee to change our tickets, and had to wait another hour for the next train. This is one time where John was in the right place and I’m surprised he didn’t board the train without me!

    Porto is 120 km north so the train ride was just over an hour. I managed to figure out the Porto metro system and we quickly arrived at the street where our apartment was located. We had some difficulty finding the apartment as I had written down all the directions except for the street number so I had to go into a restaurant to use their wifi. This is when a data plan on my phone would have come in handy. The plan I purchased didn’t work so I never renewed it. It wasn’t the smoothest transition but we arrived safely. Our new home is beautiful....the nicest apartment we’ve rented on this trip. Booking.com had a special daily deal so the one bedroom apartment is only costing us €65 a night.    En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Entry to the museum and location of the Forum
    Very well preserved foundation1We both thought the same thing....this would not be a good time for an earthquake12th century ceramic sculptureA terracotta sculpture of one of the disciples at the Last Supper. He had long fingers!A chapel moved to the museum from a demolished 16th century monastery

    More Roman Ruins

    18 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We had to check out of our hotel at noon but our train wasn’t departing until 6 so we stored our luggage at the hotel and made plans for the afternoon. On the university campus was a museum that had the longest name ever.....Machado de Castro Museum and Cryptoporticus of Aeminium. Quite a mouthful! It is housed in an elegant old bishop’s palace which was built on the exact location of an ancient Roman forum. There were several attendants/security who directed you through each area of the sprawling museum. First we were sent downstairs to the cryptoporticus (which is basically a basement) of the Roman city, Aeminium, that eventually became Coimbra. Because the city was built on a slope, the Romans built a two level basement to provide an even surface for building the forum. At 2,000 years old, it was the cleanest basement I have ever seen, unlike my own.

    The museum section was a collection of religious sculptures, ceramics, art, etc. with most of it dating back several centuries. The senior admission was only €3 so overall it was a real bargain, especially for the rare Roman ruins.    En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Fado
    Cafe Santa Cruz in a chapel. You had to go through the confessional booth to the WC.No information on who these people wereReminded me of Hutterites or AmishTypical Coimbra weather - blue sky & black clouds. It rained.

    Portuguese Culture

    17 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Fado music is traditionally performed only in Lisbon and Coimbra. In Coimbra it dates back to medieval times with troubadours and nightly serenades outside the window of the woman they were courting. Now it is just performed for tourists. We chose to go to a free evening show put on by one of the restaurants that is located in a chapel attached to the Church of Santa Cruz. The acoustics were excellent and the fado singing has been described as mournful. The singer we believe was a tenor with a strong, beautiful voice. Sadly, we saw him outside after the show smoking a cigarette.

    Earlier in the day we came across a small market organized by people in traditional costumes. They were selling baking and handcrafted items but it started to rain so we didn’t stay to get a closer look.    En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    125 steps to the university campus
    A statue of King Jaoa (John) III, 16th century, who let the Jesuits run the university.The King Jaoa Library in the central square18th century organ with horizontal trumpet pipesOriginally the throne room of the royal palace, now for oral doctorate exams and graduationsBlack cape uniform originated with capes worn by Jesuits and clergy

    Coimbra - (koo-EEM-brah)

    17 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    After a hearty breakfast we set out to explore the University of Coimbra, the oldest (founded in 1290) and most prestigious university in Portugal with a student population of 25,000. The University is situated atop a hill with beautiful views and was once the location of a royal palace. We hesitated to participate in a tour of the campus because I had read that the students and professors resent having tourists on campus, and they do arrive by the busful. But since it was Saturday and there were no classes in session, we paid our €10 which gave us entry to the three remaining historical buildings. A 1940’s dictator tore down half of Coimbra’s old town to build the newer faculty buildings. Our first stop was St. Michael’s Chapel which was different from all the other churches we’ve seen because the walls are completely covered in tile. We had to knock on the Chapel door to be allowed in and then it was immediately locked behind us. Students are allowed to us the Chapel for weddings. Second stop was the King Joao’s Library for which we had been assigned a 10 minute appointment time. The 55,000 books in this 300 year old library are protected chemical-free by resident bats. No photos were allowed as in the past this had led to theft of the rare, valuable books. Our last stop was at the Grand Hall where doctoral degrees are presented in a formal ceremony. We were glad we had decided to take the tour.

    As we were leaving the campus, we were approached by two young women wearing their student uniforms. They were offering hand-drawn postcards in exchange for a donation towards a “Burning of Ribbons” celebration that is a tradition when you graduate. They were graduating from Med School so we gave them a small donation in exchange for a photo.

    Coimbra is very much alive with university students everywhere we went. One downfall to this is that the city is covered in graffiti and it doesn’t appear that anything is being done about it. We also noticed on Sunday morning the remnants of Saturday night partying.

    John has another cold and is coughing and sputtering everywhere we go. I’m bracing myself for another onslaught of a foreign virus!    En savoir plus

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  • Betty FoidartVoyageurSnowbirds Tackle Europe
    Av Liberdade - the view from our room
    A busy traffic circle at the Metro stationSeriously....do I have to go down those steps again? Our Turim hotel in the background.Coimbra hotel (at the top of a hill)Fancy monograms on everythingHappy to see these guys on my scary walk through the dark alleys.

    Travel Day - Lisbon to Coimbra

    16 mars 2018, Portugal ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Despite the rainy weather, we very much enjoyed our time in Lisbon. The people were friendly; the city had good signage for directions and it was easy to get around despite all the hills; plus our hotel was in a good location. We certainly didn’t see and do everything but we saw enough to conclude that it is one of our favourite European cities. And today I can finally say that my bronchitis has now fully resolved. The only thing that has not made a full recovery is the muscle strain around the rib cage which continues to be painful at times. It looks like I might be seeing my family doctor when I get home.

    Today we took the Metro to the train station, where we caught a 12:15 high speed train to Coimbra, 200 km north of Lisbon. The most challenging part once again was hoisting our luggage up and down stairs at the Metro station and onto the train. I have to manage my own luggage and I hate to admit that it has become more difficult as it aggravates the already sore and weakened muscles. I haven’t added anything to my luggage yet it feels much heavier. We sometimes laugh about our decrepit bodies but soldier on! We arrived in Coimbra in 1 3/4 hours and headed down the street to our hotel. Not surprisingly, it started to rain. We looked at the hill we had to climb and the 1+ km distance to cover on cobble stones and this time I said, “Screw the budget...we’re taking a taxi!”. It was a well spent €6.

    Our boutique hotel, the IBN Arrik, recently opened for business. The 200 year old building was once a convent and then a school so it has a lot of character. For €68, with a full-service breakfast, it certainly is a good value. After getting settled and having lunch we went for a walk to see some of the city. John didn’t last long and decided to return to the hotel to rest. I decided to explore on my own and did fine with my paper map until it was time to return to the hotel. I knew the direction I needed to go but it was getting dark and I couldn’t find any street signs to coordinate with my map. I ended up in a narrow, unlit walkway between these very old buildings that twisted and turned up a steep hill. There wasn’t a soul around and I was feeling a little anxious. Eventually I did end up at the university campus, which is what I had intended, but in a deserted area. I stopped in a lit parking lot to consult my map, when I suddenly felt a light tap on my bum. I swung around quickly expecting that someone had followed me. But there was no one there! It must have been my Guardian Angel who was nudging me in the right direction. Creepy! Within a few minutes I was amongst groups of university students and then back to the safety of our hotel.    En savoir plus

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