AK Julia
Julia Normand Joined: February 23rd 2007
Logged in: August 30th 2010
Logged in: August 30th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
After they dragged themselves to safety
These are the pictures of the couple from dserbia who fell into the canal in Aveiro. ... read more
Stephanie at the pension
Sozinha no more!! Europe » Portugal » Lisbon By AK Julia April 12th 2007 Julia Normand Sozihna (pronounced so-zeen-yo) means all alone, solo. And now that I’, back in Lisboa, I am no longer sozihna because I am back with the people who first greeted me when I arrived her, Stephanie and Carla, the young women who run the pension. Tomorrow I’ll be in Nova Iorque-that’s Portuguese for New York—and I’ll be with friends there, so I have now shed my sozinha status. While I’m on Portuguese words, there’s one troublesome one I forgot to mention the other day, cao, pronounced cow, but is really dog. Today I went to an incredible garden in Sintra. See the p... read more
Well, luck tracked me down again. I caught the bus in front of the hotel, thinking it was heading for the Old train station where I'd have to take a shuttle to the New train station to catch a 10:20 train. I went real early and got two surprises: 1) the bus went to the New train station so I didn't have to shuttle to get there, and 2) my train was at 9:22--the agent at the station who sold me the ticket yesterday gave a ticket a different train than the one I asked for. Anyway, I had time for a coffee and pastry before catching the train. Luck also led me to a stroll across the 16th century aqueduct here. I followed the map to get a look at it, then I heard a ... read more
In fact, I think Coimbra's got SF beat with its hills. One of these days I'll be able to upload photos and you'll see what I mean. The University campus is on top of the major central hill. Portugal has a saying, "Lisbon shows off, Braga prays, Coimbra studies and Porto works." You gotta want to go to school to walk up there everyday. The BIG SURPRISE of the whole trip (I knew Coimbra was going to be special, but I didn't know how) was on the campus, a library that was built in 1717, especially to preserve books for many years. Its 7-foot thick walls and teak doors maintain the temperature, the teak also helps with the humidity. The oak shelves emit an oder that deters worms from growing, and the resident family of twenty ... read more
I still can't upload pictures, but I'll tell you what I saw on my way here to Coimbra. I use the train for two reasons, one--the buses share the roads with all sorts of crazy drivers, two--I like seeing people's backyards with hay bales that look like the ones in the states (all wrapped in white), chiuckens, sheep, goats, ponies, huge lilies that grow like weeds, red clay dirt like in Georgia, cat tails, a lumber yard with the logs stacked with lots of space to dry, trees planted in rows like the ones in Washington and Oregon that grow near rivers and get harvested every seven years or so, and of course clothes hanging on lines. Here in Coimbra, I experience my first thunder. The rain has really cooperated with my schedule. I seem to ... read more
I told you about the Mr. Bean movie, very funny but also terrifying. Scenes of trains pulling away with people inside, partners outside, money, luggage, and passport either on or off the train without the owner struck too close to home. The humor turns sour when you're traveling on trains as I am. There are also lots of pitfalls here, lots of places you can fall from that don't have barriers. Not to worry, I'm being very careful. Today I watched a girl on a bike (like the one I was on--lousy brakes and terrible steering) go hurtling for the canal. However, she stopped, handed her camera to a friend, trotted down the ramp to pose beside a gondola type boat, and slide on the mossy cement at the end of ramp, and plunge into the ... read more
I did my usual walking all over thing and kept seeing bikes that looked like rentals. Finally when I was way outside of town, I asked a guy who was riding one. He took pity on me and handed it over, saying they are free. What a difference a bike makes! Watched a guy in the park training his hunting dogs using a live bird. When I can, I'll upload a picute of it. My cousin in St. Charles explained why I saw so many priests at the mass at the Cathedral of Braga, calle the Se of Braga. They were doing their yearly renewal of vows. Thanks to my cousin for explaining to what was going on here in Portugal. Amazing how answers find their way to me. More tomorrow. I think I'm going to ... read more
Aviero is indeed the Venice of Portugal with canals and boats, really only tourist boats. I can't hook up the cameral here, so pictures will have to wait. Lots of sun and about 68 degrees, I think. That's all for today. I've been walking all morning and want to go take a bath. I just wanted everyone to know I made it. One more city after this,then Lisbon for 2days,NYC, and home to breakup. Art tells me the snow is melting and the road is turning to mud. That's Alaska for you. I can't tell you how sorry I am to be missing breakup! ... read more
Main Central Plaza of Braga
Today, I went to a mass, a tower, more Roman ruins, and a film. First the film, "Mr. Bean's Holiday." Seats are reserved, there is an intermission, pop corn is about $6 for a big bucket, you can get booster seats for kids, and they have a senior price that made it aobut $4.50 for me. The tower, see the picture, gave me a view of the whole city. The mass, at the Braga Cathedral, was very "high church." I'm sure there's a word for that, but I haven't a clue what it might be in any language. The cathedral was totally full, with whole front section, maybe 20 rows, reserved for priests--all decked out in white robes. I was surprised to see the donation basket receiving only coins, no bills. Then I remembered, the ... read more
Hard Hat
I took a tour of Braga today so that I'd get an overview of the place. While I walkied around and rode on top of the open-air bus, Braga worked. People are cheaper than power here, so lots of work is done by hand. The cranne is lifting new roof tiles up. Look in the first two photos for the yellow hard hat. I'll give you a hint. Don't look on the head of the worker. The most spectatular thing I did was take an tram up to Bom Jesus. It was some 700 steps up, so I rode up and walked down. see the picture. I also saw some Roman ruins. Evidentally Braga was the first major town on the coast connected to Rome by a road. The ruins were discovered when someone was ... read more
