Day 8: Conimbriga

Day 8: Conimbriga

And on the sixth day God created man. On the seventh day he rested! Well God is lazy SOB! On the sixth day I went to Coimbra...by foot...and on the seventh day we went to Conimbriga.

This historical site is the best preserved Roman site in Portugal. They are still excavating the site and only uncovered a staggering 12ha! The story of Conimbriga starts withe the threat of the Suevi. As they threatened to capture the village the residents of Conimbriga sacrificed a part of the city by building a wall straight through the town. They commissioned the construction of this defensive wall immediately using everything they could find including the stones and bricks of the sacrificed houses.

They didn't build it high and strong enough...the Suevi pillaged the village. It was later abandoned and everybody moved to Coimbra, because it was easier to defend.

Heading back to Condeixa to catch the only bus back to Coimbra we tried to hitchhike our way back. The only car that stopped for us innocent looking tourist was a car with two lovely ladies going the wrong direction. Walking back it is!

Arriving in Coimbra we decided to pack up quickly so we could move on swiftly to Leiria. Leiria hasn't anything special besides a dirt cheap mega Caipirinha cocktail! It doesn't even have a camping, so we slept in a Youth Hostile.

Signing off with DCMC(Dirty Cheap Mega Caipirinha)

the backpackers

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