Travel Blog » Europe » Portugal » Central

Central Travel Blogs

Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

Portugal

Map of Portugal

Portugal's Flag

Hostels in Portugal
Latest Central Blog Entries
Central Photos

By tanglefish
September 14th 2009

Coimbra Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Coimbra monument

Coimbra: September 14-15 From Salamanca we caught another bus to Portugal, where we were staying in the Portugese university town of Coimbra. Our accommodation had a terrace on the roof that looked out over Coimbra, affording great views of the houses and university that was built into hillside. The streets were hilly in parts but this is the norm in so many towns that I think I will miss my daily treks up and down the steps. As we arrived late in the day we interrupted our orientation walk to have dinner in a cafeteria style restaurants frequented by the students [View Full Entry]

By majik
September 5th 2009

Guarda Europe » Portugal » Central

In the old town

Guarda 24-25th August We ventured into Portugal on the 24th. It is an hours time difference from Spain, so we arrived at 10pm. We were staying in Guarda, which is 4 hours north-east of Lisbon (capital of Portugal). We went to the Recidencial Pinto to stay. In the morning we checked the old town, which had a cathedral and the leftovers of the wall around the town. The streets were very narrow. We saw an old man making shoes the traditional way. We drove to the Serra De Estrela, which has the highest mountain range in Portugal. For dinner we had [View Full Entry]

By Will and Alex
March 29th 2009

A Mediterranean Cambridge? Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Se Velha

Photographs from our day trip to Coimbra from Porto, Portugal - 29th March 2009. [View Full Entry]

Street leading up to the University, Coimbra

By gman94
January 6th 2009

What portugal is really like Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Coimbra as I soon found out was originally the capital of Portugal in the 12th century (the first dynasty.) As I explore the area more I found that there was an incredible amount of history related to this town. For example it was a major trading area for the christians in the north and the muslims in the south. The city was the capital from roughly 1250 to 1255 A.D. As I learned about the history from my guide I also visited the Joanina Library. After going to see the old Cathedral I decided to eat lunch at a coffee house [View Full Entry]

By Antibody Man
December 16th 2008

A university strangely reminiscent of home Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Coimbra University

My travels with Lara took us on from Spain to Portugal, and the university town of Coimbra. The university itself is mingled with the narrow streets of the old town, up on a hill above the Mondego river. Some of the buildings reminded us a lot of home! [View Full Entry]

By gwynethmarta
December 8th 2008

Portugal's Jewel - Coimbra Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Coimbra Street

Following my parent’s path, I decided to choose Portugal for my scholarship. I applied to the famous in Portugal University of Coimbra and after four weeks of submitting my application, I was a happy winner of the Socrates Erasmus scholarship. Even though it’s been long years since this experience, I still miss this worry-free time of my life. I have to admit I was lucky. I arrived to Coimbra in October, after all other students have already attended a monthly course of Portuguese. So everything I would normally have to arrange myself, was already waiting for me thanks to my goo [View Full Entry]

By kirstent
November 4th 2008

Bom dia ... but where has the sun gone? Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Lisbon

I am now in Portugal - currently we are in the University town of Coimbra . The university has a really long history and is set in the old town. We went out to see the Roman ruins in a nearby town this morning. It is still very cold and wet here. Hopefully as we head further south it will start to warm up again. Hope that everyone made lots of money on the cup today - sounds like it was a good race. We caught the train down to Lisbon on the 5th. Yesterday we headed across to Sintra [View Full Entry]

The Cloisters in the Old Cathedral Coimbra

By sweetsweetsunshine
October 6th 2008

BENFICA!!! Europe » Portugal » Central » Leiria

I have had one of the most eventful weeks so far! There are so many things that I want to say, I hope I can get it all down for you :). First things first, I will talk about what I promised I would speak about this past week. Thursday, October 2nd, I had the amazing oppourtunity to go see a professional soccer (or "futebol") game in Lisbon, and man was it AMAZING! It took us two hours to get there, and it was so worth the trip :). We arrived and rushed to the one of the biggest malls in [View Full Entry]

By Lcollins
September 29th 2008

A short jaunt to Portugal Europe » Portugal » Central » Coimbra

Churros and Chocolate

Today was our second full day in Portugal. Our last morning in Salamanca I had a final serving of churros and chocolate (they really are as good as I had imagined!) and then found our way out of the city - thanks to Sam’s careful planning which involved a walk-through from the parking garage back to the hotel. The drive out of Salamanca led us through changing landscapes and crops. We passed lots of cows of various breeds - there were brown cows and white cows and black cows and charcoal colored cows. After an hour of driving we stopped in [View Full Entry]

By sweetsweetsunshine
September 28th 2008

What a week!!! Europe » Portugal » Central » Leiria

Wow, I can't believe its been almost a WHOLE week since I last blogged! Time is flying by much faster than I have thought, and so far, its been going really good... I have had some personal issues, such as homesickness, but very minimal. Also, with my family... but I think its just customs, getting used to one another kind of things... don't worry about me though, I have a feeling things will be turning around very soon for me :). First off, I want to let know all know how things have been going these past several days! :D Not [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Portugal » Central