Blogs from Central, Portugal, Europe - page 4

I left Porto today and rode the train to the university city of Coimbra. Unlike Spain, there was no security screen at the train station and, in fact, my ticket wasn't even checked until the conductor came down the aisle when we were halfway to the first stop. Like, Spain, however, every seat was filled and I was glad to have made my reservations in advance. I followed Rick Steves's walking tour of the city of Coimbra, starting with the view from the Santa Clara Bridge (see photo). You can see the university buildings at the top of the hill and the Portuguese flag waving proudly from the bridge. I stopped at a couple of churches and was struck by the horizontal organ pipes/trumpets that are apparently a Portuguese specialty (see photo). I toured the university ... read more

4th April The tablet changed the name to Montenegro, it’s Monte in case you’re looking. I set the alarm for 7am & we’d have been away for 9.30am except the that electricity hook up box was locked – I asked a chap from the site who was nearby & off he went, not to return. Had to go to reception.. Set the Dyson for Barcelos & away for 9.20am. Dropped into a massive Supermarche on the way. We couldn’t find the local one but looking for it gave us a view of enormous Atlantic breakers coming in. Cathy got very excited when we saw a huge ceramics factory but it was dilapidated...& into Barcelos. I should have known better but ended up ‘threading the needle’ through a couple streets rammed with parked cars. We didn’t see ... read more

Day 13, Agueda to Albergaria a Velha. Today is just a little over 17 kilometers or 10 miles, and breakfast is not until 0730 so we sleep in and take our bags to reception before going up to the roof top bar for breakfast. The Hotel Conde de Agueda has been nice. They sent us to a restaurant last night with great ambiance and good food. And they have been helpful with every request. Agueda is a beautiful little town of 12,000, and very festive. Yesterday we walked down several streets with umbrellas of every color of the rainbow strung above the street between the buildings. Lots of colorful painted objects like electric boxes and very neat. The very modern Tourist office is across the street from the very old municipal building. There is a large ... read more

5 September 2016, Monday, Rest day and exploring Coimbra. Still walked 4.62 miles. Karen here. Today's blog is long and deals with the wonderful university with its stunning library, reflections on books, keeping in shape when your university is at the top of a hill, and the old cathedral with few Biblical scenes to be found. Our rest day in the lovely university town of Coimbra will be spent traveling up the hill to the university - and then down the hill. These students must be in very good shape!! We saunter back to the main plaza that welcomes travelers crossing the Ponte Santa Clara Bridge. Harlan finds a narrow, straight up alley way and off we go. We arrive, huffing and puffing, in a square, that fronts the entry portal into the original palace grounds, ... read more

Day 7, Tomar to Alvaiazere After two rest days in Tomar,which we used to visit Fatima and see the Knights Templar Castle, we are back on the Camino Portugal headed towards Santiago. Today is another very long day, according to Brierley, it is almost thirty kilometers if you make no wrong turns. So we're up at 5:45, have bags packed, and pick up our breakfast/lunch sacks to be out the door at 6:45. The way out of town is over the Old Bridge and immediately left along the riverbank to an old abandoned canal. As it turned out we turn too soon and had to backtrack to find a street which then took us along the abandoned canal. This went well until the road ended in a very narrow path along the river and in the ... read more