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Published: September 10th 2016
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Day 12 – September 4, 2016 - Condeixa a Nova, Portugal to Coimbra, Portugal - 12.39 Miles When I looked out my bedroom window this morning, I could hardly see the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool due to all the dense fog. Upon leaving the hotel there was this cute little car parked outside that had a pink crown on the roof along with a red heart tied to the front grill. We wondered if it might belong to a young gal who may have just turned sweet 16 but have no idea.
Martha and Gabrielle who are from California and who we met a couple of days prior, joined us as we started walking this morning to Coimbra. As we walked up the asphalt road we passed by a field of squash and a little further on we came across this really cute cat with great markings crossing the road. Next we spotted a statue of a penguin sitting on the gate at one of the houses we passed by which really seemed out of place.
Further down the road we see these two Portuguese ladies talking and noticed one of them holding a string of
onions. I asked if I could take their picture and they were very happy to let me do it. We continued walking which had us going up and down several times before finally coming to a café where we stopped for coffee/cold drink and a short rest.
Back on the trail we passed by a church and it wasn’t long before we left the asphalt road and turned onto a forest track. As we entered the forest track we were asked to stay to the left side as there was a bike race going on. We did encounter several bicyclist and it was fun watching them make their way up some of the steep hills. Upon leaving the forest track we passed by a blue and yellow hiking boot – blue for the Fatima El Camino and yellow for the Portuguese El Camino.
We now pass by some modern factories and soon cross over into the town of Palheira where we kept hearing this really loud music. It’s not long before we find where the source of the loud music is coming from – a church.
The trail now undulates sharply up before dropping down steeply. We
cross under the motorway into Antanhol ascending once again to a café where we sit and have our lunch. We are now at the high point for the day and get our first view over the Mondego river valley.
Once again we start a steep descent passing by a Roman aqueduct that is now sliced in half to allow for one of the new roads to go through it. We continue walking down to the valley floor before having to climb up again where we go through a modern suburb and finally get our first great panoramic views over Coimbra.
As we start the sharp descent into Santa Clara, which is a satellite town of Coimbra we pass by the older Convento de Santa Clara-a-Velha (convent) which after being flooded constantly a new Convento de Santa Clara-a-Nova was built further up the hill.
Continuing on to Coimbra we pass by what we think might be an amusement park but not sure. It’s not long before we come to the bridge that takes us across the mighty Mondego river into Coimbra where we wind through the streets passing the train station and finally arriving at our hotel.
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Sharon K
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Karen
Is Karen walking with you all day today?