Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
44) Praia Da Baleia, Ericeira, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - After a few days of being based in Lisbon, we covered some on this day - both physically and historically. The day started with another early morning and another quick breakfast. Then we checked out of the hotel and hopped an Uber over to the Eurocar Rental Car office in the center of Lisbon. There we picked up a tiny Toyota Aygo which just barely held the two of us and our meager luggage. Thankfully, getting out of town was easier than many big cities and we were on the A8 headed north without any lasting vehicular trauma. Our guide from yesterday’s tour mentioned two places we might want to check out as we drove north along the coast. The first is the beach and surf town of Ericeira. We arrived there around 10am so things were pretty quiet. However, there were still some people hanging out on the beach and a couple of surfing schools bobbing in the very, very mellow break. We watched as a few swimmers got into the water and then immediately got back out. Clearly the water in the Atlantic Ocean is still pretty chilly this time of the year.
45) Capela De Nossa Senhora Da Boa Viagem (Chapel Of Our Lady Of Good Voyage), Ericeira, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - We then took a stroll through the downtown area just as the shop and restaurants were starting to open their doors and set out their wares. Most of the people on the streets appeared to be vacationing Brits and based on their swim suits or ill-fitting wet suits they appeared to be in town to learn to surf. The one local spot we came across was a small fisherman’s chapel located above the port area. Originally named Capela De Santo António (Chapel Of St. Anthony) it is believed to have been built in the 1400s. Inside was modestly decorated but the interior walls were covered in beautifully patterned blue and yellow tiles. The sardines don’t show up along the coast here until June so all the fishing boats were dry docked with fisherman working on their hulls, nets and other fishing gear. After watching that for a while we headed back to the car to move on up the coast.
46) Óbidos, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - The second suggestion from our guide was to visit the medieval walled town of Óbidos. The first sign that perhaps this wasn’t our kind of place was the line of tour buses parked at an information office. Despite that warning sign we parked and walked in through the city gate (built circa 1300). The physical space was amazing. A huge crenellated stone wall, a massive block of a castle and narrow medieval cobble stone streets. The town inside is, or at least partially is, a real town with real residents. However, once the place became a tourist stop the character turned into Tourist Town - rows of "Pizza Pasta" restaurants (each with a tempter out front trying to lure the walking wallets in), shops filled with baskets of wooden swords and armour bedecked knight action figures, snack bars selling fried finger foods or shots of the local liquor.
47) Castelo De Óbidos, Óbidos, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - There were a few spots that hinted at the charm that originally drew in the early visitors - old stone walls covered with flowering vines, narrow alleys with wooden shuttered windows, dark old churches and of course the hulking mass of the castle. However, now that charm is turned into Instagram stops and crowded souvenir booths. The only memorable stop for me was the 300 year old Church that has been converted into a bookstore. Sacred indeed! We made a quick exit and put Óbidos in our rearview mirror.
48) Museu Nacional Resistência E Liberdade (National Museum Of Resistance And Freedom), Fortaleza De Peniche (Peniche Fortress), Peniche, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - My favorite part of the day’s driving came when we got off the autostata and onto the secondary N roads. We first turned onto the N8-4 and then on the N247-1. These were narrow roads that wound over a high hill and dropped into a farming area. We stopped in the Casal Da Galharda area to have lunch at a little restaurant called Vestigium. Both of us enjoyed our meal and while we ate we got to enjoy the heartwarming scenes of different local families both celebrating big events at the restaurant. One was what appeared to be two sets of parents celebrating the wedding of their two sons. The second was a family celebrating the 80th birthday of what I am guessing was the mother and grandmother of the other celebrants. Both very happy occasions. After our lunch we got back in the car and headed north on Av. 11 de Novembro to the little village of Cezaredas then Rua do Moinho de Vento all the way to the N-114 which took us all the way to the penisular city of Peniche. Tomorrow, we have a boat tour scheduled so our first stop was at the tour office to make sure everything was settled (we’d had some difficulty trying to pay a mandatory fee for the park the boat tour would be visiting.) With that covered our second priority for Peniche was to visit the 16th century fort which is home to the brand new Museu Nacional Resistência e Liberdade. This museum tells the story of the over 2,600 political prisoners who were jailed in this fort between 1933 and 1974 during the Salazar dictatorship.
49) Museu Nacional Resistência E Liberdade (National Museum Of Resistance And Freedom), Fortaleza De Peniche (Peniche Fortress), Peniche, Portugal, May 28, 2024 - There were also displays explaining how the dictator and his ministers weaponized the government, the church, the media and the educational system to suppress opposition and spread propaganda. Finally, there was a set of stories detailing resistance to the regime from Communists, to women, to farmers and to colonial independence movements. The museum was still a little rough around the edges because it was so new but between the detailed information and the chilling hallways of cells it was a powerful visit. The only thing I thing they could add would be more stories about the individuals imprisoned there to give a personal angle to the overall history of confinement and torture and deprivation and escape and defiance contained inside those imposing walls. Our final task in Peniche was finding a grocery store so we could pick up snacks for dinner and lunch items for tomorrow’s tour. With that done we finally drove a little ways out of town to our hotel. We got checked in and then decided to spend the evening in the room watching TV, catching up on email and typing up a long description of the day.
50) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - Nature, more than history, was our focus today. One of the big reasons we had chosen the city of Peniche for our first stop outside Lisbon was because it is the jump-off point to visit the Nature Reserve of Berlengas Island which is located six miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean. As soon as we decided to visit Portugal after the Rhine cruise we booked a full day tour out to Berlengas with a company called Feeling Berlengas. The tour package we chose included a few different activities so we would have a chance to see as much of the Reserve as possible. Our boat was scheduled to leave at 10am and our hotel was only 10 minutes away so we had a rare opportunity to sleep in a little! At the leisurely hour of 7:30am I rolled out of bed and was dressed and downstairs just as the hotel breakfast opened at 8am. Rather than gulping down food in order to rush out we actually had a relaxed meal and headed back to the room with plenty of time. After a short drive we arrived at the port in Peniche and got the car parked for the day. Our boat left on time and we were soon on our way out to sea. The tour manager warned everyone that there "would be some movement". Yup. That was true. The Atlantic swell was rolling in at a 45 degree angle to the course of our big ocean going catamaran which meant the boat was rolling side to side as each wave passed by. I am terrible at guessing the height of waves but tip-to-trough had to have been 3 meters on the biggest waves. Enough to pitch and roll the horizon out of sight and to crash waves up onto the windscreen. A few of the passengers started turning green immediately. Jonna was wearing an anti-seasick transdermal patch (scopolomine) and she was still starting to feel queasy when we docked. Thankfully, I generally do okay on the water and was fine again this time. It wasn’t exceptional by ocean standards but a reminder that ocean sailing isn’t a cake walk. Also, given Portugal’s long maritime history it was nice to spend a little time on the sea to better appreciate those famous explorers who sailed off into this rolling big blue.
51) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - Once on the island our first activity was a cave tour which meant getting onto a smaller, glass-bottomed boat. Thankfully, this tour would stick to the sheltered eastern shore of the island so no swell! This island has an interesting geological feature - it is almost entirely made up of a unique pink granite. This rock is only found in three other places in the world: 1) a small neighboring island 2) a small section of the coast of France and 3) along the coast in Newfoundland in Canada. As a result, geologists feel these three areas were connected way back during Pangea and tectonically separated as the continents drifted apart. Neat!
52) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - Wave erosion has formed sea caves all along the shoreline and in the small boat we could pull into the caves - some of which were surprisingly deep. As we went through these caves and past other features, like the Elephant's Trunk, a guide would point each one out and then do dual explanations first in Portuguese and then in English. Between the waves, the wind, the boat motor and his accent I probably missed half of what he said but I still enjoyed seeing the caves and watching the fish through the glass bottom.
53) Forte De São João Baptista, Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - The cave tour ended at the small 17th century fort of St. John the Baptist. This fort has a military history but more recently it was renovated into a vacation resort for officials during the Salazar dictatorship. Once democracy was restored in 1974 the space was converted into a six room hostel. You can actually book a room and stay overnight on the island!
54) Farol Da Berlenga, Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - After disembarking at the fort our next activity was a guided hike across the top of the island to return to where we had originally docked. Our guide was different for this and he was great. A big, booming deep voice and he spoke excellent english. He also was very conscientious towards all 7 of us since some were better hikers than others and one was an older Spanish gentleman so the guide gave him explanations in Spanish. From the fort we had to climb over 200 steps to get up onto the relatively flat top of the island. At the highest point the Portuguese Navy maintains a manned lighthouse so we stopped there to learn about its history (built in 1840, originally powered by oil lamps and after a few evolutions it is now 100% solar powered) and how it is managed (two sailors are on duty 24 hours a day, doing a one week rotation on the island before swapping back to the mainland to oversee the Peniche lighthouse).
55) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - From the highpoint it was a steady decline all the way back to the dock area. In this area there is a small village with a dozen fisherman’s cottages (owned by the government and leased out), a few private cabins, a restaurant and a small snack bar. The tour company leases one of the cottages so their crew can have lunch while us tourists are exploring but also to hold gear for activities on the island. We had packed a picnic (having seen the restaurant prices online ahead of time) so we sat on a bench and ate our sandwiches/snacks. Once we finished we collected the equipment for our next little adventure - snorkeling in the cold Atlantic Ocean. A few people had made quick dips into the water at a small swimming beach but no one stayed in for long. However, the snorkeling equipment included wetsuits so we thought we’d give it a try. However, the wetsuits didn’t come with booties, gloves nor hoods so we weren’t going to be completely covered. The sky had been partly cloudy so sometimes the sun was shining and other times we were in shadow. For the shallow water at the swimming beach that intermittent sunshine slightly warmed the water so when our bare feet (in flippers) touched the water it was bracing but not impossible to withstand. Likewise, as the wetsuit filled with water our body-heat moderated the temperature. But by the time I was in deep enough water for my hands and face to go in it was a shock. Nonetheless, we persevered and started actually snorkeling. There was a decent variety of fish in the water and the rocky bottom was liberally covered with small sea weeds and star fish. The masks provided were cheap and had two simultaneous problems: 1) they leaked, especially for me since I have facial hair 2) they fogged up with the cold water on the outside and humid breath on the inside. So our snorkeling was constantly interrupted as we had to wipe the inside of the mask lenses and drain out the water. It was a hassle but it also provided a moment to get my face up out of the cold water so not all bad. I swear I somehow found a way to put my mask in the water but somehow keep my ears out. Like I could rotate my ears to the back of my head to avoid the stinging cold water! We swam out from the beach area, through a channel in a rock wall protecting the dock area and into a neighboring bay. The water in here was much deeper and that was when the water got uncomfortably cold. The body heat generated by swimming couldn’t fend off the cold coming through the neoprene and my bare hands and feet were almost painfully cold. We did a lap around the bay which really was beautiful snorkeling but I waved a metaphorical white flag of surrender at this point and we reversed course to return to the beach. In total we were in the water about 30 minutes. Nothing to brag about but I think it was a record for the day. The swimmers I saw were in and out in under 5 minutes and no one else checked out snorkeling gear so in some small way we *felt* like it was an accomplishment.
56) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - In order to get blood flowing back into our extremities, as soon as we changed back into our hiking clothes we headed out to hike a short loop that was open to the public (there are only three trails on the island open for hiking - and we’d done the main one earlier!) The hike was a nice one looping around the north headland of the island.
57) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - We were the only people on the trail and got to enjoy the scenery, the wildflowers and the nesting seagulls. There was a pretty strong breeze which did a lot to dry our hair but not much to thaw our hands and feet.
58) Berlenga Grande, Berlengas Islands, Portugal, May 29, 2024 - Once we got back from the walk we had about one hour until the return boat trip at 6:15pm. The snack bar sold ice cream bars and despite the fact that a cold treat wouldn’t help re-heat my hands I got one anyway. We finished our time on the island sitting on the dock watching the fish, the waves, the seagulls and the other tourists while we waited for the boat to arrive. For the trip back the boat was going with the swell so it was much smoother and a little faster. By the time we got back to the car it was 7pm - it had been a 9 hour day! We drove straight back to the hotel where we both took long, hot showers to warm up and to get all the salt and sand off. We had a quick dinner of leftover snacks and headed straight to bed. It was a really nice day and I was thankful to get to spend a day surrounded by natural beauty.
59) The Monastery Of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, Alcobaça, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - This was the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi (Blood of Christ) and from what I could tell in Portugal this celebrates Christ’s killer tan because it means everything shuts down and everyone heads for the beach. We learned this firsthand today when we tried to visit some places, found most closed and decided to head to the beach...at which point we found all the people who weren’t at work today. But let’s back up and start from the beginning. We woke up at 7:30am and were again the first people at the hotel’s breakfast when it opened at 8am. While eating (and scanning the Internet on our phones) we saw that today was a religious holiday in Portugal and that some businesses might be closed. So with this warning in mind we jumped in the rental car and started driving north. Our goal for the day was to visit two historical sites both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Our first destination was the Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça (aka the Alcobaça Monastery). This medieval monastery was started in 1153, was expanded and renovated all the way up until 1834, it was declared a Portuguese National Monument in 1907 and in 1989 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We drove into the parking lot at 9:45 and were surprised to see the front doors of the church open. Yay!
60) The Monastery Of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, Alcobaça, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - Even better the space was almost empty with only a single tour group in ahead of us. After having had to deal with the crazy crowds at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon this was a huge relief. The inside of the church was massive - we were truly dwarfed by the space.
61) The Monastery Of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, Alcobaça, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - This was further exaggerated by the stark stone walls and columns which didn’t have any decoration. The nave and side altars had some statues and some royal tombs but very few wall carvings and no paint. It was an impressive architectural space. Next door was the entrance to the monastery buildings, or at least to the small percentage that were accessible by the public, where there was a trail of signs to lead us through some of the rooms. All of them were big - the monastery was build to host around 1,000 monks - and the rooms open provided a glimpse of many aspects of monastic life.
62) The Monastery Of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, Alcobaça, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - My favorite was the 18th century kitchen which was highlighted by a massive oven that had a central chimney supported on eight cast iron pillars. It takes a lot of space to cook for a thousand people!
63) The Monastery Of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, Alcobaça, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - There was also a beautiful fountain/basin in the cloister looking into the interior gardens. The upstairs dormitory was huge but the highlight there was watching a swallow zoom in and out of the columns holding up the rib vaulted ceiling. It was mesmerizing to see the path the swallow carved swerving through the vast space. Even though the entire sprawling space is sparse in decoration I enjoyed getting to see the physical architecture and had fun imagining what it would have been like 400 or 500 or 800 years ago with huge numbers of monks walking in silent meditation or hand copying texts in the scriptorium or chanting prayers in the great halls. Love the history less excited by the money and labor lavished on the spaces to benefit religious organizations rather than helping the masses of people suffering from the wars, famines, plagues and more of those times.
64) Monastery Of The Dominicans Of Batalha, Batalha, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - Because we enjoyed this visit we next headed to the city of Batalha to visit the Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória (aka Monastery of Batalha). This monastery was newer, having been started in 1386 (but was also closed in 1834, also made a National Monument in 1907, but made a UNESCO site a little earlier in 1983) and architecturally that was obvious as soon as we drove up. Where Alcobaça was sparse and plain the buildings of Batalha were covered with carvings. Unfortunately, unlike Alcobaça, Batalha was mostly closed due to the Corpus Christi holiday. However, the main church was open for services and the side Founder’s Chapel was open.
65) Monastery Of The Dominicans Of Batalha, Batalha, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - However, the entire monastery was closed. We walked all the way around the outside to at least see that but also noticed that the current space is smaller than Alcobaça. I don’t know if this was always a smaller monastery or if more of these buildings have been destroyed over time leaving is smaller now.
66) Miradouro Do Suberco, Nazaré, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - As we walked away we spotted a Tourism Office that was open so we popped in there to see if the fortress at Tomar was open. We had planned to see it tomorrow but with Batalha being a scratch we thought we could see Tomar today instead. Unfortunately, Tomar was closed as well. We actually shocked the office volunteer when we told her Alcobaça was open. Not only were all these big sites closed but so were many of the businesses in town - stores, restaurants, etc. So we gave up entirely and decided to head out to the beach since that was likely to be open no matter what! It took about 30 minutes to drive out to the oceanside city of Nazaré. Suddenly, we found where all the people who weren’t at work were. The town was a madhouse! We drove to the cliff above the city with the idea of parking near its famous scenic viewpoint and funicular. That plan got sunk when we got stuck in the slow traffic jam driving in circles trying to find parking. We were on the verge of giving up when we headed out a side road and managed to find a parking spot. With that problem solved we walked to the overlook and Wow! was it worth it. There is a high cliff on the northern end of the beach and this overlook is really a series of balconies projecting out over this 164m high cliff. The beaches at Nazaré run for miles along the coast so the view from the lookout is literally beaches as far as the eye can see limited only by a faint ocean haze on the horizon. It was now lunchtime but the idea of driving down the hill and trying to find parking was daunting so we decided to take the funicular down and then walked to lunch. Some quick Internet searching turned up a highly reviewed Indian restaurant named "Taste of India" that was within easy walking distance from the lower funicular station. It was a great choice. Yummy food, with a strong Goa style (which was a Portuguese colony) and a TV playing the greatest hits of Bollywood dance numbers. Satiated and with dance bounce in our step we headed back to the funicular and back up to the car. Spending some time on the beach or visiting the fort would have been nice but with all these crowds we decided to retreat away from the craziness.
67) Praia Das Rochas, Consolação, Portugal, May 30, 2024 - We drove back to the hotel with just a quick stop at a grocery store on the way to pick up snacks for dinner. Once at the hotel we grabbed our dirty laundry and then drove to the neighboring beach town of Consolação to a laundromat. We popped our clothes in the washer and then walked to the beach overlook a few blocks away. There was a big beach stretching north towards Peniche. However, even more interesting was the view to the south. There was a large angled rock ramp leading down to crashing waves and spread across these rocks were about three dozen elderly people lying out in bathing suits. Now, no judgement about us old folks soaking up some sun but it seemed unusual given the beautiful beach just on the other side of this promontory. A little looking around turned up a sign which explained the mystery. The rocks here are unique geologically speaking and they are home to a specific algae which has an unusual property of releasing a natural form of iodine. The folks sunbathing were also being showered by iodine that mixes into the water and is then aerated as the waves crash on the rocks - it is an open air health spa. Interesting... (No idea whether being bathed in iodine actually has any health benefits so I was excited by understanding what was going on rather than endorsing it as a medical treatment.) We made our way back to the laundromat and switched our clothes over to the dryer. While waiting on that I finally had time to start writing some of the postcards I’ve been busying since our trip started. Once the clothes were done we returned to the hotel to eat our snacks and watch some more TV on my tablet.
68) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - The goal for today was to leave the coast and head into the hills and mountains of central Portugal to see that part of the country. To that end we stuck to our usual schedule of getting down to breakfast when it first opened and then being off shortly after. This time we were checking out of our hotel just outside Peniche and heading north. Our first destination for the day was the hill town of Tomar. In the early 12th Century the Knights Templar built a defensive structure in Tomar to hold the Tagus line in order to constraint the Moors to the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. Eventually, this fortress was expanded and became one of the headquarters for the Knights. When the Knights were disbanded in the early 13th century possession of the fortress transferred over to the Knights of the Order of Christ who were really just ex-Templars who were given protection in Portugal. They expanded the church and built a cloister for monks. By the mid-14th century the fortress was no longer necessary as a defensive structure so space was allocated to expand the religious function into a convent. Over the next 200 hundred years more and more building was done until the late 18th century when it was closed down. It was made a Portuguese National Monument in 1907 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
69) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - We arrived early and were relieved to see the small parking lot wasn’t completely full and only one tour bus appeared to be in group parking. Yay! Entrance into the fortress is free and I gotta admit that my inner teenage nerd kinda jumped to the fore. Walking around a real life Templar castle... that is just cool. Crenellated walls, big towers with banners flapping in the wind, little courtyard gardens filled with fruit trees and cross shaped shrubs. The main circular citadel with its high walls and battlements. I mean come on. If I could have rented armour and ridden in on a warhorse with minstrels strumming lutes and blowing a trumpet fanfare I’d have done it in a heartbeat. Anyway, once the teen dreams faded a bit I was able to re-focus and pay attention to exploring the place. We walked the walls, looked into the ruins of the old 12th century church, and walked up to the (sadly closed) giant wooden doors of the Citadel. Did I mention this was free?!?! Can you believe you can just walk in the gates and wander around this place? For free! I wonder if I could come back ...after I buy some armour. Hmmmm...
70) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - Anyway, with the castle visit done we walked around the outside of the walls to where the convent was built up against the north wall. There was a 10€ each fee for this part which goes to support the UNESCO sites. This convent is smaller than the massive complex in Alcobaça that we visited yesterday but it feels much older and has a layered architecture that reflects the many different eras in which it was expanded, repaired, remodeled and updated. So there are old sections built of big blocky stones with no decoration and very little light - clearly 12th or 13th century work probably parts of the fortress rather than the convent. Then there are more gothic architectures with pointed window and door frames, buttressing off the walls and bigger windows. Then there are the Manueline parts with highly decorative ropey window frames and wall topping and rooftop spires. There are whole sections of cloisters that have been removed to make way for later windows or balconies. There are two story cloisters where the bottom is one style and the upper floor another. Very interesting.
71) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - My two favorite areas were 1) the 16th century dormitory with a huge "T" shaped set of halls with over 100 individual cells lining the sides. I loved the architectural symmetry and the visual comparison to the rows of prison cells we’d seen in Peniche. 2) Was the 12th century Romanesque Round Church which was built by the Templars. The central octagonal altar space has eight columns decorated like the Tree of Life with the vaults of the ceiling splaying out like limbs. Architecturally very beautiful and richly decorated (it was painted and added on to for over 200 years.)
72) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - There are probably a dozen different courtyards within this gigantic campus. This view from the second floor down onto one of the smaller courtyards was very evocative with water trickling down the fountain and the echo of footsteps bouncing off the stone walls.
73) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - This is one part of the "T" shaped dormitory showing just a small section of the seemingly endless doors. An interesting thing in this section was discovering that the outer walls are double thickness with a hollow section in between. The hollow section opens into a special room where there is a wood burning stove. Each of the cells in the dormitory has a vent through the wall into the hollow - centralized heating!
74) Convent Of Christ Of The Knights Templar, Tomar, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - We wandered around inside for over an hour. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that the temperature was pushing 90 degrees Fahrenheit today so being in a big, airy space shaded by high stone walls and high ceilings was pretty terrific. This was particularly true down in the underground cistern. No need to rush!
75) Mercado Municipal D. Pedro V, Coimbra, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - Still, by 11:30am we’d seen it all and it was time to continue moving northward. The travel writer Rick Steves had an article on his website saying the city of Coimbra was a "must visit" and since it was roughly in the direction we were going and about halfway to our final destination we set the GPS and heading in that direction. In an hour we rolled into a valley and saw the city of Coimbra cascading down a steep hill and spread out across the valley floor. With a river flowing through town and an old university crowning the hill it did look like an interesting place for a short stop. Jonna did some ‘net reading and found the central market had high reviews as something to see and, as a big bonus, had cheap underground parking. Sold! We parked (shade, ahhhhhh) and then went inside. Only about half the booths had vendors but the market was still interesting. Fruits, veggies and butchers were downstairs, fish mongers had a separate area upstairs (sealed off from the rest by glass doors) and then the rest of the upstairs were restaurants, food stalls, bars and pastry shops. Since it was lunch time we found inexpensive dishes and a food-court style seating area where we could eat.
76) Botanical Garden, University Of Coimbra Alta And Sofia, Coimbra, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - After eating we headed out to walked around. The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in the world (founded in 1290) and it has a botanical garden that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We walked up the big hill, along the edge of the University and into the garden. The pride of the garden aren’t flowers or ornamental plants but is a 14 hectare tree "garden" that runs all the way down one side of the hill all the way to the river. Inside are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different tree species with winding paths throughout.
77) Botanical Garden, University Of Coimbra Alta And Sofia, Coimbra, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - Another of the highlights of the Botanic Garden is the Tropical Greenhouses which were built in 1859 and are an architectural highlight because they are among the first iron buildings built in Portugal.
78) Botanical Garden, University Of Coimbra Alta And Sofia, Coimbra, Portugal, May 31, 2024 - We didn’t have time to explore much but did walk along one side to see some of the Asian plants there. We exited the shade of garden forest and headed back to the market to retrieve the car.
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