We'd decided a long time ago that we would spend a day in Coimbra. By coincidence our original schedule put us in Coimbra on our wedding anniversary, but because we effectively missed a day, way back, when we took a bus ride out of Tomar, we arrived in Coimbra a day earlier than scheduled. Nevertheless we had heard that it was a good city to spend some time in. We'd reserved our penthouse apartment for two nights allowing us to spend the day just looking around.
I deliberately didn't head this blog as a "rest day" as any exploration of Coimbra is not restful. It is a very hilly city, rivaling Lisbon for steep streets and developments at many differing levels. The lower part of the city is mainly commercial, but with some interesting old buildings and the riverside. The higher levels are where there University of Coimbra is mainly situated. Many of the main university's older buildings were officially royal palaces and registered buildings but we're handed over to the university several centuries ago. The university is a very old establishment and highly regarded.
Enough waffle, let's have a look at some photos.
In the lower part of the town is the hotel we stayed at. Our penthouse is the one at the top with the balcony.
We made our first encounter with some of the students who were doing a street performance to raise money for charity.
Many students, make and female, wear long cloaks around the than, often with black suite underneath, some sort of traditional uniform presumably.
The last photo is of Barbara in the library jail, you could be put in there, in the past, for damaging, losing or simply not returning a book on time. We visited the chapel, library and some function rooms all situated around a grand plaza high in the town.
One of the things missing on this Camino compared with our first one, especially, is any decent graffit. Here in Coimbra we found some, the last one being official, it was just being refreshed as we were there
