Coimbra

This week we hopped on the bullet train and headed north.

 Halfway between Lisbon and Porto is the charming, medieval town of Coimbra. 

There were 'treasures' to be found in our walk around town -

 Delicious chocolates!

 Portuguese tile painters!

And to-die-for Portuguese Sweets!

After our walk around town, we took the climb up and up and up the narrow winding streets to the University. 

Views from the top.

 The University of Coimbra is the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe - founded in 1290. 

An iron gate leads into... 

...a large courtyard, the Pátio das Escolasa, with...

...an imposing statue of King João III looking proudly at the university buildings.

First we visited the St. Michael's Chapel which dates back to the 16th century and was probably built upon an ancient chapel of the 12th century.

Our next stop was most impressive - Biblioteca Joanina - their baroque library, one of the world's most resplendent. It was built in the early 18th century with rooms rich in gilt and exotic wood, and lined with 300,000 books.

And FYI - They use tiny bats in the library, instead of pesticides, to keep insects from eating their irreplaceable collection of ancient books.
Who knew?!

And hey, all you Harry Potter fans, are we at Hogwarts or what?

As I recall, young witches and wizards at Hogwarts had a strict dress code, which called for a white button-down shirt, a tie (with one's house colors), a sweater, dark trousers or skirt, and a full-length cape.

Well, you’ll find students in a near-identical uniform of a black suit, tie, and cape at the Universidade de Coimbra!

 J.K. Rowling has never said, but she wrote  part of what would become Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone while living in Porto, Portugal, in the 1990s, and just may have been inspired by this Portuguese tradition!

(We peeked into one of the classrooms.)

Then it was back down the hill and across the river to 
Portugal dos Pequenitos 
(Portugal of the Little Ones)
This is a park consisting of miniature versions of Portuguese houses and monuments and has pavilions dedicated to the former Portuguese colonies.

One last picture...

Just in case some of you are thinking that we are on a "Missioncation"...

This is where we spend most of our time.😊

Just saying.

Almada & Cacihas

Almada and Cacilhas are two towns on the opposite bank of the Tagus River from Lisbon. Almada is known primarily from the monument of Christo Rei – Jesus the King. Cacilhas is a great place for a real Portuguese meal.



We started our journey to these two towns with a ferry ride across the Tagus River. It only lasts about 10 minutes, but from the deck there is a beautiful view of Lisbon.

And, yes, today was sunny and bright!!

Almada is a small non-tourist town with narrow streets and when walking you have an amazing opportunity to see how people really live in Portugal. (Of course, we are now some of those people living in Portugal, aren't we?!)

Anyway, in Almada everything goes up! So up and up and up we walked to Christo Rei.

The monument was built in the 1950s in thanksgiving for avoiding the horrors of the Second World War. The inspiration for Christo Rei was of course the Brazilian Christ the Redeemer. Both monuments are really very similar to each other.

(This is the one in Rio - Christ the Redeemer - for those who may not remember.😎)

From the statue you can get a really good view of the famous 25th of April Bridge - which is another way to get back to Lisbon.

We decided to take the tuk-tuk back down the hill to Cacihas.


Fernando II Gloria 

Fernando II Gloria – the frigate of the Portuguese Navy – proudly stands on the shore in Cacihas. It was built in 1843. She made her first voyage in 1845. It was the last ship that was built for military purposes in the country and the last ship that took the route between Portugal and the Indian colonies.

 For only a couple of Euros you can board the frigate and learn more about the history of Portugal, as well as see what life was like on such a ship.











There was one more place we wanted 
to visit - Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso Church.
The outside isn't much to look at - just a little old church with a light blue facade. 

 

In the middle of this church is the real gem. The altar itself is extremely richly decorated, but it is for azulejos – blue, traditional tiles – it’s worth stopping here. They cover entire walls and depict scenes from the Bible. They are really beautiful.

Now for that Portuguese meal mentioned at the beginning of the blog - more specifically, seafood.
There are many places to eat in Cacihas. 

We picked one.
We decided to try something we had never heard of before and give it a try.

Cuttlefish

Maybe a Portuguese version of fish and chips.
HAHAHA
It chewed like those pink school erasers.
HMMMMM
It turns out that this isn't even a real fish. 


Cuttlefish are relatives of squid and octopuses.
And, nope, it doesn't taste like chicken!!
AT ALL!