Hotel Apartamento Sottomayor Figueira da Foz

... hairdresser, or indeed an actual English one, like the lovely Kenneth in Marbella. I realised that this is not likely to happen in northern Portugal or Spain, so I bit the bullet and made an appointment at a hairdresser in the local shopping centre. I can manage maybe a dozen words of Portuguese, none of them hair-related, and her English was pretty limited too, but between us we managed to communicate and ...

We had our longest journey -should have been 7 hrs but turned out to be 10 after the highway was closed. We had lunch in Salamanca and I want to go back. Superb architecture and one of the oldest universities in Europe with signs of enlightened learning on every corner. We shared an amazing dinner of local fare ...

Day 4 – 25/12/08

LISBON-EVORA-ALCOBACA-B ATALHA-FATIMA-COIMBRA

We left early after breakfast. The GPS proved to be blessing for 'wrong' drivers like me. As it was Christmas there was less traffic on the roads & we had a smooth drive to Evora. There we saw the Roman Temple, the church & the Chapel of St.Francis. The sleepy town had narrow lanes ...

... other students have already attended a monthly course of Portuguese. So everything I would normally have to arrange myself, was already waiting for me thanks to my good friend who found us an apartment and subscribed us both to academic courses. Our apartment in Portugal was a student-standard place with all the basics we needed to survive. We didn't complain until the winter came and we suddenly noticed ...

... huge black capes, part of their school uniforms. Looked like a bunch of drunk extras from a really bad vampire movie! I didnt stay out that long but a guy from the hostel and I had a couple capirihnas (my first time) and saw some live music, twas fun. So I sadly had to pry myself from Coimbra, said my very sad goodbyes to my friends from the hostel and hopped a bus to Lisboa. Chiao Coimbra!

... keltide ajal. Roomlased seadsid ennast sisse 1. saj pKr, mil see kasvas ja õitses suureks linnaks. 3. saj olid elanikud ohustatud sissetungijate eest ning ehitasid enda kaitseks linnale kaitsvad müürid ümber. Kahjuks polnud see piisav sueevidele (germaani hõimude rühmale), kellel õnnestus 468.a vallutada linn. Kohalikud põgenesid Coimbrasse, säästes sellega Conímbrigat suuremast hävingust. Seetõttu võib ...

... maailmas! Ülikool on jagatud 8 teaduskonnaks, kus õpib ca 22 000 tudengit. Tudengi tunneb ära selle järgi, et nad kannavad riiete peal musta ürpi/keepi, mille peale tavaliselt õmmeldakse erinevaid embleeme (nt teaduskonna oma), mille järgi saab õpilase kohta nii mõndagi teada, ilma, et oleks temaga vestelnud.

Ülikoolil on mitmeid erinevaid hooneid ja need kõik asuvad mäe otsas, kust saab imetleda vaateid linnale. Kõige tuntum ja ühtlasi ka traditsionaalsem koht on ...

... we ended up ordering two super burgers, the normal burger seems not to be a good idea, at least that is what i think she was trying to say. It took ages for these things to get cooked, Dave fell asleep, and then they came..... These things were HUGE. Picture a dinner plate..... well thats the size it was, and we had two! I swear you could have put four macca's burgers in a circle and it would have been about ...

... drumming up numbers for a game of beach soccer. Hastie and Adam decide to partake in exercise as it has been a number of months. On the beach the game is going well. Adam has several mild heartattacks in the first 10 minutes then feigns injury so he can sit down and die silently. In his head he hears the distant cry of "Morris moggy, Morris moggy". Hastie and the boys continue to play, well done chaps. After period of time a group of extras i ...

... a friend, and on the bus we met two nursing students who live there. They were very friendly, took us to their house, fed us dinner, and gave us a place to sleep.

Now I'm in Coimbra, and I came here to see a forest. I should actually be going now to catch my bus. If this internet connection weren't so slow this letter would be longer. It took me a whole hour to read the 15 letters I had (50 minutes waiting, 10 minutes reading). More later