As Americas Aveiro

... at his watch, then Bruce look at his watch, then Albert look at his watch etc. (you get the picture), and listening to some Portuguese swear words, we finally made it to the train station with 30 minutes to spare. In true Albert and Maria style, they came right onto the train with us, helped us find our seats, got our luggage stored, and our lunch set up. The boys, of course, asked why ...

... and their son, Zélito. José Martins has an inoperable heart condition, and his wife is struggling with health. José is one of the few laborers that we do have in the Portuguese language and has been very helpful in the translation and review of United Church of God booklets into Portuguese. I appreciated his labor of love and their gracious hospitality.

It's to happen. We missed our train to Porto so we are waiting for the next one wich is at 6.17. That meas we will have to take a taxi to get to airport before 8 not to loose the plane. Hope that we won't have more things like that... Anyway, we are ready, we are packed leaving in 20 min.

... to meet new interesting ppl. And I think that is the most important thing:) I will not write much about it now as firstly I would like to experience in by myself. Anyway our plan is to see as many ppl, places as we can and have as much fun as possible. It will be the first time I will not buy a guide and will trust on what ppl say. Hope that we will meet lots of ppl that are into their cities who will show us around. By now I am still looking for places to stay and ...

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 ...

16 km kaugusel Coimbrast asuvad Conímbriga varemed, mis on vanimad nii hästi säilinud Rooma varemed Portugalis, ühtlasi nimetatakse seda ka National Monument. Varemete kohta saab ajaloo ja piltidega tutvuda ka muuseumis, kuid me saabusime sinna suhteliselt hilja ja jõudsime napilt ainult varemetes luusida. Kuigi Conímbrigat teatakse eekõige roomlaste tõttu, on tegelikult olemas ka andmeid, et seal tegutseti ...

... oli seal tõepoolest igal pool luuramas, hoolimata sellest, et oli pühapäev, linn totaalselt välja surnud ja poed suletud. Seetõttu polnudki seal muud teha kui käia ülikooli juures luusimas ja osta paar suveniiri. Ülikooli hooned on väga võimsad, nagu oleks Rooma aega ära eksinud. Kahjuks me sees ei saanud käia, aga juba väljast paistis kõik vägagi impressive. Kuna sattusime sinna palmipuude püha ajal, siis nägime juhuslikult pealt ka tseremooniat, mida sel puhul ...

Portugali Veneetsia? Vähemalt nii seda kutsutakse, kuigi, olgem ausad, päris Veneetsia on ikka..Veneetsia :) Kuigi tõepoolest on seal mõni kanal, kuid see on ka ainuke paralleel Päris Kanalite linnaga. Aveiro oli vanasti üsna tähtis sadamalinn, kuid 1570ndatel kannatas ta suure tormi all, mis blokeeris jõesuudme, mistõttu laevad ei saanud enam ookeanini välja sõita. Järgmised ...

Bom dia! After a fairly long bus ride, we have finally made it to Portugal! We are staying in a predominantly working class town named Oporto, which is located right on the Atlantic Coast. Since we arrived late in the afternoon, we didn't have time to do much of anything. After we got settled into the hotel, the group of us took a nice stroll down to the waterfront. It was absolutely beautiful. Check out my gallery for the pictures. So before the trip even started, we were warned ...

... 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