Astoria Coimbra

<br>Arrived after a short uneventful journey. Campsite similar. Weather changeable.<br><br>Tourist sites do not always live up to the flowery language used in the brochures eg. "Musicological Nucleus of the Salt" turned out to be a Musee de Sel. We did not go.<br> <br>The local beauty spots, like every where else, that we did go to were covered with ingrained litter.<br>We are moving on tomorrow. <br>

We arrived without incident after a short and pleasant journey. Odd campsite mainly permanent encampments! Most of them looked like they had been there for many years. We were entertained by families arriving over the weekend to pack up for the winter. They cleared out all the rubbish that they had accumulated over the summer. They then covered their caravan.awning and covered area with tarpaulin and tied it down and put stones ...

... just a handful of other campers. We relished the opportunity to just sit in the sun and listen to the birds. Even my interest in wildflowers was catered for, as there were wild orchids growing on some of the pitches - they were either woodcock orchids or bee orchids, it was difficult to tell. (Sorry, I'm being an anorak.) There was a magnificent, totally deserted beach nearby, with miles of almost white ...

... And boy, we are glad we did not miss it. The Igreja da Santissima Trindade (Church of the Holy Trinity) here could easily be compared to the Vatican in Rome. It was simply awesome with huge grounds in the front &amp; was lit up well. There was some Christmas ceremony going on inside.<br><br>Finally, we drove to Hotel Oslo in the University town of Coimbra. More than half ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

Coimbra has a very rich and romantic history. It is the birthplace of 6 Kings, has one of Europe's oldest Universities, and has a healthy supply of beautiful architecture and wide open green spaces. It is on the Mondego River and is extremely hilly giving us quite the workout just to get around. We were told when booking our accommodations that it was 150 metres from the train station. Once we arrived in Coimbra, we quickly ...

... to catch rats and I thought only existed in Tom et Jerry cartoons. :) I liked to stay there, and I liked the city, although I didn't have that much time to explore it. The university is beautiful, so are the new cathedral (which is very old) and the old cathedral (even older). Also there are some very worthwile parks, but the best was to walk along the Mondego river, I loved it and the crooked bridge that goes over. A pity there was no camera.

... 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. <br><br>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