Costa De Prata Hotel Figueira da Foz

... were originally part of a royal palace, because Coimbra was for a time the capital of Portugal. They are grouped round three sides of an elegant courtyard, the fourth side of which is a terrace with views over the lower town and the river Mondego. One of the buildings facing the courtyard is the library, an ornate Baroque building full of ancient leather-bound tomes. The main enemy of old books is insects ...

... another spread for breakfeast with our new friends the Conzalas family. The next day our kids finally get to see the Atlantic close up.. [PHOTO_ID_L=3_the-atlantic.jpg warm air, cold atlantic! It was wonderful to end our car journey at the beach with gelatos before leaving for our final drive... back to Amora.

... enough just to fit a car.

We then drove back west to Alcobaca. The Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria was closed, but beautiful enough from the outside. Even at Batalha the Monastery was closed but the square around, was beautiful for a short rest stop. Tired by then we thought of dropping Fatima, but decided to drive up, as it was not far from our ...

... first day and my first walk around the city center, I couldn't believe I was going to live there for another six months. Nestled about 200 kilometers north of Lisbon and only 40 km from the coastline, Coimbra gained its fame as the "Portugal's Student City". About 23,000 of its population are students who come to this charming city to study in its historic University and to enjoy its unique ambience. The ...

... folk. They told me about a student festival that was happening at the end of the week and next thing I know Ive booked a room for a whole week! It was really nice, was able to catch up on laundry, reading, writing, reorganzing my pack (left a couple pounds of clothes at the hostel, they would never be clean again!) and even saw a really bad American movie at the theater, Tempeste Tropical ...

... since it didn't run on the cheaper diesel. After, we headed to the top of the mountain where we walked on foot to some rocks and took pics. On foot, we would run and race each other. That night, we stopped at Kaka´s furniture store before heading home. Day 3, we had a lazy start. After swimming (yes the house has a swimming pool), we went to Coimbre, where we took pictures, shopped a ...

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 ...

... Kõikidel inimestel oli käes palmioks, kirikuisa pidas loengut ja inimesed kordasid aeg-ajalt tema järgi mingeid sõnu.

Algselt plaanisime Coimbras veeta ka öö, kuid kuna me polnud midagi broneerinud ja jätsime endale nö lahtised käed, siis kohapeal olles tundus see väga mõistlik otsus olevat. Peale mõningast luusimist istusime autosse ja sõitsime edasi. Ilmselt nädala sees, kui kõik üliõpilased on ka kohal ja hängivad tänavatel, on seal linnas rohkem melu ja elu.

... he stayed in to rest. I even had to order his dinner as he said he didnt have the strenght to speak, but he had the strenth to eat it all. I was only going to go out for a little while as i was pretty buggered. Well a little while turned into about 5:30am and we had a 10 am train to catch. It was a good night though found 2 huge night clubs and partied there until i couldn't party no more. The next day it was a very tired Daniel and we where out of here and it was time to head to Lisbon.

Hello...

I'm in Portugal now. Last I wrote was in Toledo, I think...I took a night train to Lisbon, where I stayed for one night. It's nice, as far as big cities go, but it's a big city. It's very diverse and the people are real laid back.

After that I went to Sintra, just west of Lisbon. It's a little town in the mountains. Lots of shade, green, and fresh air. I spent many more days there than I planned to. The first night I arrived ...