Hotel Apartamento Sottomayor Figueira da Foz

... city of Coimbra. The town is very hilly and is divided into the low town, where the shops are, and the high town, with its narrow cobbled streets, where there are two cathedrals (the Old Cathedral, 12th century, and the New Cathedral, a mere 17th century), and also the University, founded in 1290, so it's even older than Oxford or Cambridge. The oldest existing university buildings date back to 1540 ...

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 ...

... there was a huge gap between our balcony doors and the floor which let the cold wind into our room. In Portugal, just like in Netherlands, they do not believe in central heating systems. Even though most of people suffer from rheumatism and cough, central heating is considered needless. Blankets, thick quilts and fireplaces are some of the local solutions for surviving winter in cold apartments. From the ...

... which is out of the city centre. Long and short of it, took me well over an hour with lots of walking up hills and asking for directions to find the hostel. Made friends with some Portuguese people from the hostel and we shared a meal almost everynight, great nights of amazing homecooked meals usually ending with a guitar being brought out and singing a bunch of American classic rock ...

... lamb, varieties of bread, salads, and amazing desserts. We took some fun pictures right outside the restaurant. I tried to convince Sofia to ride the donkey, and she almost did but the thing began to move uncertainly so we gave that up. We also took pictures by a mini water-fall and Museo de Pao's old antique house and car. I considered stealing the car, but Sofia would not hear of it ...

... tänaseni näha mosaiikpõrandaid ning mitmete ehitiste vundamente. Osad nendest on nüüdseks saanud algse kuju, ehk siis vundament on originaal, kuid peale ehitatud osa on valgest kivist, et välja tuua kontrast kuipalju alustaladest on säilinud. Vanasti elati väga-väga suurejooneliselt, saime jälle kinnituse. Kindlasti tasub seal ära käia, sissepääs on kõigest 3€, mis sisaldab varemete ja muuseumi külastust.

... 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 ...

... I lost skin on both knees, my hip, my hand, the top of 3 toes on one foot and that little toe i hurt in Egypt well it is all swollen and purple and no longer moves again and very very sore Adam has a cool photo of it though. No more soccer of physical exercise on this holiday plus i don't wont to lose my cool beer belly. Chicks think beer bellys are sexy dont they?? That night i headed out into town with Morton, Adam was little worn out from all his spewing up and watching soccer ...

... 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