Mercure Figueira a Foz Figueira da Foz

<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>

... They wear long black capes and decorate these, and their briefcases, with ribbons denoting their faculty - blue for arts, red for law and yellow for medicine. At the end of the academic year they have a ceremony in front of the cathedral where they put the ribbons into cauldrons and set fire to them! The original Roman settlement was called Conimbriga and is a few miles south of Coimbra itself. I ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... Fitas (The Burning of Ribbons) which is celebrated at the end of the second semester in May. Both have great traditions and include costume parades and week-long celebrations. Coimbra is also full of historic cathedrals, beautiful lush parks and enchanting cafes. In my memories I see Coimbra through its narrow and steep cobblestone streets, laundry hanging on every balcony, thousands of cats, lemon trees ...

... coffee, while everyone else indulged in fine gelato. I had an "Exotic". Day 4 in Fig, Tues, Kakush Nawas and Nafeesa drove back to Lisbon. The rest of us walked to a nearby spot for Bica late in the morning. Then we returned home and Kaka, Sameer, Nasser and I played soccer. Nasser hurt his jaw and Kaka scraped his knee, but I twisted my leg and foot, which I would pay for later. Kaka and I ...

... 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 ...

... sajandi kellatorn, mida kutsutakse a cabra (kits), sest igal aastal toimub seal esmakursuslaste rebasteks ristimine. Ristimine ei seisne mitte füüsilises, vaid vaimses piinamises. Noored tudengid reastatakse kellatorni juurde üles ja seejärel hakkavad vanemad kursuslased neid sõnadega mõnitama ja alandama seni, kuni ristitavad panevad padavai kodu poole jooksu, ehk siis nagu kitsed kabuhirmus.<br><br>Praegu elatub linn kolmest T-tähega allikast: tanning, textile, tourism ...

... Summer Bay episode, and i was the hottie running up the beach - dont spill your coffee Aido i was just kidding, i can hear you groaning from here! So anyway where was i, Summer Bay, so we had this annoying old American Evanglist type guy called Phil, champion couple Jamie and his missus Mzecticha - im not sure but i know it Polish, Moreton the great Dane, Ben the friendly Pom, add your 2 local heros Hastie and Adam, a sprinkling other randoms, and a ...

... 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