Quinta Villa Mea Viseu

On Thursday, April 2, I left Cincinnati on a Spring Festival visit to members in Portugal and the Portuguese islands. My first stop was in northern Portugal, just north of Porto, on Friday afternoon, April 3. That afternoon I had my first instance (of many in this trip) of struggling to find a particular place or people. There was a period of about five ...

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 ...

Following my parent's path, I decided to choose Portugal for my scholarship. I applied to the famous in Portugal University of Coimbra and after four weeks of submitting my application, I was a happy winner of the Socrates Erasmus scholarship. Even though it's been long years since this experience, I still miss this worry-free time of my life. I have to admit I was lucky. I arrived to Coimbra in October, after ...

... 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 ...

... a large chill out mat for the floor and three airbeds with inflatable pillows. The airbeds were quite a score because our Momo donated one had been used by lots of revellers throughout the week and somehow had sprung a slow leak. I wouldn´t be surprised if people had taken it for a paddle in the lake during the week. Momo´s queen sized bed didn´t quite fit in our three berth hexagon-shaped tent so we had to put it outside during the day. At night time you would pump it up ...

... 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 ...

... maar al te blij met je hulp. Liedewij staat de hele dag in de keuken, met gevolg groeiende buiken! Jolijn doet de technische klusjes en wij helpen een handje bij waar we kunnen. Vandaag had ik ochtendienst, van 7 tot 11 uur. Mijn plan was om vandaag wat van de omgeving te gaan bekijken en had het geluk om met 2 gasten mee te kunnen rijden naar Viseu, een gezellig stadje op 20 km afstand van ...

... began to work it out in my mind. Deep down though, I knew she would not be happy on a 6 ft. leash in a 1,000 square foot apartment in Chicago with 3 other dogs. We ate a lot of meals outside in order to share them with Brownie and Joe. The hotel was so beautiful, empty foyers, empty stairwells--massive and marble. It was filled with chandeliers, stained glass and wood work. And yet, we spent most every waking moment out with the dogs. There was a cascading walk of 10 ...

... 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