Coimbra's main city is an ancient town on a hill, so the taxi couldn't get down one street he tried and narrowly made it through another. And he could only drop me at the top of the steps to my B&B. Yes that is correct, the street is a big long staircase. The guesthouse is an adorable little place and Joao explained everything. Each room gets a shelf in the fridge and there is a communal kitchen/living area. He explained he comes at around 8:30am to do breakfast, because that is when the fresh bread is ready. Oh of COURSE that is why he comes then. God I love Europe.
Immediately set out for sight-seeing since I have only the one day. sorta followed the Rick Steves walking tour and made it throguh old town. The hills and stairs here make Lisbon and Porto seem like child's play! There appeared to be a graduation going on at the "new" cathedral and mass going on at the "old" cathedral, and some education protest going on near the university, so I had lunch at an incredible little place called Bizarro down in the lower old town, where Joao said all the best traditional restaurants were. This place had 8 tables and no English spoken. I had a plate of steak, fries, rice, and salad, plus a quarter liter of wine, water, olives, and bread and butter, and the total was 13.25 and that is probably considered "expensive" for here. On my way back to the upper town I made a reservation for tonight at a highly recommended place that also happens to be really close to the B&B.
Then I was able to visit the old cathedral and the University, which is incredible. There is one library in particular that is fairly mind-blowing. I snuck a few pictures on my phone. Then went to the new cathedral, where the celebrations had cleared out, followed by the main museum in town, which has Roman ruins underneath that I basically had to myself, which was both cool and creepy, then a huge winding museum of all kinds of old stuff. I lasted about my typical 45 minutes.
Wandered downhill past the old aqueduct to the botanical garden, which is really more of a public park, because it is open and free. Made it down more steep streets back to the main square by the river and crossed the river. I was going to visit a couple of monasteries across the river, but I am starting to get church-ed out and went to "mini Portugal" instead. After a snack of strawberry sorbet and a couple of almond meringue cookies, naturally. Mini Portugal is like a tiny amusement park made of three sections - buildings signifiying Portuguese imperial conquests, a section of a bunch of little traditional Portuguese homes, and little mini versions of Portuguese landmarks. Cute!
Phew, can't believe how much I covered today!
Meandered back across the river and back to the B&B for a rest.
Meandered back across the river and back to the B&B for a rest.
11:00pm - Back at the B&B! As I was writing earlier, a girl came to check in. The lady checking her in basically spoke no English so I said I would tell her what Joao told me earlier. I gave her my map and told her about the restaurants he told me about. The lady was also showing her restaurants and one was the place where i'd made my reservation. I was like, hey, want to join me? So she did! The place was great, Fangas Mercearia. Portuguese tapas/pesticos to the extreme. I had a moscato lemon cocktail thing that was probably the best drink I've ever had. And some kind of potato filled with cheese that came with slices of ham and a toast of bacon and grilled tomato which was more like two little sandwiches. A ton of food and only 14.25 euro all together for what felt like a pretty high-end place! What's up Clara from Singapore studying in England!
I took a ton of pictures today and naturally uploading is terrible, plus the wifi is weak in my room because I am far from the common area. on top of it I feel like Flickr is on the fritz tonight so I'm not sure when all the pictures will be up. My next hotel is somewhat bigger so hopefully the wifi is good! Tomorrow I will check out the market here and a couple more things before heading off to Leiria to use as a base for a few days.
Today's totals: 27,533 steps, 10.95 miles, 92 floors. These hills here are no joke!
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