We left Lisbon in the morning by coach to drive to Porto. According to the map, it is a 3 hour drive on the motorway, but I think we took some more scenic routes! The schedule called for a stop of 90 minutes in Coimbra – the riverfront city in central Portugal and the country’s former capital. It is home to a preserved medieval old town and the historic University of Coimbra. Built on the grounds of a former palace, the university is famed for its baroque library, the Biblioteca Joanina, and its 18th-century bell tower.
We were dropped off first in the main downtown shopping area to wander around and found that fascinating. Looking at my portfolio, the very first picture I took was this:
This perhaps sets the scene that this was going to be a great cruise! I was also intrigued by this elderly man who was dressed all in gold and pretending to be a statue of a tourist. He was completely still, but turned his head to smile after I put some euros in his tray:
The shopping street was clean and tidy, but we always like to wander off the beaten track and so we quickly came upon what is probably the older part of town with this magnificent (but somewhat careworn church and an apartment in need of a lick of paint:
We all gathered back at the main square and park ready to catch our coach to take us to the top of the town and the University. But not before a visit to the famous Comur store which sells nothing but canned fish, particularly sardines, including a selection that are in tins based on your year of birth. At least I don’t think these are like vintage wines that get better with age:
Come to think of it, I may have one of those tins somewhere!
The University itself was founded in Lisbon in 1290 and in 1308 it moved to Coimbra to the location currently occupied by the library. After another move back to Lisbon in 1338, it came back to Coimbra in 1354, but then back to Lisbon in 1377 and finally, in 1537, it returned to Coimbra, yet again! The setting is magnificent with buildings that absolutely gleam in the sunshine. We arrived in the early afternoon, and I think my sunglasses were in my suitcase, and I can honestly say I have never been anywhere as bright as the courtyard there. I was struggling to even open my eyes at one point!
We were given a guided tour of the courtyard and some of the buildings there, before being taken into the library, which was featured in the Harry Potter movies. As a tourist visiting, it is extremely tightly controlled to avoid any humidity getting in and damaging the books and furnishings in there. Didn’t stop this bat from finding a nice place to hang out though!
I had forgotten the story, but the caption I had written on the photo does remind me that perhaps they are welcome guests! We toured the store room for some of the less valuable books and were allowed to take photographs there (the main library is off limits for photos and videos) and so I did get a few shots there:
In my other “job” as a stock photographer, I used multiple copies of these shelves to create a backdrop that people can use on their zoom calls:
The end result would look like this – an old scholar working on his manuscript in an ancient library:
But to get back to Coimbra – the visit to the library was fascinating, and the views from the large courtyard over the countryside were equally impressive:
And the other buildings of the university were striking:
With that, we completed our visit to Coimbra and reboarded the coach for the rest of the drive to Porto and our welcome onto the Viking Hemming which was waiting for us on the riverside in the heart of town. And this was the view that awaited us when we woke the next morning ready to start our adventure in Porto and the River of Gold.
