Ferry to Cacilhas

By mid-morning, it was really too hot and humid to walk any more. I took the rattling tram back down hill and went back to my room to change my clothes. My hotel is very close to the ferry terminal so it seemed like a good idea to take a little excursion across the water.

In Cacilhas the favourite destination is Restaurant Farol, a long established eatery where all manner of fish is cooked. I got there early to beat the crowds, but I’d no need to worry as the place is huge.

View downstream from the ferry

Fish on display as you walk in.

Lunch of grilled sea bass.

Blue and white tile depiction of the area in 1870.

The historic frigate Don Fernando II and Gloria, launched in 1843 and sailed for 33 years to the Portuguese colony of Goa. Now permanently moored in dry dock.

Ferry waiting to return to Lisbon.

Going back: a huge cruise liner moored on the right.

Wow - completely worn out and it’s only Day One!

Lisbon

Lisbon must be the most exhausting city I’ve ever been in!  It’s all up and down on cobbled streets and uneven pavements. I was advised to take the No. 28 tram up to the Cathedral and it was already full at 9.00 am.

The Romanesque Cathedral was rather a mixture of styles, as it was adapted and changed over the years. I found it difficult to distinguish what was original.

View across the transept.

Just nearby is the Resistance Museum with lots of information from the Salazar dictatorship. In fact, there is far too much information to be readily absorbed. I found it rather claustrophobic as it covers four or five floors and only the top one, the cafeteria, is air conditioned.

Illicit printing press.

Tiny cell.

View from the window of renovation work in the Cathedral cloisters.

View of the cathedral towers from one of the top floors

The room celebrating the end of the dictatorship in 1974.

Coimbra to Lisbon

Today was just about getting from A to B. The train left Coimbra at 8.45 and arrived in Lisbon at 11.00 am. It was absolutely full and sped along at up to 190 mph. We passed through mostly forested areas, with pine plantations and possibly cork trees.

At Santa Apolonia Station I quickly got in a taxi and was transported to my hotel, the Corpo Santo. This is a bit of a splurge after the Coimbra cheapo! (Actually the Olive Street House wasn’t too bad, as I had the third floor to myself for the first two nights. Only last night was a problem as lots more people arrived, stomping up and down stairs, calling out to one another and taking a shower at 1.00 am).

As I couldn’t check in to the Corpo Santo till 2.00 pm, I went for a walk (or a climb) up behind the hotel and found myself in a street with a hamburger place - ideal for a quick lunch. After that I was ready for a hot bath and a siesta. Lisbon is hot and noisy, so it’s nice to have a quiet room where I can retreat from the crowds.

Intercity train at Coimbra Station.

My first view over Lisbon: the Cathedral top left.

Lunch spot.

The waterfront at 6.00 pm.

One of the fast ferries that cross the River Tejo  to Cacilhas.

More from Conimbriga

The site has a large number of mosaics in situ. They are very well preserved. The most famous are in the House of the Fountains, a palatial residence of the type rarely seen outside Rome:

This shows the deep excavation below floor level in the House of the Fountains which appear to be cellars.

Part of the Roman road going south, with the House of the Fountains on the right.

Hunting scene.

Part of the hastily built defensive wall against the threat from the Swabian invaders.

More lovely mosaics.

Time for sit down and a glass of sparkling water!

Conimbriga Roman Site

Only read this if interested in archaeology!

It’s about half an hour’s drive to the south of Coimbra. The bus is said to leave at 9.00 a.m., but it was 10 minutes late and the driver sped along the winding country lanes in an attempt to catch up. It was a misty morning, but became quite warm when the sun came out:  beautiful day to walk around the Conimbriga site. This is an extensive walk (4596 steps, according to my IPhone - but I did 9023 yesterday around Coimbra). Conimbriga is right on the Caminho and I noticed my first yellow arrows on this trip. It’s the stage before Coimbra, but I was glad to be on the bus!

Conimbriga is the best Roman site in Portugal and excavations have been ongoing for 100 years. I was thrilled to see it, and all the signs had an English translation. The first imperial wall around it encompassed 22 hectares, to include the pre-Roman settlement and a wide flat area for future construction.

I visited the museum first, where all the excavated artifices were on display, as I knew I’d be too tired after walking round the site in the hot sun!

The red pottery, so familiar to me is Samian Ware, or Terra Sigillata. This came originally from Italy, then S Gaul and finally from Tricia in Spain. It is found all over the Roman Empire.

Fragments of wall paintings.

Oil lamps, most of which came from factories in N Africa where large numbers were produced according to Italian designs.

Weaving implements, weights and needles.

There were also coin hoards on display, demonstrating the panic of the citizens facing attacks from the Swabians in the 5th Century.

To be continued....

Coimbra Day Two

I was up and about early in order to beat the crowds visiting the university library, said to be the most beautiful in the world. Entry is timed, with 60 visitors allowed in at each time slot. I took a taxi up the hill (these hills are steep!) so as to get the 9.00 am slot. Entry was through the basement which used to be the prison and now houses the stacks. From there, you work your way up to the third floor (the Noble Library) where absolutely no photography is allowed.

Students gather in the courtyard. The traditional uniform (which inspired J K Rowling) was based on the Jesuits garb and designed as an equaliser so there was nothing to distinguish between rich and poor students.

HenryVIII-like statue of King Joao III (1502-1557), posing like his contemporary.

Books in the stacks.

There are 60,000 books in total.

This floor has a special exhibit about early exploration of Japan. The Jesuits were the prime movers here.

St Michael’s Chapel with its painted ceiling.

Students in normal attire waiting for a lecture.

Next stop the Science Museum, housing natural history specimens from all over the world.

Giant beetles.

There is a koala in the middle of this lot.

More tributes to the Jesuits till they were finally expelled from Portugal.

And finally, here is an “illicit” photo taken on the top floor of the library. This was given to me by someone I met in the restaurant last night:

Another blog about the university:

https://sound-and-bites.home.blog/2019/03/21/the-meaning-of-books/