HK Independent Traveller Blog

3-4 April 2012 Walking straight from the railway station, one will reach this beautiful square.  Go straight behind the status will lead you to shopping and daily life of the city.  From there, you can ascend to the university.   From there you can spot the Arco de Almedina, leading through winding streets to reach the university.  Or take a break at the main square famous cafe, sip a coffee and save the energy to walk all up.   You can't find it?  No worry.  There are many cafes or resting places on the upper town that you can relax, take a rest and then set forward.  Cafe and snack bars for the eldery, youngster and someone requiring silence and loneliness. Visiting the University is the highlight of the day.  It will take you 2 to 3 hours to see the key spots.  Approaching the evening, you may opt for an one-hour Fado show, costs around 10 Euro with a sip of Port Wine.  Or browsing the upper town...

3 - 4 April 2012       For dinner, we went to Ze Manel dos Ossos Beco do Forno . It is a very small family run restaurant. We read about it but randomly walked in the small street and saw people queuing up for the restaurant to open. Well, 5 minutes waiting. The food was not pretentious. The chief waiter was friendly and funny. We were served with different sorts of cheese and bread, then stewed lamb and pork, with beans, huge portion of potatoe and vegetable. Including house wine and chocolate it cost 30 Euro. The great joy here is the atmosphere, rustic and authentic and jam. The best food in Coimbra is roast pork sandwich by Antonio  (Porto Larga at Rua das Padeiras 35). Wonderful flavour of juicy pork with secret sauce. Yummy! The vegetable soup is also a must-try. Porta Larga - Rua das Padeiras 35 We went to Restaurant Ze Neto, recommended by trip advisor and Lonely Planet but were disappointed. The ...

3 April 2012 It was a cloudy day. Our hotel Avenida is close to the railway station. Along the way are beautiful historical buildings. Unfortunately, the sun was hiding, strengthening the melancholy of the country. Unlike Porto, everything relates to tourism is not free. Coimbra Tourist Information is not as generous as Porto to the tourists. Perhaps, it needs money to restore the town and fund the university.  Our activity of the first half day took place at the opposite shore.  A leisure stroll along the river Mondego , across the opposite shore.  The first striking monument is Gothic style Santa Clara-a-Velha , a convent rebuilt for Queen Santa Isabel in 14th century.  Its lower position rendered it to frequent floods and was abandoned in 17th century.  The ruin was excavated in the late 20th century.  After 12 years of restoration it is opened to the public recently.  We ascended to the convent replacing Santa Clara-a-Velha, the ...

4 April 2012 Coimbra is a famous university town in Portugal. It's also the oldest, a town with honor, shares the nationhood, once a capital made by King Alfonso and strong association with history. With IC train it takes about 1 hour 10 minutes from Porto to Coimbra B. Then one has to take a connecting train to the town centre. The distance is 2 kilometres. Our second day was blessed with sunshine, superb to appreciate the city with the university atop.  The clock tower at the university square can be seen everywhere.  The university was first established in Lisbon but transferred to Coimbra King Alfonso Palace in 1537.  Study was very limited, mostly theology, medicine and law but broadened by the reform from Pombal in 1770s.  Many buildings were replaced in 1940s.  But the halls around the Patio das Escolas have been standing over 700 years. Visiting the patio is free.  But you will want to see the interior.  There are different types o...

30 March 2012 Afonso Henriques Guimarães is an important historical city of Portugal.  Its history traces back the 9th century, the formation of Portugal, the birthplace of Portugal nationality.  Probably it's because the first Portugese Alfonso was borne here.  The town centre is Unesco historical site. This year, 2012, Guimarães is chosen as the European Capital of Culture.  It explains the tourist crowds. Our first unplanned spot is Guimarães  Vila Flor Palace and Cultural Centre .  The palace was constructed in mid-17th century.  It is decorated with granite statues of the first kings of Portugal and surrounded by a 3-terraced garden.  It was refurbished in 2005 when a Cultural Centre of the same name as built. The second spot waiting to welcome us is the Church of S. Francisco . Inside the decoration is rich.  Gathering or mass was in place when we entered.  We were picked by a man working...