Coimbra

In Portugal they say that Lisbon parties, Coimbra studies, and Porto works. Coimbra is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe (which is why they say it studies). It's like a mini Lisbon, and because of the student population, home to some great holes in the wall where you can find extremely cheap drinks. We stayed here for two days and walked up and down the top of the city at least 6 times. The university is located at the very top of the hill.

As I mentioned, the city is very hilly...

Portugal produces almost half of the Cork produced in the world. If you visit Portugal, you'll  realize that you can make more than just wine stoppers with this. DJB bought a Cork wallet in Lisbon.

The Portuguese are very talented at baking.

I think they can give the French a run for their money in pastries or "pastels" in Portuguese. Each town will have a speciality of the region. Whatever town you go to you will see "Pastel de ____" and it's a good idea to try each one. The pastels in the last two pictures where made by nuns!

We hiked up to the university and it was a spectacular campus. It would be a great experience to attend university in such a unique setting.

I had to run into the Faculty of Mathematics to go to the bathroom. This is the closest I'll ever come to calculus again!

Student graffiti.

Coimbra has a lovely river valley. I imagine it's even better in the summer. The river was flooding a bit, apparently it was a big deal because news cameras were there. Either that, or they were doing a story on stupid Canadian tourists who get too close to the raging river.

I felt really sad for this bear...